Landing up on an inhabited island thousands of kilometers from here is a huge shot in the dark, but you know you got air and fish, and you can survive even if your seeds don't grow, and you know you can leave if the island is not ideal for survival.
But on Mars, you don't have proper air and you don't have wild life for food. And you cannot easily leave for other better places.
Re:Domes are overrated
by grabbalacious on Sunday December 08, 2019 @10:01AM
(#21736170)
>But on Mars, you don't have proper air and you don't have wild life for food.
Good point. It would make sense to send robots in advance to manufacture huge stockpiles of air and food. Which is of course beyond present technology.
I meant it's most unlikely to successfully reach said island. There'd have been many more who'd tried and died trying.
Once the location is established, regular trade becomes much more feasible.
Re:Domes are overrated
by grabbalacious on Sunday December 08, 2019 @09:59AM
(#21736158)
Yes, there's no guarantee of finding a destination. That's one form of idiocy. Another, from today's point of view, is killing all the inhabitants (if any) upon arrival.
There would have been indications in wave pattern. And they knew how to read these, as well as meteorological hints and knowledge of tides.
Nevertheless, in the context of this discussion, landing up on an inhabited island thousands of kilometres from here is a huge shot in the dark, and most hopeful colonists would have missed.