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'Sending Astronauts To Mars Would be Stupid' (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the thought-war-continues dept.

One of the first men to orbit the Moon has told BBC Radio 5 Live that it's "stupid" to plan human missions to Mars. Bill Anders, lunar module pilot of Apollo 8, the first human spaceflight to leave Earth's orbit, said sending crews to Mars was "almost ridiculous". From a report: NASA is currently planning new human missions to the Moon. It wants to learn the skills and develop the technology to enable a future human landing on Mars. NASA was approached for a response to Anders' comments, but hasn't responded.

Anders, 85, said he's a "big supporter" of the "remarkable" unmanned programmes, "mainly because they're much cheaper". But he says the public support simply isn't there to fund vastly more expensive human missions. "What's the imperative? What's pushing us to go to Mars?" he said, adding "I don't think the public is that interested". Meanwhile, robotic probes are still exploring Mars. Last month, the InSight lander, which will sample the planet's interior, successfully touched down at Elysium Planitia. Further reading: Bill Nye: We Are Not Going To Live on Mars, Let Alone Turn It Into Earth.

11 of 473 comments (clear)

  1. Latency by vadim_t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Communications to Mars have stupid high latency. 4 to 24 minutes depending on where Mars happens to be.

    As a result, the robots have to be incredibly paranoid and drive at a snail's pace. Put some people there and with good equipment they could get stuff done 20 times faster, not to mention doing things the robots aren't equipped for.

    Put a small fabrication shop on Mars, and they'll be able to craft whatever tool's needed for the job on the spot if anything unexpected comes up.

    1. Re:Latency by gtall · · Score: 4, Funny

      Umm....a small fabrication shop you say? So what, a 3-D printer + raw materials, a drill press and associated gadgets, etc. That's just for starters. We'll be needing some spare parts as well, hard to send home and wait 6 months for them to show up. You'll also be wanting to power these fancy tools. Some solar panels will be needed...errrm...lots of them.

      Our toolsmiths will need a place to live, shouldn't be hard, we'll just send along Mr. InflateO, instant Quonset Hut. Umm...heat....we'll need to heat that as well. More solar panels for everyone, gas cylinders are big, heavy (expensive to lift out of the Earth's gravity well), and dangerous. So you'll be needing some fire fighting equipment as well if you want them, also big and heavy.

      Food might be problem, there being a dearth of botanical gardens on Mars from what we hear. Water Mars has, as long as the Marstronauts stay close to the poles. Better allot time for collecting water...and defreezing it...more solar panels.

      Transportation could also be a problem since Mars has not invested in public transport...taking after the Earthlings is not a recipe for success in the solar system. And that transportation will need to powered since the Flintstone's Family Human Conveyance won't be available. More solar panels, big ones too, Marstronauts are heavy in their Mars suits.

      Radiation shielding might be helpful since Mars has no atmosphere. Okay, re-plan, we find a cave to situate our intrepid explorers who get all week-kneed at a bit of radiation, wussies. Of course this will limit their time working 20 times faster than machines, presuming they arrived without getting irradiated on the way there. An unfortunate feature of the solar system is people-hating radiation. We should talk to the Solar System Administrators about fixing this.

      Air. Gotta have air for our meat-sacks to breathe. Okay, we'll extract that from the thin Martian atmosphere...More Power, argh, argh, argh. Another layer of solar panels for everyone.

      Let's not forget the most important need for human life: waste removal. Polluting the rest of Mars with our exquisitely scented waste is probably going to screwup those biological experiments we like to run looking for Martian life..."Hey, I found it...look, bacteria...oh, never mind, just some eColi, how'd they get here?" That stuff tends to build up over time so we'll need a biological containment unit...a big one, our Marstronauts like to eat well...."Oh the intergalactic laxative will get you from here to there, if shitting is your problem, without a worry or care..." (Donovan).

      There you have it, a piece of cake. And they'll get the work done 20 times faster...when they aren't repairing their equipment.

    2. Re:Latency by TAz00 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      So, don't use solar panels, go nuclear. Colonizing and Containment, forget the containment, embrace what we are, resource sucking life, and all life does is spread, so lets do that. Radiation isnt a problem, if you sent smokers without cigarettes, they'd live longer. And we get air from ice/water, not the atmosphere.

    3. Re:Latency by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I would contend that a single astronaut on Mars can do far more science than even 1000 robots. The OP has actually underestimated the problem with using RC robots on Mars: it's not just the time it takes for the signal to reach Mars, but it's the roundtrip - when an operator gives a minimal instruction to the robot, he/she will wait in trepidation for 8 to 48 minutes to find out WTF happened. As a result, as OP says, the robots have to be operated with extreme paranoia - which is the enemy of research and discovery.

      But eve MORE importantly, there are things that no amount of robots can accomplish, compared to a single human who can arrange an impromptu test or experiment, or repair,

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    4. Re:Latency by lgw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I can't think of any definition of "Space Nutter" that doesn't include you. You are nuts on the topic.

      Really, do you think landing men on Mars is any less useful and productive than the Superbowl? I'd certainly find it more entertaining to watch. I bet it'd be cheaper then the next Avatar movie, as well.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  2. Age of the Pussies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did somebody put something in the entire western world's drinking water, or why is everyone so ridiculously overly cautious and scared of literally everything nowadays?

    Seriously, not trolling or anything... Hasn't anybody else noticed this trend?

    Where's the spirit of "Worth it!"?
    I won't impose my maybe crass view on anyone, but IMHO a bit of pain or even dying isn't *that* bad, compared to never having actually lived at all. It's not like we are bad at making even more humans until we die in our own waste. ;)
    I'd rather live suicidal 40 years, than boring 120.

    1. Re:Age of the Pussies? by kick6 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Did somebody put something in the entire western world's drinking water

      Actually...yes, they did. Estrogens, phytoestrogens, and progesterones from food, plastics, and birth control.

  3. Because it's there by Alain+Williams · · Score: 5, Insightful

    was the reason for climbing Everest and is a good enough reason for going to Mars.

    We also need to get off this planet before we are wiped out by an asteroid or something. Doing that in large numbers and creating a self sufficient colony on some other rock (preferably circling another star) will be very hard, a toe hold on Mars would be a great start.

    1. Re:Because it's there by swamp_ig · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No appreciable fraction of a percent of humanity living on the Earth now, nor of their decedents for several generations, has any genuine hope of making a home on Mars even if their is a concerted effort to get there.

        Mars or no Mars, if an asteroid hits Earth, the vast, vast majority of humanity dies out. Don't even start with the outpost crap, spend the money on environmental care or even asteroid diversion missions for a much higher cost-payoff ratio. Heck, even if an asteroid did hit we'd have a vastly easier time "terraforming" the resulting Earth.

    2. Re:Because it's there by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Mars has no atmosphere, radiation, toxic dust and has a different gravity"

      Sounds like LA to me.

  4. Stepping stones. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    All our missions to space aren't really the mission. The mission is really just an extension of what humans have always done, explored new places, learn stuff and then settle them. Going to mars doesn't have lots of value but developing all the technology to keep humans alive far from Earth for an extended period is part of our great mission. Humanity is pushing the limits of what is humanly possible so that we can later push even further. We're colonizing the solar system, the galaxy and then the universe while learning about it every step of the way. FTL travel seems unlikely and our bodies are weak but it's still not going to stop us for we will adapt to overcome these obstacles.

    Besides, if we don't go to space, how are we ever going to find out what happens when we throw Alice into a black hole? ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.