Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society has produced a DVD highlighting the case for Mars and envisions the first settlement being established by 2018 (note: is it me or is that date somehow familiar?).
You can watch the video below, although you can also check it out over on The Mars Underground web site.
Although he makes an interesting case for settlement of Mars within the next ten years, his organization does not seem to be brave enough to produce a road map highlighting the journey towards the red planet.
Many people have debated whether we should skip the Moon and heads towards Mars, or to colonize our lunar neighbor first. Although settling on Mars (within our lifetime) would be a step forward for our species, simply going without "beta testing" on the moon would be disastrous.
It would only take one serious problem on Mars to end human exploration beyond Earth's orbit, as the public would probably lose heart watching their own die on a world millions of miles away.
The Moon, however would provide a more fitting choice, as it would prepare for the eventual leap towards Mars, allowing us to colonize the planet for the long term.
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If Zubrin wants this by 2018 he's got a ton o' work ahead of him.
ReplyDeleteI am no expert of course - but I am good in my own narrow field at gauging when it's possible to get a given amount of work done. There isn't a whole lotta time left to get it done by 2018.
Unless he's just grabbing a year that is in the future but not so far in the future. If so it reinforces (at least in my mind) how much of a good idea it was to push our official 'Lift Day' to 2031.
No one could take a 2018 for first settlement date seriously. Criminy they don't even have a contractor to build their ship, let alone the infrastructure they'll need.