Article written by Adam

18 responses to “We MUST Go to Mars”

  1. Nicolas Ward

    Have you read Zubrin’s “The Case for Mars”? It’s a bit out of date now, since the Orion program didn’t exist at the time, but he was arguing strongly for a Saturn V type booster that would send a capsule directly from the launchpad to Martian transit, with no assembly time in Earth orbit (and certainly no detours to the moon).

    1. Adam Pieniazek

      Haven’t read the book, but have heard a lot about it and read a lot of articles revolving around the info he wrote about in the book. It’s on my list though. The big thing Zubrin seems to argue for is not having a moon landing type trip, but with the first trip putting in building blocks for future trips and a more permanent establishment. I’m all for it.

      With the length of the trip (2-3 years total depending on where Earth and Mars are at), the trip needs to be direct, assembly time wastes time and resources that should be spent on moving forward.

      In either case, I don’t think the major limitation is technology, but rather politics/economics. If we ingrain that space exploration is a critical aspect of our budget, and fund it as such, we could be on Mars within the next ten years. From my perspective, if we’re spending so much on banks and wars, let’s spend even more on Mars.

  2. Ari Herzog

    Unsure if you know the facts, but a human trip to Mars is within NASA’s future framework. See http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/mars/

    1. Adam Pieniazek

      Thanks Ari, did know about that but from my understanding the program isn’t being funded enough to make it viable. It’s a start, but without giving NASA a much bigger Mars budget, it won’t lead us anywhere soon.

  3. Denver Engagement Photographer

    I read the cosmos as teenager, and thought it was great!… I too wonder what mars has to offer. I just want them to find bacteria so that people can prove that life exists outside of earth. As soon as that happens, I’ll be happy.

    1. Adam Pieniazek

      Agreed, love the way Sagan approached it as science but with a creative “let’s imagine” method. He really knew how to get the wheels spinning in our minds about these grand ideas.

      Finding bacteria would be great, one thing I’m curious about is if we can ever verify that bacteria didn’t come from one of our devices we’ve sent to Mars. I know they’re sterilized, but can we be 100%?

      1. Denver Engagement Photographer

        Well I was refereing to either A fossilized bacteria in the rocks, or B. Bacteria that’s only discoverred in rock cores. If those are the cases, then I think you can be pretty sure it didn’t come from us. That and the likely hood that the bacteria would have the same DNA as some bacteria here on earth is really small. I think if it did have the same dna it wouldnt be the same kind of win.

  4. Michele Martel

    what bothers me is that we can people in space and explore mars and the outer reaches of our galaxy but we can’t cure cancer or leukemia? If we put the brains of this country into really something worth fight for we could help more people

    1. Adam Pieniazek

      Well, Michele, I think you’re downplaying how tough it is to cure cancer. Getting a crew to Mars is relatively simple, get enough fuel, plot the course, and go. The logistics of it are extremely tough, and space is an un-forgiving place where small mistakes could be compounded, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s point, shoot, go.

      Cancer on the other hand, and let me note I’m not a doctor, uses the body’s immune system against you. That’s a very, very difficult thing to combat. With space, we know how to, with cancer, we don’t even know how to combat it yet.

  5. Mike

    I wouldn’t mind risking going to Mars if the government would make me rich and cut out my takes for it hehe 🙂

  6. Squeenix

    I think they were sceduling a trip to mars sometime in 2028, I read it in national geographic

  7. Brain

    Yes!!! WE go to Mars only after 2000 years !

  8. ccna lab

    I love this kind of posts. Keep up the good work!

  9. Online Ordination

    Well mars is not my first choice. The gravity there is just too light to be able to believe that Earth evolved animals will not have major problems without some sort of centrifuge gravity assist. Plus there is just enough atmosphere to blow around dust but never be breathable. I would go to an big asteroid (Ceres) with a smaller gravity well.

  10. kimlovesu

    Yes we must visit and put a man on mars, I love looking at the stars and night wondering where is the end to space,or is there others out there looking back at us.

  11. smith6237

    Always a mystery & a everyone is very curious to know about mars & what mars is all about.
    I want to go there if life is possible there & a gaurantee of coming back to my town.

    Regards !
    Smith

  12. P. Veazey

    Yes, mankind must venture out into space if he is to survive.

  13. accutane

    Well if you felt goosebumps go up & down your arms when you thought about it then..well when I thought about it..after I read your part of the post where you talked about the posibility of a global attempt..and everyone working together…well suffice to say I felt those goosebumps myself…would be nice to see something connecting the world instead of separating it..and such a grand goal the 1st man on Mars could just be it…and we do have the money…just look at how much the army of each country costs…take that money from each country and sum it up..and I am sure you would get more than enough money for not only that but for all future space projects…