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Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by rurban on Friday April 14, 2023 @02:56PM (#35573335)
Mars will be much harder.

No chance to survive, hard radiation, rescue would need at least a year.

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by mensetmanusman on Friday April 14, 2023 @03:12PM (#35573500)
Water shields can mitigate the radiation damage.
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by kzrdude on Friday April 14, 2023 @03:08PM (#35573463)
Mars has sunlight and a more inspiring mission
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by kevin_thibedeau on Friday April 14, 2023 @03:44PM (#35573797)
So does Antarctica. She'd die there alone as well.
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by qup on Friday April 14, 2023 @04:28PM (#35574310)
She'd die in this cave alone!

She can still be the kind of person you want to send to Mars.

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by rurban on Saturday April 15, 2023 @04:03AM (#35578630)
True. When I look at their current training env in Houston, it looks much better than a dark cave, alone.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/apr/12/nasa-texas-h...

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by elihu on Friday April 14, 2023 @10:58PM (#35577263)
Radiation on Mars can be resolved in the same way, by living in a cave. I expect the first permanent settlements on Mars will either be in sealed sections of lava tubes or in underground artificial structures.
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by Teever on Saturday April 15, 2023 @01:25AM (#35577845)
I used to be irate when I would read these kinds of off the cuff comments about mars missions / colonization but I've come to realize that in 20 years I'll be able to look back and read these with amusement as I watch live streams of people on Mars doing crazy shit.
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by shjake on Saturday April 15, 2023 @03:06AM (#35578327)
I wonder what did the people living in the 60s think is going happen 20 years…
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by Teever on Saturday April 15, 2023 @10:44AM (#35581050)
I know that Von Braun expected humans to set foot on Mars by the late 1970s. If Von Braun thought that was possible it certainly was, if not for the pivot in budget that occured under Nixon.

For better or worse we're seeing a resurgence in privately funded space exploration which may be the key to making it happen this time.

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by Towaway69 on Sunday April 16, 2023 @01:30AM (#35587529)
Private companies are even worse in following long term goals especially if those goals become unprofitable.

Private companies can also go bust or be bought up by competitors only to be shutdown.

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by Teever on Sunday April 16, 2023 @08:35PM (#35595498)
I agree with these points but I can see no evidence that they apply to SpaceX.
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by Towaway69 on Monday April 17, 2023 @12:35AM (#35596897)
When banks fail do they broadcast the fact beforehand? It's always a "shock" when a company fails.

Just recently Virgin space (or whatever it was called) closed its doors. There wasn't a public debate beforehand, it was just announced. Sure insiders knew about it but not the broader public.

I'm not implying that spaceX is going shut its doors but it even less incentive to be transparent than a governmental organisation.

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by Teever on Monday April 17, 2023 @04:43AM (#35598205)
It isn't always a shock when a company fails, and Virgin Space is a prime example of that.

They flew something like a handful of missions in 20 years with an unscalable platform and to my knowledge they never once received money to put a payload into orbit.

They are totally incomparable to SpaceX, the company that is putting more tonnage into orbit than any other entity, corporate or governmental.

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by shjake on Monday April 17, 2023 @04:55AM (#35598273)
How could Space X even afford fund a mission to Mars? There is no way that can be profitable .

What they are doing now is cool but they are still a business which offers a launch services at a competitive price and a satellite internet provider themselves. How does an exceptionally expensive (especially in this financial environment) Mars mission fit into that.

I highly doubt Space X could ever realistically get to Mars before NASA. Artemis seems way more promising than SpaceX as far as manned space flight is concerned.

Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by Teever on Monday April 17, 2023 @12:51PM (#35603364)
How could SpaceX fund a mission to Mars? Honestly it sounds whack but I bet Musk could easily crowd fund it.
Re:Spanish climber emerges after 500 days in cave by shjake on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @02:32AM (#35610647)
He could have spent the money he paid on Twitter on it. Return on investment likely wouldn’t be much lower…