send people to Planet Mars (with a round trip back to back to Earth) to live there for the purpose of doing scientific research.
The only thing missing is the money to finance it
The only thing missing is the money to finance it
-
Yes and no. We certainly do have the technology to get people to Mars and back, that's basically an engineering problem. However, and it's a big however, there are two flies in the ointment:
1. While we have the technology, it most definitely has not yet been tested under the conditions required to get to Mars and back. It would be a very risky proposition at this point, far more so than the Moon missions.
2. Even worse, we don't know if humans can survive the years in low gravity that such a mission would require. Until we have safely exposed humans to the 3 plus years such a mission would require, we don't know if humans can survive travel to Mars and back. 437 days is the current record, a far cry from 3 years.
So disagree, more than money is missing still.
1. While we have the technology, it most definitely has not yet been tested under the conditions required to get to Mars and back. It would be a very risky proposition at this point, far more so than the Moon missions.
2. Even worse, we don't know if humans can survive the years in low gravity that such a mission would require. Until we have safely exposed humans to the 3 plus years such a mission would require, we don't know if humans can survive travel to Mars and back. 437 days is the current record, a far cry from 3 years.
So disagree, more than money is missing still.
-
Mostly agree.
I think the *technology* is all there, depending on what you call "technology". We can plot a course, we have the life support, the batteries for said life support, the ships could be made, etc.
But there are still some issues. Everything Unitedcats said about testing in the right conditions and the effects of weightlessness and isolation on humans are still outstanding issues. But there are still some other things:
Fuel for the return mission. Taking off from the moon to return to Earth was nothing compared to returning from Mars. Mars is an Earth-like planet with an Earth-like escape velocity. And all you have to do is look at a standard Nasa launch to see how much fuel it takes to launch a craft into space from a planet with near Earth-like gravity. Also, the more of a "to-do" the take-off is, the more equipment you need for the launch. And every bit of equipment you need to take with you is that much more fuel you need to leave Earth, which is less room you have for the equipment, etc.
I think the *technology* is all there, depending on what you call "technology". We can plot a course, we have the life support, the batteries for said life support, the ships could be made, etc.
But there are still some issues. Everything Unitedcats said about testing in the right conditions and the effects of weightlessness and isolation on humans are still outstanding issues. But there are still some other things:
Fuel for the return mission. Taking off from the moon to return to Earth was nothing compared to returning from Mars. Mars is an Earth-like planet with an Earth-like escape velocity. And all you have to do is look at a standard Nasa launch to see how much fuel it takes to launch a craft into space from a planet with near Earth-like gravity. Also, the more of a "to-do" the take-off is, the more equipment you need for the launch. And every bit of equipment you need to take with you is that much more fuel you need to leave Earth, which is less room you have for the equipment, etc.
12
keywords: the,have,with,Disagree,amp,development,technology,years,will,NASA,has,few,it,of,to,research,all,or,Agree,Agree or Disagree: NASA has all the technology (or will have it with a few years of research & development) to