The Stinger

They didn't know if or how a man could operate in space, what kind effect it had and how to keep them alive and protect them during the week long trip. They had find out how to control the craft, their heading, re-entry, docking. How to land on the moon and get off. No matter how much of an accomplishment the wright biplane was, it didn't help NASA to get in to orbit, dock, land on the moon, rendezvous and survive the blazing heat of reentry. I give you the V2 for helping in rocketry and the Bell X-1 for showing that humans can survive going through the sound barrier. Although what you mentioned are great achievements, they pale in comparison to what they had to achieve in that decade to get people to the moon. The Sovjets didn't rush anything, they just didn't have the resources that the Americans had. Each of their launches were tests which learned from so they could fix it in the next launch, that's how they solved their lack of resources. It worked for them as they were first in everything: - first satellite - first animal in space - first man in space - first woman in space - first space walk - first lunar impact - first image of the far side of the moon - first unmanned spacecraft landing on the moon The reason why they lost was because Korolev died, he was responsible for all successes the Sovjets had in space.

What I missed in the Race to Mars is the people back on Earth. I know it's from the astronauts point of view, but they could at least show them how the world reacts. Like on Apollo 11 when mission control reads the telegrams for the crew. That brings me to "From the Earth to the Moon", which is a dramatized mini series of the Apollo Program. Each episode is a separate story about various aspects of the program, a whole episode about the LEM or Apollo 12 etc.

How about some procedural heatshields?

I know! Let's wait and see if we are wrong. Wouldn't it be fun if we are right and we leave the mess to next generation.

First off I never used the ISS as an example for shielding, only for life support. Get something lighter. What about a dirt throwing machine? http://www.sheyennemfg.com/index.php?p=cyclone The 2nd group would would land in their habitat module, which would be hooked up to the existing base and they bring new crops with them. Hows that hilarious? What made you come to the conclusion that Mars One has a high chance of failure and how did you get the 99,99%? The Moon is exposed more to cosmic radiation and dangerous secondary particles when they hit the surface. It's day lasts a month. Lower gravity, 1/16th of that of Earth's. You have a lot more science and exploration on Mars in terms of past or present life. Edit: To add to the discussion, who is planning to go to Mars? NASA? If funding keeps getting cut they wont get anywhere. Russian? Oh they want to go as they say, but they don't have a clear plan. Europe? They don't even have a manned craft. China? Seems like they are on track.

It provides the astronauts with drinkable water, breathable air and a comfortable atmosphere for almost 13 years. Hows that not proof? They just grow fine in space, Mars' gravity is in between zero gravity and Earth gravity. So there is no reason think that the plants wont grow the same. As we have done countless times. Shielding has been done countless times, I think we know how much it needs. You mentioned heavy equipment, I think they don't need it at all. You don't need it because they've got time on their side. To compensate for the FEW windows, I didn't say no windows at all. Probably something similar, at least not huge excavators sent from Earth. The base expanse via new settlers with their habitat modules and additional supplies. Sponsors, TV rights, investments, technology licenses, etc. Because we've already been there. A problem with the ocean floor is the huge pressure. Mars is a place which hasn't been physically explored by humans. Of course it will be hard, but proven technology already exist. Why waste money on a Moon base, when Mars provides condition similar to Earth? The Moon no mentionable atmosphere, a much lower gravity, higher radiation and it's tidally locked to Earth almost 30 days of Sun. And that's pretty sad, compared to all the useless thing humanity wastes it's money on.

With the 1/6th gravity of the Moon and the 1/1666th gravity of Phobos it's not a wise idea.

I know the ISS isn't self sustaining, but it shows you can setup a self sustaining environment. Tests on the ISS already have shown that plants grow just fine in zero gravity, they grow just like they do in 1g. There's also no reason to think there would be a problem. The only big problem is radiation, which you can shield yourself from. Still that's not a 10m² space in 30 years. Soil can help to shield against radiation, so most of the base could be underground. To compensate for the few windows, you can use external cameras which broadens your view of the surrounding area. Of course mining would take a long time, but that's not the main priority. But like with anything, you start small, so you don't need to ship huge equipment from Earth. Maybe none at all in the long run. As the base expands the food variety can expand too. Entertainment can be uploaded to the base computers, just like video messages from loved ones and other communications. A better life is subjective, if you want to be a settler on an other planet then this all seems very appealing. Digging up water from the soil, heating it up to extract the water and dumping the soil doesn't sound like a hard thing to do. You also have the return trip. According to the Mars One site: The 210-day journey Mars One settlers will take, amounts to radiation exposure of 386 +/- 63 mSv, considering these recent measurements as standard. Mars's surface receives more radiation than the Earth's but still blocks considerable amount. Radiation exposure on the surface is 30 µSv per hour during solar minimum; during solar maximum, dosage equivalent of this exposure is reduced by the factor two. If the settlers spend on average three hours every three days outside the habitat, their individual exposure adds up to 11 mSv per year. Now let's say they are 28 when they blast off and become the average age of 75. That's 47 years on Mars. 517 + 385 = 902 That under every space agencies limit. On the return trip you have to deal with zero gravity again. Failure of equipment is a bigger problem in space. Also micro meteorites are a greater threat. Among other threats. Insight will change that. What about all the biological experiments on the ISS which are in zero gravity? Curiosity has an atmospheric sampler and weather sensors. I think you under estimate how much we actually know about Mars.

Self-sustaining life support has already been proven, look at the ISS. But of course the astronauts on the ISS don't grow their own plants. You can use hydroponics, it's being used by commercial plant and vegetable companies. With 1/3rd of the Earth gravity there's no reason to think that a woman wont have a normal pregnancy. On Mars the radiation only comes from above and is partly block by the atmosphere. They won't be stuck in a small habitat module, the base will have additional module connected to it with each arriving group. There's also the additional hydroponics units, which are supposed to be larger than the habitat modules. They can also drill for water on Mars. Not that there's anything wrong with drinking recycled urine, because it's just water. Actually everyone on Earth is drinking recycled urine, only difference on Mars is that it doesn't include animal urine. It's more dangerous to send people back than to let them stay, as space is much more unforgiving than than Mars. We hardly know anything about Mars? What gives you that idea? It's the most examined and studied planet next to Earth.

But a round trip still needs to be self sustaining. Actually the best way to colonize Mars might be Mars Direct. Every succeeding mission adds their landing vehicle to the growing base.

No atmosphere means that the blood will instantaneously boil when it comes in contact with the vacuum of space and the blood vapor turns into a cloud of tiny frozen crystals as it looses it's heat.

You mean Mars One right instead of SpaceX. Thats why they evaluate the applicants, they will also be subjected to a secluded environment similar to the Mars outpost. What if they run out of money? They are self sustaining, so they don't need money to survive. They (might) need communications with Earth for various reasons. I can imagine, when the shows stops, some space agencies might step in(or even during the show) do offer in exchange for the exploration of Mars. What about the children? That's a whole debate in and of itself. But with out reproduction there is no colonization.

Actually the Kethane mod crashes in KSP.x86_64 on my computer. Runs fine on KSP.x86.

So what are these painfully obvious flaws then?

Throughout the history of mankind's pioneers have been ridiculed(or worse), in the end they changed mankind in a big way. Mars One is subject to the same ridicule. No one knows if they will succeed, although some think they can predict the future. "Don't judge a book by it's cover." fit's this discussion, if you look passed the introduction video(or the power point presentation), you'll see a non-profit organization who is passionate about an adventure which has been put on hold for far too long. We need to get people interested in Space, let them know it's not a waste of money.

When the computer simulation was displayed I thought "This is taking too long, I need to press the time warp button".

Whenever KSP loads a vehicle on the launchpad/runway/in orbit with a ISA dish attached, the game hangs for a minute and then just continues. It's pretty annoying. Anyway to fix this? Running Linux Mint.

Any mission with no return, one where the settlement can provide for itself, is one step closer for us to become an interplanetary species. And besides, any mission or plan to any destination should be applauded because we already have enough people complaining about space.

Great update, the icon loads now in Linux. Empty button is pretty handy too.

I'm currently updating the solar panel textures for the Dragon. Nothing to show yet, as I need to get Unity 3D to work in a virtual machine. =X

There's a plugin which blocks the end flight button.

Carbon nanotubes, is there something it can't do. It's problems like these that make us smarter.

There's a bug when you leave a crewed vehicle on the launchpad/runway and clear the runway while launching a new vehicle, the kerbal inside turns red in the roster and you can't add him to other vehicles. Edit: I've also have a suggestion. Could you add an option which starts the rockets/vehicles empty?

Why doesn't the Rockomax "Skipper" have it's own option? That's my favorite launch engine and the LV-N my favorite orbital and small celestial body engine.

That's an artist impression of what the Dragon Rider might look like and it's at least 1,5 years old. So it might have the same basic shape, but it might look very different.