Should NASA Go to Mars?

I absolutely want us to go to Mars. However I have no support in doing it with NASA in the way that NASA currently does things. If NASA changes the way it does business (and it very well might do that) then I'm all for it.

So why should we go to Mars? Thats an easy one. SURVIVAL. In the long term, the Human Race has to leave Earth (and eventually the Solar System) to survive. Otherwise human kind will eventually be as extinct as the dinosaurs. Sure we have other problems like war, hunger, poverty, etc, etc. Guess what, those problems are NEVER going away. Even if we poor billions into world hunger, sign peace treaties, just be nice to each other, we will still have those issues. However looking at human survival in the VERY long term dictates that we must eventually venture off this wonderful blue marble.

The Moon missions were a fantastic accomplishment but they were also an illustration of just what's wrong with NASA and our Government in general. The moon missions were planned and executed in a method that was never meant to be sustainable. Absolutely none of the components used were meant for reuse. There was no realistic plan to build a base or use the moons resources.

If we go back to the Moon or venture forward to Mars, it has to be based on a plan that puts us there permanently. I would propose the following.

1 - let private business handle access to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). SpaceX may be the first company to do this with Dragon if NASA will let them. It is looking like Dragon will fly sooner than NASAs own Orion/Ares. NASA should focus on exploration and scientific research. They should use private industry to get them from point a to point b. That will build a sustainable infrastructure that will bring down the costs of getting off Earth. SpaceX has already demonstrated that they can build a rocket for a fraction of the cost NASA does. Falcon 1 now has two successful flights and Falcon 9 is practically man rated out of the box for less than $1billion. Ares I alone has already cost several billion.

2 - Only return to the moon if we are going to use its resources. If we can manufacture fuel for a trip to Mars and beyond, then the moon base becomes critical. It takes EXPONENTIALLY less fuel and hardware to get people and equipment down to and off of the surface of the moon than it does to get them off the Earth.

3 - Any moon trip should have a reusable infrastructure. We should build reusable landers and park them in lunar orbit, perhaps docked to a small space station. Then we can just send fuel from the lunar surface so they can be used. Doing that means we spend a lot less money sending landers and fuel from Earth. We should also have a Crew Transfer Vehicle that just carries people from Earth orbit to the Moon. That reduces the need for a heavy craft with the required shielding to get to the moon. There are a multitude of other things that can be done to shore up our permanent base on the lunar surface while making it affordable. Also, we should mine the heck out of the moon for He^3 if we can put it to use as fuel for fusion reactors.

4 - Go to Mars and DON'T COME BACK. Don't send astronauts to Mars. Send SETTLERS. We should go with the intent of living on Mars on a permanent basis.

5 - Mars should also be used for another fuel depot to get us further into the solar system. From a scientific standpoint, I think the moons of Saturn and Jupiter are a lot more interesting. There is a much higher chance we will find life on those moons than on Mars. We should also look at making a fuel depot on Ceres since it is mostly composed of water ice.

There are a lot more points I could make but I'm probably putting you to sleep now.