Why haven't we gone to Mars yet?

Question

Why haven't we gone to Mars yet?

Answer 1

1) It would be extremely costly.



2) We don't have a rocket powerful enough to launch the mass needed for life support on the trip there and for survival on Mars once there.



3) The length of time needed to reach Mars would expose astronauts to an unacceptably high dose of radiation.

Answer 2

We're more prepared to go to mars today, than we were to go to the moon in '69. But then in '69 we were trying to beat the Russians for not only american pride, but as reassurance as the top dog.

Answer 3

Basically it's the same reason we didn't continue lunar exploration--the cost of manned missions compared to the science returns just wasn't enough to make it politically expedient to continue. The USA even left some perfectly good Saturn V rockets go unused because of the precipitous loss of public interest after the politically-motivated Space Race was won caused loss of Congressional funding. Not that it isn't cool to have some Moon rockets available for museum purposes, but that was never the original intent.

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In my (less than?) humble opinion, unless the prospect sparks the Second Space Race, the first human on Mars is likely to speak Chinese, because that would be another great propaganda coup almost equal to the first step off the planet and China has the political motivation to pursue that goal, as well as the growing technological prowess to make that happen. That might just be enough of a wakeup call to stir the patriotic hearts of enough corn-fed Americans to rise to the challenge, but that still won't change the fact that the best scientific bang for the buck by far is robotic exploration, or the fact that such a manned attempt will just be window dressing and not the bonafide start toward the offworld colony we will eventually need to keep from being someday arbitrarily snuffed out by a random rock with the wrong attitude. What we really need is an honest-to-god orbital habitat and an asteroid defense system--after that is accomplished, exploration of Mars and the rest of the Solar System will follow, just not in our lifetimes, and not as a political whim but as a genuine pioneering effort. That will happen right after we teach pigs to fly.

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Answer 4

I don't just run off to Mars with the first guy who asks me.

Answer 5

Our rovers are already there. With advances in robotics it is much more efficient to send the next generation of rovers there or an android. Mars is a very hostile environment. It is not possible to live there

Answer 6

We just put a robot down..and we are now testing people to get ready to go...even though i think it is an amazing feat of the human race, i also feel bad for the people who must waste years of their life on a ship getting there....Still...it will be worth it to show that microbial life is on mars and therefore, spread throughout the solar system, galaxy, and the universe.

Answer 7

Give us a trillion dollars and we could do it.

Answer 8

Given current technology, the trip would kill anyone who went. Essentially there are two ways to get them there, fast and slow. The fast way is nuclear power, and they would get there, but they wouldn't live very long. The slow way takes way too long, and there is no workable solution to keep them fed, warm, and have enough fuel to make the trip. Also, given the time, there isn't much chance of getting them home, so it is kind of unpalatable to suggest a suicide mission. Not that I think it's a bad Idea, but whomever proposes it is going to get a ton of angry mail.

Answer 9

way too expensive , too complex , too difficult no one is going there this century, anyone trying will die on the way or miss it and disappear into the vastness of space

Answer 10

Several Reason.

1. It is very for. Takes over 9 months to get there. How do you live on a space craft for that long without resupply from Earth?

2. Mars Gravity. Makes it almost impossible to build a launch site and rocket so you can Return.

We just don't have the Technology yet for such a trip and return safely.

Answer 11

Huge financial waste.



There is already an expensive and effective rover there. It is telling us all we need to know about Mars: dry, desolate, barren, sterile.



So why send some bozo to do what a robot is already doing at less than one percent of the cost?



Cheers!