too briney to support life as we know it.
.
Flowing water is indeed in Mars.
Water on Mars is wonderful news and all, but a manned expedition? We haven't even got a site on the Moon yet!
Earth-to-Moon: 384,400 km
Earth-to-Mars: 50 million + km
...thats just through a quick internet search, but apparently Mars can be as far away as 400 million km in distance. If thats true, then our space-flight capability is going to need incredible improvement just to reach Mars with a manned crew.
If we really did put an astronaut on the Moon back in 1969...how come we haven't got a site of some description on the surface of the Moon in 2015? Seriously, thats 46 years ago. Fine, if there are problems preventing us from doing so, thats cool...but in that case how in the name of Zeus' beard do we then expect to accomplish such a dangerous journey to a destination far greater in distance? I call that trying to run before one can walk...
That said it would be fantastic if they could pull off a trip to Mars AND bring the human crew back to Earth safely. I would be the first one to leap off my sofa like England won the world cup and scream "THEY F***ING DID IT!!!"
The moon is dead, dry and desolate. Its atmosphere is so thin as to be nonexistent. There is little reason to go back, other than to say we went back. Mars has more potential. It has a thin, but appreciable atmosphere, and that atmosphere is predominately CO2. Plants need CO2, so the possibility of growing our own food is very real. It also has water; whether frozen or liquid is immaterial. Both of these factors means that we can seriously reduce the amount of supplies. Building anything on the moon is kind of like building a house in the desert because it is closer than the fertile valley. Sometimes it is worth it to take the longer trip.
The moon is dead, dry and desolate. Its atmosphere is so thin as to be nonexistent. There is little reason to go back, other than to say we went back. Mars has more potential. It has a thin, but appreciable atmosphere, and that atmosphere is predominately CO2. Plants need CO2, so the possibility of growing our own food is very real. It also has water; whether frozen or liquid is immaterial. Both of these factors means that we can seriously reduce the amount of supplies. Building anything on the moon is kind of like building a house in the desert because it is closer than the fertile valley. Sometimes it is worth it to take the longer trip.
With our current technology, a manned trip to Mars would be a one-way trip.
The moon is dead, dry and desolate. Its atmosphere is so thin as to be nonexistent. There is little reason to go back, other than to say we went back. Mars has more potential. It has a thin, but appreciable atmosphere, and that atmosphere is predominately CO2. Plants need CO2, so the possibility of growing our own food is very real. It also has water; whether frozen or liquid is immaterial. Both of these factors means that we can seriously reduce the amount of supplies. Building anything on the moon is kind of like building a house in the desert because it is closer than the fertile valley. Sometimes it is worth it to take the longer trip.
With our current technology, a manned trip to Mars would be a one-way trip.
For the first trip and maybe even a few after that, yes. However, if there is water on Mars, there is fuel.
The moon is dead, dry and desolate. Its atmosphere is so thin as to be nonexistent. There is little reason to go back, other than to say we went back. Mars has more potential. It has a thin, but appreciable atmosphere, and that atmosphere is predominately CO2. Plants need CO2, so the possibility of growing our own food is very real. It also has water; whether frozen or liquid is immaterial. Both of these factors means that we can seriously reduce the amount of supplies. Building anything on the moon is kind of like building a house in the desert because it is closer than the fertile valley. Sometimes it is worth it to take the longer trip.
With our current technology, a manned trip to Mars would be a one-way trip.
For the first trip and maybe even a few after that, yes. However, if there is water on Mars, there is fuel.
True enough, though you probably don't want to use hydrolox engines for the return trip, hydrogen is difficult (as in, inefficient) to contain at cryogenic temperatures, the engines are typically heavy, and the fuel tanks bulky due to the very low density of liquid hydrogen. It seems that methane + oxygen might be a more practical propulsion system for returning from mars. It's not like you need crazy efficiency to go back to earth from mars, anyway, unless you are bringing back a crapton of stuff you don't need much at all. Plus you need power for electrolysis in addition to life support and stuff, so I feel the main issue is probably surviving until the next transfer window 
Moon has low exit velocities, and a lot of helium to be mined and solar to be captured. We could well have a robot colony there if not a human one.The moon is dead, dry and desolate. Its atmosphere is so thin as to be nonexistent. There is little reason to go back, other than to say we went back. Mars has more potential. It has a thin, but appreciable atmosphere, and that atmosphere is predominately CO2. Plants need CO2, so the possibility of growing our own food is very real. It also has water; whether frozen or liquid is immaterial. Both of these factors means that we can seriously reduce the amount of supplies. Building anything on the moon is kind of like building a house in the desert because it is closer than the fertile valley. Sometimes it is worth it to take the longer trip.
We already have robot mining colonies on parts of the seabed that are just as inhospitable to human life.
We also have an orbital station despite it being economically useless and unsustainable -- there's still a load of scientific benefits to having it.
Hey, I’ve been really good about holding in my planet-killing farts lately.To repeat what we did there. We are on track to kill this planet too.
L. Spiro
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