Mars One introduction film - 2023 human settlement of Mars

[longship]

1. "Packing for Mars" by Mary Roach

It's a fun, and sometimes creepy, read. There are so many problems with getting to Mars that we have not yet solved.

The most important is that the sun regularly belches out a CME, coronal mass ejection, which would kill the astronauts dead, dead, dead. Even if you could shield the astronauts, their electronic equipment needs to be protected as well. This is a tough one, because shielding == mass == fuel == cost. It could put any realistically affordable plan out of reach, especially figuring in the required heavy lift capability which does not exist at this time.

And don't get me started about the fuel to leave the Mars surface for return to Earth.

Apparently this is one thing Mars One has figured out. Theirs is a one way trip. Am I the only one who sees real problems with this?

Yes, we can solve these problems. But I don't see it happening in a decade.

Aerospace engineer, Robert Zubrin disagrees with these accessments. He wrote the book about it, coauthored by Arthur C Clark, The Case for Mars. I haven't read it, but it looks interesting.

Regardless, I wish Mars One luck.