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Going to Mars on a one-way trip is dumb. First of all, it's not another place on Earth we're talking about: there's no life-sustaining ecosystem there, and here on Earth we've managed to have colonization fail in places where there happened to be all the necessary conditions to support human life.
Any outpost on Mars will be relying on supplies sent from Earth. Miss a couple of supply drops, and you'll have people dying out there in full view of an interconnected humanity which will watch with morbose fascination as your explorer/martyrs die horribly. Worst. PR. Ever.
What exactly would we be accomplishing by sending people there and marooning them in place? You need a sizable population in order to properly colonize. We're not Norsemen with axes in Greenland, on Mars you will need highly specialized and trained personnel. It takes time and money to train such people. Why do you think we have ejection seats on fighter planes? Because we care about the pilots? No, because a fighter pilot is worth a dumptruckload of money in training and his experience is very valuable. It's easier to manufacture planes than to train pilots. Same thing with astronauts or anyone you're planning to send on Mars - unless you want them to die along the way or shortly after touchdown.
And then if you want your colony to keep going for more than one generation you need means to train the next guys in line, who were born there. More infrastructure, more problems.
We cannot go to Mars to stay. Not for a very long time, which is becoming longer every day as we turn inward gazing at our collective, lint-filled navel. On the Moon at least you can come back in 3 days whenever you want if there's an emergency.
Any outpost on Mars will be relying on supplies sent from Earth. Miss a couple of supply drops, and you'll have people dying out there in full view of an interconnected humanity which will watch with morbose fascination as your explorer/martyrs die horribly. Worst. PR. Ever.
What exactly would we be accomplishing by sending people there and marooning them in place? You need a sizable population in order to properly colonize. We're not Norsemen with axes in Greenland, on Mars you will need highly specialized and trained personnel. It takes time and money to train such people. Why do you think we have ejection seats on fighter planes? Because we care about the pilots? No, because a fighter pilot is worth a dumptruckload of money in training and his experience is very valuable. It's easier to manufacture planes than to train pilots. Same thing with astronauts or anyone you're planning to send on Mars - unless you want them to die along the way or shortly after touchdown.
And then if you want your colony to keep going for more than one generation you need means to train the next guys in line, who were born there. More infrastructure, more problems.
We cannot go to Mars to stay. Not for a very long time, which is becoming longer every day as we turn inward gazing at our collective, lint-filled navel. On the Moon at least you can come back in 3 days whenever you want if there's an emergency.