Henry, excellent exposition of the uselessness of going to Mars with manned missions. And the illustration brings that home even stronger. The rover shown and many others, including a small helicopter, have done tremendous scientific exploration at much lower cost than would obtain for any manned mission..
The physicist Richard Feynman devoted a lecture to this topic of futility. Among other things (such as the prohibitive weight of the fuel needed for a return trip) he spoke of the Martian sand, which unlike Earth's air-and-water-smoothed granules, is spiky and razor-sharp, a fatal threat to our machinery, our suits, our bodies.
Henry, excellent exposition of the uselessness of going to Mars with manned missions. And the illustration brings that home even stronger. The rover shown and many others, including a small helicopter, have done tremendous scientific exploration at much lower cost than would obtain for any manned mission..
The physicist Richard Feynman devoted a lecture to this topic of futility. Among other things (such as the prohibitive weight of the fuel needed for a return trip) he spoke of the Martian sand, which unlike Earth's air-and-water-smoothed granules, is spiky and razor-sharp, a fatal threat to our machinery, our suits, our bodies.