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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 OPINION 
40

Send Astronauts to Mars —and Leave Them There

Why a one-way ticket is the best way to the red planet

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(Newser) – The most feasible way to get humans on Mars is to offer retirement-age astronauts one-way tickets to live out their last days on the red planet. Say what? It's not as crazy as it sounds, writes scientist Lawrence Krauss in the New York Times, who believes his plan would solve the major hurdles of a space mission to Mars.

For starters, cost. The trip would be far less expensive without requiring fuel—and thus a bigger ship—for a return trip. Also, the journey would likely subject astronauts to a life-shortening dose of radiation. Thus, a one-way space shuttle for 65-plus astronauts. Krauss thinks there'd be plenty of takers, and "human space travel is so expensive and so dangerous that we are going to need novel, even extreme solutions if we really want to expand the range of human civilization beyond our own planet."

This artist's rendering released by NASA shows the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory on the surface of Mars.
This artist's rendering released by NASA shows the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory on the surface of Mars.   (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
This image provided by NASA shows a view from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Stereo Surface Imager's left eye after delivery of soil to the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) oven, June 6, 2008.
This image provided by NASA shows a view from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Stereo Surface Imager's left eye after delivery of soil to the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) oven, June 6, 2008.   (AP Photo/NASA)
This artist's rendering provided by NASA shows the lander dubbed Phoenix Mars.
This artist's rendering provided by NASA shows the lander dubbed Phoenix Mars.   (AP Photo/NASA)
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this picture of Mars in 2003.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this picture of Mars in 2003.   (AP Photo/NASA, FILE)
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I have found a significant fraction of scientists older than 65 who would be willing to live out their remaining years on the red planet or elsewhere. - Lawrence M. Krauss

While the idea of sending astronauts aloft never to return is jarring upon first hearing, the rationale for one-way trips into space has both historical and practical roots.
- Lawrence M. Krauss

Colonists and pilgrims seldom set off for the New World with the expectation of a return trip, usually because the places they were leaving were pretty intolerable anyway. - Lawrence M. Krauss

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40 comments
VIEWING:
 
DJM420
Sep 1, 09 11:44 AM CDT
can we just send the duggars, john and kate and the octomom? Reply
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+28
IN RESPONSE:
Timinator2K
Sep 1, 09 11:47 AM CDT
Jon & Kate, I HATE.
Vote up! Vote down!
+2
IN RESPONSE:
Yourself
Sep 1, 09 11:54 AM CDT
keep the Duggars, yeah it's a big family, but at least it's a cohesive and competent one. the rest i agree with.
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0
IN RESPONSE:
schmidtkoff
Sep 1, 09 11:55 AM CDT
and palin. bye bye snow bunny.
Vote up! Vote down!
+3
IN RESPONSE:
Toon
Sep 1, 09 1:51 PM CDT
Yourself, I would question if it is a competent one. How many of those kids could pass the NCLB test appropriate for their age? How many know basic science? How many have been taught civics and the respect of American ideas like freedom and equality for all?
Vote up! Vote down!
+1

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