| Anyone interested in manned
spaceflight must check out The Case for
Mars, outlining Mars
Direct, a plan proposed by aerospace engineer Robert Zubrin.
In his book, Zubrin outlines the necessary steps to put men on Mars for
a price tag of $50 billion, or only a few years of present NASA
funding.
The primary cost-saving move is to manufacture all of the fuel needed
for
the return trip out of existing Martian resources (starting with some
imported
feedstock). Without the need to launch 40-some tons of return
fuel
(plus tanks), Zubrin estimates that the mission could be launched on
two
seperate 100-ton boosters (such as the Apollo-era Saturn V).
There are also some other intersting points discussed. Zubrin focuses on eliminating distractions such as an orbital or lunar base (given the enormous cost and negligible, if any, benefit to a Mars mission). While I think that those infrastructure ideas are a good idea in their own right, since they give us other capabilities, Zubrin makes an excellent case for delaying them until we wish to use those other capabilities; building only what we need for the Mars mission (at least as part of a Mars mission). Overall, I highly recommend this book (most of the info is on a website, but it is poorly organized and presented). Even if it means sacrificing other goals in the short term, following this plan will almost certainly put men on Mars at a reasonable cost, and give a technology driver for those of us who want to go farther. |