It looks like Taber and Jane haven’t given up yet. But they need to give up the SLS fantasy.
5 thoughts on “Mars 2021 Flyby”
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It looks like Taber and Jane haven’t given up yet. But they need to give up the SLS fantasy.
Comments are closed.
In seven years the two of them could probably ride on a 100 passenger MCT, at far less cost. Whenever a flyby happens it puts a lot of issues to rest.
Paragon is certainly no flash in the pan.
It is amazing how little impact recent findings on the impact of prolonged micro-gravity on the human body seems to be filtering through to the “Mars or Bust” advocates. Folks need to recognize that the different between going to Moon and Mars is much more than mere Delta-V.
http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/10/astronaut-feels-spaces-toll-on-his-body/
[[[Because when Barratt blasted off to the international space station, he needed eyeglasses for distance. When he returned to Earth, his distance vision was fine, but he needed reading glasses. That was more than two years ago. And he’s not getting better.]]]
[[[This raises a red flag for all of NASA’s plans for long-duration human space flight. The space station is supposed to be the test bed for how humans would learn to live in space, but it opens profound questions on whether humans will ever venture to Mars or to an asteroid if they are unable to figure out how the outer-space environment is affecting the eyes.]]]
[[[That means there could be other effects on the body that haven’t become apparent.]]]
The more we learn about the effects of micro-gravity, the more it appears that IF NASA had rushed to Mars after Project Apollo it would have ended in tragedy.
Some of these people may knowingly accept the risks that are known and those that are unknown. The question is whether or not they will let their medical records be used for research.
What a surprise. Going into the unknown has consequences. Let’s all stay home and not read about it because everybody else is staying home as well.
Weep for the human race. It’s over.
…or perhaps not. People with vision and resources still exist.
Agree with Ken that SpaceX is far likelier to get to Mars before anyone else, including Inspiration Mars, but also including NASA, both of which have the same showstopper on their critical paths – reliance on SLS.
Also agree with Tom M. that there’s a shitload we don’t know about the effects of prolonged microgravity and what we do know isn’t particularly reassuring. Mars will be hard if done cleverly. It’ll be downright impossible if done stupidly.