Re:Elon Musk of SpaceX: The Goal is Mars
by noonespecial on Friday August 03, 2012 @02:28AM
(#4332831)
I think its actually harder to live long-term on the moon than mars, although much easier to get too. With no atmosphere
and a 28 day sun cycle, there's lots of radiation and heat to deal with along with that 14 day night where solar doesn't work. The rovers that are on mars right now wouldn't last long on the moon at all.
Both places require pressure suits, but the Moon is a hard vacuum, which means you can do the usual vacuum industry tricks, while Mars has just enough atomosphere to rule out vacuum applications, but not enough atmosphere to breathe. Maybe in five thousand years we will have terraformed a breathable atmosphere, but in the near future it will be a neat place to plant a flag, like the top of Everest, but certainly not a place you'd like to live.