Sep 1, 2009

Posted by in Mars, NASA, current

To Mars and NOT back

An odd opinion piece in the New York Times today suggested an idea of how to get to Mars less expensively, perhaps within the currently restricted budget of NASA. The idea is: send the astronaut one way only.

Tereshkova: stick me on an envelope and mail me to Mars

Tereshkova: stick me on an envelope and mail me to Mars

I don’t like the idea, but I enjoy reading about it.

There’s no question that it’s much cheaper to leave the astronauts stranded on Mars. And, maybe it’s a little less harsh than it sounds. The author, Lawrence M. Krauss, who also wrote a book called “The Physics of Star Trek” notes that people left Europe for the New World in olden days and never expected to return home.

But, there would be much fewer people on Mars than in early North America. Presumably, there wouldn’t be Native Martian to befriend or go to war with.

Krauss also notes that the astronauts would be volunteers for the trip. And he did an informal survey that suggests volunteers would be easy to find. As I recall, on her 70th birthday, Valentina Tereshkova—the first woman in space—said she would be willing to make that trip.

In any case, mark me down as someone who thinks it’s a bad idea.

  • http://www.twitter.com/danzi94 Danzi

    Its not just a bad idea, Its a terrible idea. What if something goes horribly wrong, then thats the end of the entire mission!

  • Volker

    Sorry to disagree, but I think it is a great idea! To keep using the America comparison: Columbus went there and came back, but that didn’t really change history. All we had then was the knowledge that there was something out there. America’s history didn’t change when Columbus went back home, but it changed when Pizarro burned his ships after arriving in Mexico, forcing his crew to “live of the land” until they found their own means to make it back home. I’m the first to admit that America’s history changed for the worst at that moment and I am far from promoting some kind of interplanetary conquistador, but the hardest and most expensive part of all the current Mars projects is to get back. Let’s do what Pizarro did: Supply the crew with enough means to survive for an initial period, then cut off all communication and let necessity be once again the mother of all inventions. We might be surprised how soon a Martian space ship will return to earth.

    Another comparison to the America story: In the early days, only one out of ten bound for the “new world” survived the journey. Only people who were willing to leave everything behind would set foot on a fragile ship and sail into the unknown. When earth shrinks to a tiny star in the morning sky, people worrying about how to get back are the wrong crew. People who are willing to make the “new world” their home are psychologically much better prepared for an adventure like this.

    As for the crew: Krauss did a survey amongst US college students and got literally thousands of volunteers within just a couple weeks. Disregard all those who would just volunteer so they wouldn’t have to pay back their student loans, there would still be enough intelligent young people left to boldly go where no one has gone before. I’d love to join them – beam me up, Scotty.

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