Will humans ever inhabit Mars?

Question

As discussion grows on the subject, Mars is the most hospitiable planet within our range for humans to inhabit. The question is, will we ever?

Answer 1

By 2050, humans should be fairly well established on Mars, but it will take centuries to fully terraform the surface. I would envision automated spacecraft redirecting icy comets to Mars to build up the water supply and provide organics to aid in the terraforming. Harvesting comets will also provide the rocket fuel we need to spread out into the solar system.

By harvesting comets and near earth asteroids, maybe we can prevent one of these from slamming into the Earth again and causing mass extinction.

Answer 2

Not for quite some time. It takes quite some time to get there, even more to get back - a couple of years each way.

Mars' atmosphere is less than 1/10th of ours, with little free oxygen. Most hospitable isn't saying much.

I think that we would need to have a long-term, successful lunar base before we could consider Mars for permanent habitation. We would need the experience of multiple years working and living in a place without a breathable atmosphere, plus having the industrial base on the moon to build the next satellite.

Answer 3

Mars is the most hospitable planet to choose from within our Solar System, however, the distance from Earth to Mars requires flights of roughly one year duration, and the maximum payload would be EXTREMELY limited as far as
drop - off payload is concerned because the space ship would have to retain sufficient supplies and fuel/air/water for the return flight to Earth.

As a result, it is not reasonable to assume that large, thriving communities or even small, permanent settlements could be established on Mars anytime soon. Please sit down and consider the total amount of Air, Food and Water one person would consume in One Year multiplied by the total crew number...that is a huge amount of consumeable provisions.

Next remember the last time you saw the Space Shuttle blast off of the launch pad consumeing all of its fuel and dropping off the external booster rockets. We would need to do that at launch from Earth and again at launch from Mars, plus manuvering and the various landing, brakeing flight adjustments...LOTS of Fuel.

One error, anywhere along the way is equivalent to a major disaster.

Answer 4

Well, there will have to be another Flash Gordon movie. Buster Crabbe, et al, filmed those movies on Mars but nobody wanted to stay there back then in the 1940s. Hollywood was too much a happenin place, dig. And the war was gettin costly, whoa.

Answer 5

if we don't kill each other first

Answer 6

I don't think so.