Uhm what about the moon??

[Xavier_Onassis]

It would make sense to send supplies in advance of colonists. But again, i do not see Earth colonizing Mars for many, many years. A century or more.

[Plane]

http://www.space.com/21005-mars-one-colony-applications.html

About 78,000 people have applied to become Red Planet colonists with the nonprofit organization Mars One since its application process opened on April 22, officials announced today (May 7). Mars One aims to land four people on the Red Planet in 2023 as the vanguard of a permanent colony, with more astronauts arriving every two years thereafter.
 
"With 78,000 applications in two weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired job in history," Mars One CEO and co-founder Bas Lansdorp said in a statement. "These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants."

http://www.space.com/


Hey at $40 per application , ....

[kimba1]

I'm not sure colony is the right word. Outpost with people spending thier whole life there. Getting there hatd enough but sending enough people for a self sustaining colony? Technology may change even faster as each supply ship arives to the point. A real colony will get sent there

I want to go but I know I can't pass the physical. I won't be able to the survive the launch.sigh...
It's crazy dreaming of space flight and now know it's doable.

[Xavier_Onassis]

It's crazy dreaming of space flight and now know it's doable.

==================================
Not to Mars, and if it every is possible, it will be only with billions of someone else's money.

I have reconciled myself to the fact that I will never leave this planet alive.

The chances that any part of me will leave it when dead also seem most unlikely.

But for a modest $40 you can join the club and dream about it.

[Plane]

It is like a lotto ticket.

But you would need to be fit, young and able to learn a lot of new skills.

[kimba1]

fail on all three counts.
my only chance now is be andy Griffith and assemble some army surplus stuff and go myself

[Xavier_Onassis]

It is not like a lotto ticket, it is like a club for people who dream of winning a lottery that does not exist.

But it could be fun to discuss the dreams the members have about living on Mars.

$40 seems like a fair price. One day at Disney World will set you back more than twice that (now $95).

[kimba1]

Just realize another factor on how hard to get a return trip. Mars and earth will not be the same distance on the way back and more likely be farthur since the flight to mars will be the shortest. These launch dates are not random times.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Again, I would say that if there is ever a colony of Earthlings on Mars, it is not happening for another century or more.

Perhaps it will be more like the Era of Universal Autogyros predicted in the 1950's.

[kimba1]

That entirely depends on how far we advance. If our demand for better technology has a collateral effect which make better space travel possible. Then it maybe faster than we think. Better shielding means more durable sattelites. Better sattelite internet requires less space junk. Means better space crafts for cleanups. Innovation is not a straight line. I remember neil degrasse tyson explain that a MRI technology was actually based on the radio telescope and we shouldnt think oneway was will lead to predictable results.

It's too bad america is out of the game and the rest of the world will now get to space. Our astronaut will be hitching rides from now on.

This might mean our more space minded innovators will be leaving america since thier not likely getting work here.

[Xavier_Onassis]

It's too bad america is out of the game and the rest of the world will now get to space. Our astronaut will be hitching rides from now on.

This might mean our more space minded innovators will be leaving america since thier not likely getting work here.

===============================================================================
I really doubt this. NASA is simply not sending people into space. That does not mean that they have abandoned all exploration.
Exploration does not require people in space. In many cases unmanned ships can make discoveries that manned flights could never make, because to do so would be fatal because of the temperature, radiation or other factors.

The Air Force increasingly does not need pilots. Drones piloted from far away can do a better job. In the same way, space expeditions do not require humans. I think that discontinuing manned flights temporarily was a wise decision, certainly economically and perhaps technologically as well.

[kimba1]

maybe
I`m in the camp the manned aspect pushes advancement due to the higher requirements involved. ex. computers if left to the engineers our computers will likely not have advance to far . designing them to be used by normal consumers has greater advanced their functions. remember the only folks who liked vista were the engineers.

Steve jobs understood consumers because he did customers service to understand the exact needs of his clients.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Much can be learned about making manned flights successful by making unmanned flights.

I do not see Mars expeditions of any sort as being a consumer product like Windows.

There was a lot of work done in the field of computers before it was even remotely possible to make a personal computer. The first of these were quite computer unfriendly: paper tape, banks of switches, teensy memories. Tape drives, disk drives and hard drives were all adapted from mainframe computers.

I remember using an Apple 2e at Barry University. It was not user friendly at all. My Commodore 64 and my TI-994A were far easier to use.

But again, I do not see a parallel between PC's and Mars expeditions. I do not see a good reason to accelerate Mars expeditions with manned personnel. We have been to the Moon, and probably we could learn a lot more about the Moon with unmanned expeditions. We are not going to see our astronauts leave NASA for other countries, because other countries (so far only Russia) are not doing anything that we have not already done.

[Plane]

Just realize another factor on how hard to get a return trip. Mars and earth will not be the same distance on the way back and more likely be farthur since the flight to mars will be the shortest. These launch dates are not random times.

Right , there is an ideal launch every two years, returning at other times has a time and fuel penalty.

[kimba1]

When windows cameout bill gates didn't see a need for storage beyond 500mg. He thinks like an engineer. No concept of the potential demands of the consumer. Remember when steve jobs came back he didnt do computers. Ipod stated the ball rolling. A ultra portable jukebox that fits in the pocket that anyone can use with a computer. First stage of consumer engineering. If you look at most of apple device are not meant for business but the general masses . As i said before space travel maybe a byproduct of us simply wanting better internet. Remember cellular internet is extremly underpower and expensive and more advance satelite technology is much needed.