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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday June 08 2016, @09:17AM
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
NASA seems hell bent to go to Mars, but can't afford to on its own.
Its international partners have no stomach for that — they would would rather return to our moon and build a base there for further exploration.
Doesn't going back to the moon make more sense? Build a base on the moon, and use its low gravity and possible water at the poles as propellant for further space exploration?
Why not the moon first?
http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/7/11868840/moon-return-journey-to-mars-nasa-congress-space-policy
Links:
From NASA itself, in 2008: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/series/moon/why_go_back.html
The all-knowing, ever-trustworthy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
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Should We Skip Mars for Now and Go to the Moon Again?
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(Score: 2) by theluggage on Wednesday June 08 2016, @10:13PM
"The Martian" was a really well-done movie, but it really didn't make that much sense when you investigate it closer: if we've built this gigantic ship capable of comfortably transporting people to Mars, and we can set up habitats, why would we run away and come home early because of a little storm? Why would we not have a much more permanent presence there, with rotating crews? The plot was very contrived.
In the Afterword of the book, the author himself admits that the idea of a freak storm threatening to blow over the lander didn't add up, but was needed as a plot device to strand Our Hero. As for why they went home - they'd used up both their one-shot lander and one-shot ascent vehicle and it does make sort-of sense that the landing and ascent would be the big constraints on such a mission. Since they thought Watney was dead & they'd effectively left a big chunk of their food supplies on Mars there was no reason to hang around in orbit (plus, again, it made the plot more dramatic). Of course, at the end of the film, it is clear that a long stay on Mars with the correct supplies and equipment would be a doddle. Pity we don't actually inhabit that universe - plus, Fictional Mars filmed by Ridley Scott looks less of a dump than that gravel pit our probes have shown :-)