Ask Slashdot: Technical Advice For a (Fictional) Space Mission?

An anonymous reader writes "I'm just starting to put together the pieces for a fictional story about a space mission. To put it briefly, I would like to give believability to the story: probably set a few years ahead, just enough for the launching of the first colony in the solar system, but with the known challenges posed by the current technology. Is anyone up for a little technical advice on space travel? A few quick questions: As for the destination, the moon and Mars are the obvious choices, but what else would make sense? How long would it take to get there? What could be the goals of the mission? Any events or tasks that could punctuate an otherwise predictably boring long trip? Any possible sightseeing for beautiful VFX shots? What would be the crew?"

Comments

Cheese Factory on Moon

[SharkLaser]

A young buy wins a tour through the most magnificent cheese factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual cheese maker. A magical journey through a cheese factory on moon.

Re:The crew needs women.

[Noughmad]

In fact, make the crew all women, except for a single man who's cryogenically frozen. When the VCR clock malfunctions they in desperation thaw him to fix it. He does, and after that, you can imagine! Va-va-voom baby!

If you want to make the story really believable.