this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2024
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Futurology
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Prove that you can do it on the moon first then we can talk about Mars.
Seriously. I don't understand and never understood how this wasn't the very obvious first step.
People might still die. Unfortunately there's no way around that. But there's a massive difference between "help is 7 days away with an emergency launch" and "help is never coming". I'm not sure the exact time scales they could get emergency readiness for, but I can tell you it's a whole hell of a lot faster than it is for everything to align for a mars mission.
Also, if deaths do happen, you can learn a whole hell of a lot more about means of failure investigating the issue on the moon.
Plus once you get it working, you can set up retirement communities up there. Gives old people a chance to take a pioneering risk so we can sort out the kinks and grow the space with purpose, and makes them feel a lot better being in reduced gravity.
I’ve even got a slogan! It’s cheesy and totally 1950s sci-fi, so perfect!
“Retire in comfort on the moon, where 1/6 gravity makes old bodies feel new again!”