New Mars Forums

Tom Kalbfus

Banned

Registered: 2006-08-16

Posts: 4,401

Falcon 9 lands safely on ocean platform

https://www.yahoo.com/news/inflatable-h … 12610.html


I think the key to a Mars colony is the reusability of the vehicle to transport the colonists there. After all, in order to be successful, the colonists have to be able to afford to go, they need to be able to perform some economic activity to support themselves on Mars, otherwise it is just government sponsored "flagpole sitting". The Government can send 100 people to Mars at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, the government can support them at taxpayer's expense, until the public grows tired of supporting them, but with current throw-away rocket technology, such a colony will never be successful. We need a non-throwaway space vehicle. What spaceX pulled off today is a step in the right direction.