Our New Deathkingdom

[Ghetta Life]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/15/opinion/15DAVI.html

And yet the scientific community's enthusiasm will surely be tempered by 
skepticism. Scientists, it's worth remembering, rejoiced when President 
George H. W. Bush unveiled a Mars project in 1989. The same scientists then 
despaired when the plan quickly evaporated amid spiraling projected costs 
and shifting priorities. Of course, the project's demise should not have 
surprised anyone. Back then, a manned expedition to Mars came with a price 
tag of of more than $400 billion, a sum that makes the cost of the Apollo 
Moon landings seem like small change.

Why is going to Mars so expensive? Mainly it's the distance from Earth. At 
its closest point in orbit, Mars lies 35 million miles away from us, 
necessitating a journey of many months, whereas reaching the Moon requires 
just a few days' flight. On top of this, Mars has a surface gravity that, 
though only 38 percent of Earth's, is much greater than the Moon's. It takes 
a lot of fuel to blast off Mars and get back home. If the propellant has to 
be transported there from Earth, costs of a launching soar.

Without some radical improvements in technology, the prospects for sending 
astronauts on a round-trip to Mars any time soon are slim, whatever the 
presidential rhetoric. What's more, the president's suggestion of using the 
Moon as a base — a place to assemble equipment and produce fuel for a Mars 
mission less expensively — has the potential to turn into a costly sideshow. 
There is, however, an obvious way to slash the costs and bring Mars within 
reach of early manned exploration. The answer lies with a one-way mission.



>January 14, 2004
>NY Times
>On to the Moon, and to Mars, via von Braun
>By KENNETH CHANG
>[...]
>Today, in remarks at NASA headquarters in Washington,
>President Bush is expected to announce new efforts to
>complete the last two items on von Braun's list: a
>permanent Moon base and a mission to Mars

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