New Mars Forums

MD is far from a "flag and footpints" missions.  18 months of surface time!  To prevent a Mars mission from suffering the same fate as Apollo isn't a technological one, its political.  I think the best way to keep the momentum going is to make it an international program.  Then, if you stop, the whole world is angry with you, and you look weak.  That can be a very strong political motivator - who could imagine the U.S. talking about returning to the moon if China didn't mention it?

There's a lot of ways to improve upon MD with existing technology - remember MD was written in the early 90s.  Concepts like not putting anything on the surface you don't have you and not sending anything to Mars you don't have to save you a lot in the long run.  I particularly like the idea of using the OSP for Earth reentry - why send an Earth reentry system all the way to Mars and back?

We also need to consider not providing return trips.  Settlement, on a managable scale, needs to occur before the science, otherwise it cannot be sustained.  You need a substantial amount of mass to send all this gear to Mars just for a return trip - the dru mass of the ERV by Zubrin's conservative numbers is 20 tons (excluding things used for surface operations).  Imagine the supplies and infrastructure that could provide.  For example, it could provide the hardware to construct a dome used to grow food in a CO2 rich environment.  It could provide a few pressurized rovers.

We can go now, but do we have to return?  Having one-way trips accelerates everything - settlement schedule, science capability, biological studies, the first children born on Mars.  I see little reason to return crews after the first mission.