Mars Direct: Humans to the Red Planet within a Decade

Dr. Robert Zubrin Pioneer Astronautics

Question: How much rope is needed to connect two posts separated by a distance of 10 meters? In principle, it can take any amount:

But it can be done with about 10 meters, if the rope is pulled tight.

It is the same with space exploration. The issue is whether you want to connect the posts, or whether your goal is to sell rope.

Rope Sale #1

The Lunar Tollbooth

Moon

3.5 km/s 1.6 km/s

4.1 km/s

6.0 km/s Mars

3.9 km/s Earth

Even if Lunar refueling were free, its easier to go direct to Mars!

Rope Sale #2

Nuclear Electric Propulsion Claim vs. Reality One-way Transit Time 60 days 1460 days Power Density 0.3 kg/kW 65 kg/kW

We can do Mars mission training on the Moon. But we can do it in the Arctic at 1/1000th the cost.

Cumulative Radiation Doses Received in Space

Dose (Rem)
MarsRoundtrip-unshielded Mars Roundtrip-shielded Avdeyev-748 days Polyakov-679 days Solovyov-651 days Krikalyov-624 days Foale-235 days Walz-230 days Skylab-84 days 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Dose (Rem)

The cumulative radiation dose of a human roundtrip mission to Mars using current propulsion technology has already been experienced by numerous astronauts. No radiation-induced health effects have been observed.