Get Your Ass to Mars! (For Real)

**Gohron** · 28 Jun 2012, 01:56 AM

I don't feel like looking it up right now, but a private businessman had developed a prototype for a re-fuelable rocket that could dramatically reduce the costs of space launches (from something like $60 million per launch to around $200,000). His aim was/is to colonize Mars and the new rocket technology would make that much cheaper and plausible. From my understanding, the rockets will go back and forth, so that trips will not have to be permanent. Regardless, I have given this a good deal of thought. If the chance arises for me to participate (and with my education, it will be likely that I could participate), I wouldn't mind spending the second half of my life doing something like this. It depends on what type of colonization effort it would be though.

**Frogacuda** · 30 Jun 2012, 08:32 AM

I wonder how people live in Florida. I'm pretty sure I couldn't hack it on Mars. How bad does shit have to be for that to start looking good?

**Timber** · 30 Jun 2012, 05:14 PM

How can being one of the first people to colonize another planet ever look like a bad idea? If our species is going to survive for tens (or hundreds) of thousands of years we will have to leave Earth eventually. You have no interest in being one of the pioneers of all that?

I mean, yeah, it's going to be a hard life but the rewards totally outweigh that for me.

**Gohron** · 02 Jul 2012, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

I wonder how people live in Florida. I'm pretty sure I couldn't hack it on Mars. How bad does shit have to be for that to start looking good?

It's not that I'm leaving behind anything bad. It would be the adventure of a lifetime and you'd be the first class of settler on the final frontier. It's the same reason people came out west during the early years of the United States and why people came over here in the first place.