Top Reasons NASA Should Not Send Astronauts to Mars First

There are many reasons why NASA should send astronauts to Mars, but in my opinion, the answer is yes, but not next, and maybe robots should be sent when they do send a mission. The reason for my opinion is a matter of weight. We learned on the Oregon trail that if you bring the piano, the china, the kitchen sink, it gets dumped by the wayside, usually after someone dies. Humans will migrate into the solar system, it is just a matter of time, but when they do, they should do so from space, preferably from the location of the resources that will be used on the trip and probably obtained from the Earth's moon.

Moon Resources Will Help Make A Mars Project More Cost Effective

The cost of lifting any resources from the Moon is one-sixth that of lifting them off of Earth's gravitational field. The list of resources includes water, oxygen, nitrogen, titanium to build vehicle frames, thorium and/or other fuel sources maybe even hydrocarbons, even gravel for building gardens[1, pg.269]. And when we can build all the necessary tools, space crafts and heavy necessities of sustaining life outside Earth's gravitation, then NASA or better yet, some world space organization, businesses and colonists should go but after considerable robotic surveys have been performed.

NASA Doesn't Own Mars Nor Does Anyone Else

Because NASA does not own Mars, the legal requirements for working and using space resources needs to be spelled out. In "Who Owns the Moon" by Virgiliu Pop, a number of legal problems are spelled out for all space objects including the fact that "space objects" have no solid meaning, the difference between ownership, claiming and usage, the lack of legal authority to offer up leases[2 pgs 12,48-49,etc.]. Pop as well Schmitt [1] also points out the existence of laws applicable to similar circumstances i.e. shorelines, mid-ocean resources, the Antarctica Treaty.

Until the world governments do so, either business will not be able to take the risk of lawsuit due to their use of space resources or business will take lease and then justify their continued use and existence via squatting laws. Rather than NASA which is a national organization, a world organization should take on the duties to control space activities and one that has the resources to put behind their new clout and this will take time.

Risk of Death in the Line of Duty for Astronauts

Migration always carry risks and the risk of death is no different now than at any time in human development, the causes just change. There have been deaths and failures in the space program[3,pgs 15,51]. Before we go to Mars, NASA or a World Organization needs to step up to the responsibility of providing the safety protection that businesses and colonists will need when they take the step to move into space as the FAA does for airplane flights in the United States and that organization doesn't exist and this will take time to set up.

Robots Can Perform Many of the Actions an Astronaut Can Perform

The Haughton-Mars HMP Project tested simulated operations from an Arctic outpost that resembled conditions found on Mars in 2000[4], and found that robots couldn't go places that humans could go and can unstick themselves. But robots like the Phoenix, Mars robot can drill for rock, collect samples and do chemical analysis[6]. Robots can also perform advance decision making and analysis functions and run for a good number of years as suggested by Furfaro etal [5], even if they can't deal with unexpected developments.

Benefits for a Few Don't Justify the Large Amount of Resources to Get to Mars

The touchy US economy makes it sensitive to how money is spent and some question that the resources are better spent on improving the quality of life at home. But the truth is that when times are bad, people (e)migrated. Problems never all get solved. So the best target for a space program should be that it will provide the benefits that nurture business and colonists, not science exclusively-even though many scientific studies yield benefits for all humanity. Then every tax dollar spent on the space program is achieving maximal benefits and everyone will have an equal right to go.

Tourists Can Barely Afford Weightlessness Trips Much Less Mars

The vacation in space won't work with Mars because of the distance involved unless improvements are made to the propulsion systems of space vehicles.

[1] Harrison H. Schmitt, "Return to The Moon", Praxis Publishing, 2006

[2] Virgiliu Pop, "Who Owns the Moon?", Space Regulations Library Vol. 4, 2009

[3] Roger Handberg and Zhen Li, "Chinese Space Policy",

[4] William C. Clancy, "Automating CAPCOM Pragmatic Operations and Technology Research for Mars", http://www.arctic-mars.org/

[5] http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/pdf/fact_sheet.pdf

[6] Roberto Furfaro, Jeffrey S. Kargel, Jonathan I Lunine, Wolfgang Fink, Michael P. Bishop, "Identification of cryovolcanism on Titan using fuzzy cognitive maps, Planetary and Space Science, 3/12/2009