It takes too long to get to mars and back IMO for a mission there to be feasible and there are too many political issues that would have to be settled first. 

 

With long term space missions, the astronauts have to make special accommodations to keep their bodies healthy because they would deteriorate otherwise in a zero gravity environment.  It takes a lot of food to feed a person so to feed a crew of 100-200, you’d need a ton of room to grow everything plus you’d have a lot of people unhappy they can’t get a burger or a steak.

 

A nuclear power plant?  We are starting to run into a power shortage here in the US, our nuclear plants are getting too old and we haven’t been able to build a new one in over 20 years.  I think there’d be too much fear of the shuttle or rocket transporting it blowing up during launch or in orbit to allow something like that to happen.

 

Then you’d have to worry a lot about crew composition.  In the early 70s, it wasn’t as big a problem when we had a bunch of guys going to the moon, today an all-male crew would be a tougher sell.  So are you going to add women to the crew?  If yes, you are going to have to expect some hanky-panky going on and account for it somehow.

 

What about pregnancy?  Are you going to encourage it for research purposes?  Are you going to have the facilities and people on board who can deliver a child as well as enough baby food on board in the event that a baby or 3 do come along?  Are you going to require the women to take birth control for two-three years or have the facilities on board to have an abortion?  Or is everyone going to be sterilized in some way?  Every decision you make is going to cause controversy and if you do allow unsterilized women on board, you are going to have to add extra weight for their reproductive “needs”, whatever you’ve deemed those to be, and have to do defend the costs and morality associated with the decision.

 

What about religion?  If you do have a small community instead of a small crew, they may ask for a pastor.  Now it’s a right for the crew members to practice their own religion.  But if you bring a priest on board the ship, that’s going to cause atheist lawsuits because there is going to be prayers and possibly marriages and communions.  Atheists won’t like that.  Now if you only choose atheists or agnostics well then you are being discriminatory against other religions.  If you tell people they can’t be religious while on board you are denying them their human rights.

 

Finally who’s going to be the first person to step on Mars?  With Apollo 11 we had the choice between 2 white guys so it wasn’t an issue.  However if we have a diverse crew going to Mars and a white guy is the first person to step on Mars, we are racist and sexist for letting a white man be first again.  However if a woman or a non-white steps on Mars first there are still going to be charges of sexism and/or racism because that person will have allegedly been choose specifically because they weren’t a man or a white.  Then you’d have a counter allegation and instead of a great moment for humanity, you’d leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth over allegations of (reverse) sexism/racism.  Plus you'd ruin the experience for the person who made that first step.  If that person decides to quote the bible or makes a religious statement, it’s going to cause a stir.  If that person isn’t allowed to, it’s denying him his rights and will cause a stir.

 

I’m sorry for bringing politics into this discussion, but do you guys see where I am going with this?  I’ve tried to keep things neutral but in order for a mission to mars, especially one with a larger crew, there are going to have to be a lot more things you will have to take into account before hand and you are going to have to realize there are going to be a ton of ramifications no matter what course you choose to pursue.  So if you are planning to make it another great moment for humanity instead of fodder for a political fight, lots of things will have to be worked out first.

WARK!

Thus Spoketh Winterclaw: a blog about a Winterclaw who speaks from time to time.

 

(using Poser Pro 2014 SR3, on 64 bit Win 7, poser units are inches.)