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EARTHDATE: November 21, 2010

Official News page 5


REAL LIFE NEWS: ONE-WAY TRIP TO MARS

by Hazed

There have been a number of articles recently about an idea to make a manned mission to Mars more affordable - make it a way one trip. In other words, the crew would travel out there and not come back, instead spending the rest of their lives on Mars.

This would certainly be cheaper and simpler than organizing a round trip, but it would also allow us to set up a Mars-base that could later be expanded - and thus would ensure the human race would not be wiped out if a disaster befell Earth.

The idea comes from a paper titled To Boldly Go by two scientists, extraterrestrial water expert Dirk Schulze-Makuch and physicist/astrobiologist Paul Davies. They set out the advantages: they reckon the cost could be around 20% of that needed for a traditional out-and-back mission. They also say it would be a lot healthier for the astronauts. They wouldn't have to spend so much time in space, subject to harmful cosmic radiation. Nor would they have to re-acclimatize themselves to Earth's gravity after spending the trip weightless, and their time on Mars in the much lower gravity field.

They suggest there are many useful caves on Mars that would provide a radiation-safe environment in which to construct a base, and there also should be some caves full of ice which would give the new Martians water for drinking, irrigation of hydroponic crops, and also oxygen for breathing.

It's an intriguing idea. You can read more about it here.

Of course, there may be drawbacks: for possible problems with this scenario, see the Dr Who episode 'The Waters of Mars'. (Thanks to Alan for pointing that out.)

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