Martian dust presents additional risks for future crewed missions to Mars(www.pnas.org)

8 pointsby gnabgib5 hours ago3 comments

AngryData2 hours ago
I don't know why we are even discussing people on Mars, we can't even make a self-sustaining biodome on Earth, how are we suppose to do that on another planet? Atleast a moonbase idea is potentially close enough and low enough gravity that people could potentially leave, receive supplies and equipment, or even have more people sent to help within a realistic timespan. What does Mars bring you? Less sunlight, an abrasive and harsh environment, 1 year+ for emergency supplies, and likely zero ability to actually leave Mars again.
Anyone who is trying to sell a Mars base is either ignorant, a moron, a massive grifter, or all of the above.
- Nevermarkan hour ago
  I don't understand the projection of one person's reasonable lack of enthusiasm, onto the entire human race.
  There are 8 billion of us. If a few want to make a go of it, you can be sure they will know the ridiculous challenges.
  Space travel costs are falling rapidly. The Solar System has vast resources that seem impossible to reach today, but won't be for long in historical terms.
  People still die climbing Mount Everest, for no purpose I can see. But I am not going to gripe if people continue making the climb.
  - AngryDataan hour ago
    But it isn't currently a difficult task, it is a literally impossible task with current knowledge and understanding.
    Once we can make a human-sustaining bubble on Earth, then maybe it would be worth trying to go for Mars. Right now claiming we can go to Mars and either return or live there is just as feasible as us going to and living at Alpha Centauri. It is pure sci-fi. Im closer to getting my legs replaced with robot legs that can outrun Usain Bolt than anybody is to colonizing another planet. Or building a secret base at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.
BatchJob3 hours ago
Elon first please. Elon first.
hexapus4 hours ago
Yet another reason that Mars colonisation is such a distant and stupid pipedream. I'm not saying humanity shouldn't strive to continue exploring, but if we can't live sustainably on the one habitable planet we already have, the idea of expanding to one that's objectively hostile as some sort of backup plan is pure delusion. Musk isn't a dreamer - he's a con man.
- rayiner4 hours ago
  The notion that we need to achieve utopia here before moving forward is so toxic. If people in the past had thought that way, we'd still be trying to make the perfect village in Africa.
  "Humanity" isn't a preschool classroom where we all hold hands and do one thing at a time like the teacher says. It's fine for some people to be working towards the future while others are trying to fix things in the present.
  - BatchJob3 hours ago
    People arent fixable
  - clipsy2 hours ago
    This seems like a response tediously intent on missing the point: if you genuinely want to build a sustainable settlement on Mars, you should start by proving out sustainable settlements in harsh environments on Earth -- you could build out sustainable settlements in the Antarctic, the depths of the Sahara, and under the ocean all with substantially less expense/risk than trying to build a sustainable settlement on Mars. You'd learn how to build better sustainable settlements by doing so and encounter some of the problems you'll encounter on Mars with less dire consequences. And you don't have to choose one or the other: you can parallel path it by continuing to improve rocketry while building up sustainability strategies in harsh environments on Earth. The fact that Musk is intent on reaching Mars as the only difficult problem just underscores that he is not serious about settling Mars (or, perhaps, that he simply isn't that bright).
    Nevermarkan hour ago
    The appeal to a false dichotomy.
    There is no reason that people who want to take on a ridiculous challenge shouldn't.
    > ...you could build out sustainable settlements in the Antarctic, the depths of the Sahara...
    That isn't an argument. I don't know what that is.
    People who die on their way up to Mount Everest could .... ? People who spend their lives playing games could ... ? What a strange way to think.
    Its good that different people really do want to do different things. Some of the best of have been taking on unbelievable challenges, pass or fail, live or die, since history began. Celebrate it.
  - hexapus2 hours ago
    Who said anything about a utopia? I'm just saying Mars isn't a backup plan.
- MiroslavPokorny4 hours ago
  Almost nobody stays over the winter in Antartica because its horrible and cold. Given Mars is significantly more hostile, what chance has anyone got in surviving there and remaining sane and well ?
  - ceejayoz4 hours ago
    No one's allowed to put down roots in Antarctica; colonization is explicitly forbidden by treaty.
    A couple thousand people live in Svalbard, though.