if man can go to the moon, certainly they can go far away worlds if we get our heads of the sand of this already dying earth.
2006-08-02 09:25:38 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Dude... I wouldn't be so quick to make such an assumption. The moon is approximately 235,000 miles away and has only 15% of Earth's gravity... Mars is something like a whole order of magnitude further and has nearly the same gravity as Earth. If we are going to put a person on the planet surface and retrive them, then we have to have a sustainible life support system that will effectively offer fresh oxygen and scrub out exhaled CO2.... and Mars itself has only 10% of the Earth's atmosphere which is mostly CO2... So they would require life support for the entire trip there, on the surface and back. How are you going to store that much oxygen and dispose of that much CO2?
Then you have to figure out a way to feed the astronauts while they are on their way there and back.
Once you've solved these two problems, then you need to figure out how much fuel it would take to not only escape Earth's gravity, but after you land, you have to have enough fuel to escape Mars' gravity to get back home. Do you have any idea how much fuel that is and how much all of that must weigh? I don't either, but the more weight you put up, the more fuel it takes to get it off the ground.
There are several problems.... And there may very well be answers to them that I am not aware of, but going to the Moon is third grade work compared to going to Mars.
2006-08-02 09:59:34 · answer #1 · answered by hyperhealer3 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, Bush said a while back that they are going for the Moon and Mars in the next 25 years.
Personally, I don't think it will get funded. Also, I believe that we will explore the frontiers of space with robots. We have been doing it for couple years on Mars at a tiny fraction of the cost of manned missions.
The robotics will get better to a point where most people will think it silly to waste so much time, money and lives sending people out there.
It sounds sad to people that there may not be Christoper Columbus's in space, finding new frontiers, but just look at what is happening in technology. It's all about communication and real-time display. When probes go to the planets, and the robots of the future (and I mean only decades) go exploring, everyone will receive reality pictures on advanced TVs at such a level that it will feel like you are personallly exploring the planets.
That way, we all get to explore space, not just the lucky few. Just like we all have the internet, when 20 years ago it was only for academics at universities to talk to each other.
Space reality TV is coming.
2006-08-02 16:36:56 · answer #2 · answered by nick s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Talk to the Chinese...we didn;t go to the moon because we had the technology to do it. We went because we didn't want the Russians to beat us. We're only going to go to Mars if it looks like someone else will beat us...that would be the Chinese most likely.
If I were a betting man, I wouldn't bet on it happening in my lifetime. Despite Bush's grand announcement, congress is not, and is unlikely to be soon, in the mood to fund such an endeavor.
P.S. The Earth isn't dying...far too many people have their heads buried in that pessimistic sand pit.
2006-08-02 16:34:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please read:"The Case for Mars" by Robert Zubrin, PhD for a serious nuts and bolts engineering discussion of a low cost trip to Mars and back. It is available on Amazon and many local book stores.
2006-08-02 21:08:25 · answer #4 · answered by Sciencenut 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably in the next two or three generations.
2006-08-02 16:43:11 · answer #5 · answered by RG 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋