(Untitled)

[interamnia]

Having borrowed it from the library, I've just finished Robert Zubrin's 1996 book: The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must.

It's an interesting read.

Zubrin, rightly appalled by the likely 450G$ pricetag of any Mars' mission which followed NASA's 1989 90-day study, realised that there had to be a cheaper way to get

Comments

[rfmcdpei]

In Zubrin's mind, the only method to regain some semblance of this golden age of US history (a time including, I note, a hideous Civil War, segregation & slavery, few rights for women, etc...) is To Build A New US on Mars.

Hey! What about the rest of the planet?

[interamnia]

The bitter sceptic in me might ask "why would the US care about the rest of the planet in this case, when they apparently don't care across a multitude of other issues?"

To be fair, Zubrin does raise the "Sagan model" (international co-operation, multiple flags on the lander, all switches marked in English, Russian, Manx and Tagalog) but dismisses it as "liable to have cost over-runs and the need to bale out nations who can't deliver the technology or cough up the cash."

He clearly prefers a Conservative, free enterprise and - dare I whisper it? - Libertarian model, where some Heinleinesquian D. D. Harriman
is willing to bankroll the adventure.

In this case, of course, the only conceivable benefactor's benefit is that rather Viking-like one (and maybe that's appropriate, given that this is Mars) of being remembered in the sagas long after death.

[pompe]

Somehow, these people never ask "Why".

[interamnia]

George Mallory's "because it's there" can, occasionally, provide answer enough. If the technology's available, and the funding is present, and we accept that humans can be just a little bit crazy sometimes, then I'd prefer the simple honesty of a (child-like) "why not?".

[pompe]

It is not really a little bit. It is a rather complicated, time-consuming and costly as well as a sizable bit. I'm not sure I think humans are crazy enough right now.