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A comment on Target Venus not Mars for first crewed mission to another planet, experts say. Parent comment

Re:Target Venus not Mars for first crewed mission to another... by AstralStorm on Sunday September 25, 2022 @06:07PM (#32976876)
Indeed, we should rather attempt sending such a ship in one piece to the moon first. Right now we would have problems actually assembling such a craft. Note how long and cost intensive it was to assemble a bigger space station.

Gateway program is such a baby step, assembling a base in moon orbit.

Ultimately, we would need an orbital facility to assemble bigger ships well without paying the immense costs of ultra heavy launches.

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Re:Target Venus not Mars for first crewed mission to another... by eganist on Monday September 26, 2022 @08:31AM (#32982278)
This is also why a moon base makes so much sense:

* short enough that radiation issues can be swerved.

* can build shielded moon bases (or dig them?) to protect people on the moon itself.

* can mine the resources for and build heavy, shielded ships on the moon itself and launch far more cheaply.

* can also build (on the moon) the shuttles needed to ferry people from earth orbit out to the moon, making it so that the only people exposed to any radiation at all are the first crew to arrive on the moon and stand up a moon base.

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