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NASA Wants Spacecraft For Mars Return Trip

Posted by timothy on from the oh-a-mockup's-fine-actually dept.

coondoggie writes "If we ever do get to Mars, getting home might prove to be as difficult. NASA today selected three companies — Alliant Techsystems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman — to being the task of defining the spacecraft that will leave Mars, presumably at first loaded with red planet rock samples, then later possibly humans — for a safe trip back to Earth. The engineering challenges those three companies face are immense."

4 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. If I were to design it by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'd design it so it had just enough thrust to get back in Mars Orbit. Then I'd send a 2nd craft from Earth to ferry it back. I figure there is a lot of problems that could be solved by reducing that added fuel weight from it.

    --
    God spoke to me.
  2. Challenges by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The engineering challenges those three companies face are immense"

    The bureaucratic challenges will be even more so.

    --
    http://www.rootstrikers.org/
  3. Big companies will design an expensive approach by cjonslashdot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These big contractors will never come up with an efficient solution. It is against their interests. They will design some very capital intensive approach. Then they will bid on the contracts to build it.

    It will take a startup company to come up with a innovative and viable approach.

  4. Re:One Way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The potential payoff is acquiring an entire planets worth of resources. Calculate that into your risk analysis.

    It actually goes farther than that. If we developed the technology for a mars trip it makes exploiting NEO's and the asteroid belt trivial.

    Every single generation will be able to say the same thing as you. Technology does not magically invent itself. There is no time like now to start working towards the ultimate goal of our species.