Well, when is important. Mars is closest the Earth for only 6 years in an 18 year period.
At our current speeds it takes about 2.2 months to get to Mars at close point and closer to 5 at far point.
If you're going there just to orbit, figure on no more than 2 or 3 weeks tops before you have to return. So thats a 5 - 6 month trip at close point and a 11 month trip at far point.
You need 3 pounds of food, 3 pounds of water and 6 pounds of air per day. So thats about 600 pounds of food, 600 pounds of water and 1200 pounds of liquid Oxygen and liquid Nitrogen.
You need enough power for the trip.
Enough fuel to get you from Earth orbit out to Mars, into Mars orbit and return with spare left over.
That would cover 180 round trip.
It would be far more comfortable for no more than 3 in something the size of the Space Shuttle. You'd never make it in an Apollo type capsul for 180 days.
It's also a waist just to orbit.
My view of the best way to do it is for like 10 or so minimum to go in a vehicle like the Space Station with a landing craft and supplies to last 3 years go there. go down, erect a quanset hut type structure and explore for 2.4 years before returning.
That would require a lot of stuff. 10 people thats 30 pounds of food a day would mean 33,000 pounds of food, 33,000 pounds of water and 66,000 pounds of air. Plus a pre-fab quanset hut and fuel for the lander to go up and down at least a dozen times.
I actually envisioin a far bigger space station going wtih closer to 500 people and heavy equipment with a plan to stay 3-6 years to build a permanet undground structure, breeder reactor power plant, observatory, water processing, air processing, hydroponics and soil gardens.
That would require two landers and a work crew doing 3 shifts 24/7/365
They would have to level a landing field, pour in concrete build a road tot he compound, asphault that road, work in Qunset huts initally, dig a hole big enough for a 5 story building about the size of any office building on your corner. Dig another hole some distance away for the reactor.
Tilt up construction, steel girders (hopefull that could be made on Mars) or concrete made from Martian sand.
You lay a steel frame, tilt up the walls, drop down a roof with very thick glass like they use in Gyms and Shower rooms, pressureize it and then do the inside as any building with sheet rock or hard board, fooring, tile celings.
More than half the populat would be construction workers, the rest engineers, support staff. Some stay up in the station, others go down to the Qunset huts.
Figure 5-6 guys in 2-4 hour shifts with bulldozer and truck to level a landing field with two surveyors and one civil engineer.
PRobably take a week or two.
Then they move on to level a road and start work on the power plant.
Framers concrete in something the size of a football field with thick rebar concrete for the landing field.
Probably take another two weeks or so.
Road probably finished to the Quanset huts by the time the concrete is in place.
You can asphalt the road or leaven it dirt.
Then dig a two story hole for the reactor and a trench for the cabling to the huts and landing platform.
Probably take 3-5 months to get the hole and foundation in and a roof on top. Then engineers start working on the core and turbines.
Then you concetrate on the main structure 3 miles from both the reactor and landing site. Maybe more maybe less.
A 5-6 story deep hole, shoredup, poured concrete, foam insulatioin, then secondary tilt up inside, Fibreglass insullation, then drywall.
Top is for sunbathing (glass roof tiles that are 1 foot thick in two layers). Next is work are and commissary and kitchen.
Next is more work and labs.
Bottom 3 are living and recreation. Bottom is probably recreation, with maybe a future olympic swiming pool you can drink if no supplies come.
Outside and close would be water processing, air processing in one or two story buildings with connecting tunnles only 20 or so feet away.
Hydroponics and soil gardens could be adjacen in another larger structure Closer tot he surface with thinner windowing for more natural sunlight.
Once that is done both an optical and radio telescope observatory could be made on the other side of the power plant and at an angle to the livign quarters.
Figure one and one half years to "hostile" occupation and 2-21/2 years for "apartment box" occupation.
Figure 4-5 years before the obervatories are finished.
Base reaches optimum work level 5-6 years after injection from Earth Orbit to Mars.
That would be TWO re-supply ships, after the first station arrives with 3 years supplies.
Second supply ship in 2 1/2 years
Third supply ship in 5 years.
Capable of holding maybe up to 1000 total people in the complex.
Efficency style. 15 x 20 foot room with 5x5 shower toilet.
You only sleep or hermit in that room.
Eating is in the commessary.
There is entertainmetn and recreation on the lowest level
There's be NO salads and few veggies until the hydroponics and soil gardens work. That could take a good 3-5 years from arrival.
There would not be fresh meat until you could bring up clones or fetuses and hatch them in a separate building with a separate air and water supply that is sealed off from the living area by a distance.
You'd probably need a building for cattle, another for lambs, another for chickens, another for turkeys, another for pigs.
I don't think animal husbandary will occur until 8 or 10 years from arrival date.
Food with be dry, frozen, canned, vaccum packed and freeze dried.
There will be a one year back up supply of survival rations (bars of nuterient and protiens).
Inital meals will be like those Hormel vaccum seal Roast Beef dinners
Canned beef stew
Soups
Canned corn, beans, etc.
Canned fruit
Powdered milk
Concentrated fruit juices
Soda
PRobably need to have beer and booze
The only kind of salads you would have were macaroni and potato salad made from canned potatoes and mayo, pickels.
It might be possible to freeze a ColeSalw mix pack and add mayo to it.
Egg Beaters for eggs
Frozen meats that are vaccum paced and Nitrogen frozen.
Jerkey.
Bread would have to be made from flour and frozen powdered yeast.
It would be Fisherman and Hikers food for the first 5 years.
Fast Food companies would be a good source of some items. A lot of their foods are pre-cooked and frozen and will keep for a year or more.
You can probably do something like Yoshinoa, Subway, The Colonel, Pizza Hut.
You'd be talking something between an Army Mess Hall meal and an Army Field meal on a daily basis for 3 years.
No one can go home for 3 years.
You'd need a medical team, surgical team, denitist, psycholigst, many nurses.
Food prepairs, janitors, support staff, administrative people, engineers from all disciplines, a few scientists.
Everyone would have to be married or you'd need girls for the workers.
We're talking tons and tons and tons of stuff just to support 500 initial people and make the place happen in 3- 6 years.
Earth is only accessbile 6 months out of a 2 1/2 year period.
YOur travel time varies from 2 to 9 months in an outside emergency.
You are out of contact for probably 4-5 months durring oppostion.
Your in contact time varied from 8 minutes to 2 hours one way
YOu need hydrogen fuel cells for at least 3 years durration, with best of luck your reactor will be up in 2 years, worst 4 years.
Two types of water. Industrial for showers and washing and fresh for drinking.
Recycling is limited.
Septic tanks for waist.
Probably need a big hole for trash and septic dump that may yeld Oil in a few millions years and methane in a few thousand years.
The price tag on this is a fortune. We'd have to give up the War in Iraq to finance it.