One of the first hurdles we need to get over when we try to bring civilians into space is the length of time it takes to reach our destination. So far, it would usually take months to get from Earth to nearby planets like Mars. Going to the Moon is shorter which usually just takes three days. But if we're thinking of living in Mars someday, would we be able to get there in a shorter span of time?
Let’s say that you wanted to visit Mars using a chemical rocket. You would blast off from Earth and go into low Earth orbit. Then, at the right moment, you’d fire your rocket, raising your orbit from the Sun. The new elliptical trajectory you’re following intersects with Mars after eight months of flight.
We need to go faster. It turns out NASA has been thinking about what comes next after chemical rockets for almost 50 years. Nuclear thermal rockets. They definitely speed up the journey, but they’re not without their own risks, which is why you haven’t seen them. But maybe their time is here.
-via Real Clear Science
(Image credit: AEC-NASA/Wikimedia Commons)
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Chris brought up an interesting point: the motive for most if not all historical explorations were commerce and financial gain. We won't truly move into space until there's money to be made there.
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I keep hearing people say that, but I don't see how it's true. If we're really worried about extinction level events, shouldn't we prioritize self-sufficient habitats first? If we had 10,000 truly independent biomes around the world, then there are very few extinction level events which could destroy all of them, and not also destroy other human habitations in the solar system. At the very least, we know that humans can reproduce at 1g - we don't know if we can at 1/3rd g. And certainly people in the high latitudes, or dry cold deserts, would be willing to pay for the sorts of technology only a fraction of the way to what's needed for a self-sustaining Mars colony.
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Should Christopher Columbus not navigate the seas or should we have gone to the moon. We are explorers and space is next. We certainly don’t want to leave all our eggs in one basket just playing Russian roulette with what space will deliver us, namely an extinction level event.
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