Mars Direct

[Laika]

I thought I would share this film which sets out a blueprint for a manned mission to Mars. Sometimes its feels good to shut out the appauling "end of the world" 24/7 newscycle and think of what could be.

Dare to Dream.

 

[Terese]

I'm so annoyed we haven't had a manned mission to mass yet. NASA's defunding is truly sad.

 

[jonathan180iq]

Mars Direct was a well developed plan that NASA chose not to go with. It's a lot of fun to speculate about, but it's something that's not going to happen. NASA decided to stick with it's tried and true method of sending multiple missions, in varying degrees of closeness to Mars, including orbiting Phobos and the Red Planet with safe return trajectories before attempting a manned landing. It's going to take a few years, sure. But it's the same method that got us safely to the Moon.


If you read Andy Weir's "The Matian" then you saw what a realistic version of Mars Direct could have looked like. The plan used by the fictitious version of NASA in the book is almost 100% based on the ideas and plans of Robert Zurbin.

 

[Revoltingest]

I've no problem with people who want a manned Mars mission creating a fund to do so.
Spend your own money....not mine.
This project just isn't worth doing.
NASA has been doing more worthwhile things.

 

[jonathan180iq]

NASA has been doing more worthwhile things.

Those worthwhile things got dangerously close to being shutdown this year, despite outlasting their mission periods and despite continually returning new scientific discoveries.

 

[rocala]

A fantastic film @Laika many thanks for posting.One feature I especially like is that the issues are not just science and engineering but organizational too. That is what technology is about. Beyond that it is just good exciting stuff.
Thanks again for posting and the sentiment that you expressed at the time.

 

[Revoltingest]

Those worthwhile things got dangerously close to being shutdown this year, despite outlasting their mission periods and despite continually returning new scientific discoveries.

I still want them funded, of course.

 

[jonathan180iq]

I still want them funded, of course.

Yeah I didn't think you were against them. Just voicing a concern that I have about certain political affiliations doing away with very viable scientific programs in the frontier.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yeah I didn't think you were against them. Just voicing a concern that I have about certain political affiliations doing away with very viable scientific programs in the frontier.

I find the Mars manned missions to be impractical, & not worth the cost.
Unmanned missions advance science with far more bang for the buck.
And even manned Mars missions, should they ever become worthwhile,
will begin with many unmanned missions there in preparation.

 

[jonathan180iq]

I find the Mars manned missions to be impractical, & not worth the cost.
Unmanned missions advance science with far more bang for the buck.
And even manned Mars missions, should they ever become worthwhile,
will begin with many unmanned missions there in preparation.

Yeah, I agree with you. But for all the bang-for-the-buck that we do get with robotic missions, the questions that we have about certain surface features take YEARS to answer. If we have humans on these extra-terrestrial planetary bodies then we could answer in seconds what takes robotic missions 5-10 years.

The cost is certainly higher upfront. I'll give you that one. But once that initial investment is made, a 2 month ground mission (anywhere) could exponentially multiply the returns that we've gotten from decades worth of robotic data.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yeah, I agree with you. But for all the bang-for-the-buck that we do get with robotic missions, the questions that we have about certain surface features take YEARS to answer. If we have humans on these extra-terrestrial planetary bodies then we could answer in seconds what takes robotic missions 5-10 years.

The cost is certainly higher upfront. I'll give you that one. But once that initial investment is made, a 2 month ground mission (anywhere) could exponentially multiply the returns that we've gotten from decades worth of robotic data.

I'd say a manned Mars mission's benefits would pale in comparison to what could be done with less money spent on unmanned ones.....
- Telescopes (terrestrial & orbiting), eg, X-ray, visible, infra-red
- Probes to places no human could possibly go, eg, Jupiter & beyond
- Autonomous machines to explore (without needing life support systems)

 

[jonathan180iq]

I'd say a manned Mars mission's benefits would pale in comparison to what could be done with less money spent on unmanned ones.....
- Telescopes (terrestrial & orbiting), eg, X-ray, visible, infra-red
- Probes to places no human could possibly go, eg, Jupiter & beyond
- Autonomous machines to explore (without needing life support systems)

Yes - of course. I'm not advocating for replacement of the current system; just an expansion to allow allow for increased human exploration. The Mars rovers have been absolutely phenomenal! I champion that stuff on social media all the time. But everything that they've discovered over the past decade or so could have been done in a matter of days or weeks were we committed to having a human presence on Mars.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yes - of course. I'm not advocating for replacement of the current system; just an expansion to allow allow for increased human exploration. The Mars rovers have been absolutely phenomenal! I champion that stuff on social media all the time. But everything that they've discovered over the past decade or so could have been done in a matter of days or weeks were we committed to having a human presence on Mars.

I favor expansion in productive areas, but not a manned Mars mission.
Moreover, there's a very real risk that deaths would doom the mission, & adversely affect the whole space program.
It's not like going to the Moon, which is pretty near....the problem is humans spending years instead of weeks in space.