Mars in 2018?

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I saw a news article saying that the gears are turning for a manned trip to Mars in 2018! When I first read the article I was pretty excited, but after reading further I honestly think it's a waste of time and money. Their plan is just to fly by the planet, not go in to orbit or land on it. In my opinion that doesn't really provide any benefit to us as a society, as our probes can already do that just fine. Perhaps it will get NASA or some other space program to get their act together and try to one-up this private company though! It just frustrates me to see proposed timelines such as "land on Mars by 2050", when we basically have the technological capability and know-how to go there today. I realize full well the challenges associated with all of it, but if you creep along at a snails pace like we have been since the 60s/70s you never really make much progress! Then again I do get a bit passionate about this topic because I really want to see us actually going places in space before I die, moon not included! So what are your thoughts?


http://news.yahoo.com/millionaire-space ... 22228.html

Have you seen the stupid people we have on this planet?

No way.. we have a responsibility to keep them on the ground at all costs.


In all seriousness it's a cryin' shame but NASA is all but scrapped.. its down to a small group of people working on a tight budget with hardly any more room for innovation.

We still use chemical rockets for a "one time" shot there and back. It's still risky as all getup to be one of the people going.


It's a real downer but until half the population is wiped out by aliens most people couldn't care less about this "space" thing..

I am also a bit impatient to see some real space travel happen. But I really should know better, because the sheer distances are no joke, and they have to be prepared to deal assorted hazards.
There is also no justification at the moment. There are so many problems on Earth, that it is hard to justify the humongous expense in return for mainly academic benefit. Personally, I would still spend it though, if it were up to me.
People are always going to be in trouble one way or another.

If a manned expedition reaches Mars by 2018, it will not be a U.S. mission. NASA is decrepit and corrupt and underfunded.

ruveyn

Mars is very far away, and if you look at all that's gone wrong on other manned missions, then you don't need to be a genious to see that you'll probably get some kind of mechanical or electrical error with disasterous consequences if you were to send a spaceship to Mars in 2018. Almost every advanced digital technological invention today, had a primitive ancestor in 1969 as well; "rocket science" hasn't changed that much in the last 40 years.

Furthermore, we do not know the effects of long-term deprivation of gravity yet, let alone if someone can survive it for the one and a half years a two-way trip to Mars would require.

Lastly, NASA has an extremely tight budget. If they have to choose between something of great scientific value (eg. unmanned probes on Europa or the search for more exoplanets) or something that's merely cool, but of no great scientific value (building a hotel on the moon, a manned mission to mars, etc.), they'll chose the former. In the 1960's, they were under great pressure to land on the moon as quickly as possible because of a promise John F. Kennedy made to the American people, and because the USSR was also aiming for the moon.

The "deadline" for when man will walk on Mars has been pushed back several times; in 1969, they said the year 2000; in 2000, they said 2020; now they're saying 2050. Don't be dissapointed if it never happens in our lifetime.

Pffft. To pull such a deed off, at least by NASA's hand, they'd have to 'creatively abuse' the DoD's bloated budget. The same way I'd 'creatively abuse' the army into building a maglev at their expense since they are basically the nation's hired goons.

I'd expect the EU flag to be planted by a man first upon mars.

“The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore, we've learned most of what we know. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return, and we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” ~Carl Sagan, Cosmos

We can only further our understanding of the universe through direct observation.

Until we figure out how to get into space cheaply. and I mean by 2 orders of magnitude cheaper. We are never gonna put a man on the moon. let alone put a man on mars. chemical rockets are horribly expensive and horribly inefficient. did you know that it take 15x more weight in fuel then in payload weight. It's take 3000lbs of fuel just to put a 200lb man into orbit. If you ask me. I think when the ISS is retired. We might just stop putting men into space all together. Don't believe me? Take a look at what happen to the Concord.

Yeah, even if we had all the antimatter in the world, containment is a huge issue. Even if you have a really well-designed containment system, the slightest error and everything goes "BOOM!". And by boom I mean majorly so lol. It's funny you should mention the red bull thing, because as I was watching it I was thinking the exact same thing...why not just use a balloon and start ignition from way up there? He got up to like 125,000 ft in the video, that's a pretty good head start! Of course I'm no aerospace engineer so I'm sure there is a good reason why they don't do that...I can almost assure you that they've at least thrown the idea around. I have heard talk that a space elevator is being planned and is in the design phases now, but I'll believe it when I see it. It would be pretty amazing if they're successful but I still think that it's a long shot until we have some significant technological advancements, particularly in materials science.