In a major new report, scientists build rationale for sending astronauts to Mars

arstechnica.com

5 pointssmurda3 comments

The committee ... was asked to identify the highest-priority science objectives for the first human missions to Mars.

"Defining objectives" is not the same as "building rationale".

"Defining objectives" takes the rationale as a given.

Putting mass into space is expensive.... And given how low gravity is on some places like the moon....wouldn't going to the moon first make more sense.

The moon is literally free mass, its already in space and we just need to refine it.

The moon is also closer to the earth so it can be used as a launch off point.

See the work anthrofuturism has done on YouTube.

This has been discussed before, but even with the Moon, it takes a lot of energy to reach it.

The Moon is useful because its low gravity making construction of large craft easier, but you still have to get people and food there.

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