Scientists Propose One-Way Trips To Mars

vortex2.71 writes "Invoking the spirit of Star Trek in a scholarly article entitled 'To Boldly Go,' two scientists contend human travel to Mars could happen much more quickly and cheaply if the missions are made one-way. They argue that it would be little different from early settlers to North America, who left Europe with little expectation of return. 'The main point is to get Mars exploration moving,' said Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University, who wrote the article in the latest Journal of Cosmology with Paul Davies of Arizona State University. The colleagues state — in one of 55 articles in the issue devoted to exploring Mars — that humans must begin colonizing another planet as a hedge against a catastrophe on Earth."

Comments

Re:Little difference?

[elrous0]

There is plenty of water on mars.

"Water on Mars" doesn't mean there are lakes and rivers. It means that there is trace amounts of it frozen in the soil. It would be an epic (and likely unsustainable) effort to even process that in substantial quantities. The crew would likely use up more calories in the effort than it would be worth.

Colonization of Mars is a pipe-dream.