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Since the new HLV is based heavily on Shuttle components, I believe the most logical approach to building a small colony (~100 people) on the surface of Mars is this: modify the Shuttle's external tank--basically, gut it. Replace the interior with living quarters and other necessary facilities. The tank is about 8 meters wide, not dissimilar from the 10-meter hab used at FMARS and MDRS, not to mention the proposed hab for the first manned mission. Its 47-meter height more than compensates for this, as multiple floors could be built into the habitat. A crew of 25 could ride this colony ship to the Red Planet atop the proposed HLV for the Moon-Mars initiative, then unravel a tether between itself and the spent fuel tank to provide artificial gravity. Four such launches and we'd have a real "First Hundred" without the wasted billions on a multi-torused floating megalith.
"In the beginning, the Universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."
-Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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