Re: Space X and the prospects of Mars colonization.

What do you mean by that? Everything this is moving? You mean that Mars is getting farther away? Isn't that always changing? Sometimes it's actually getting closer. It's also very possible that we could make ships that travel faster, couldn't we? That would also reduce travel time. 2-3 years to get to Mars does sound like a whole lot of time though. That's certainly no trip the corner store!

That's why they are training teenagers for Mars... and also, because the kids look at the glory, not having had experience of life enough to understand the stupidity.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/991538/space-news-mars-manned-mission-alyssa-carson-nasa-astronaut

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How does that explain that "Past candidates have ranged in age from 26 to 46, with the average age being 34"? If you get less stupid the older you get, then, by your logic, the age of astronauts should be much younger. It's interesting that she's learning Chinese, French and Spanish. Seems like the Russians are getting left out on future space travel. I had no idea that Spanish speakers are playing a bit role in space. I remember when Cirque du Soleil's founder, Guy Laliberte, went to space, he had to study Russian beforehand. It seems pretty ambitious to say you're going to Mars in 2033, when you don't even have the rockets to do it yet: "NASA is currently in the early stages of planning its first manned mission to Mars, with experts developing new rockets capable of getting a spacecraft there - and back to Earth again." I guess time will tell.

Come on and think a little.

Going to Mars might take 2 or 3 years. A teenager might be older than 22 when he gets to Mars. This is because he is in training now, as a teenager, but won't lift off for as many as 5 years or more.

Once he gets to Mars, he won't simply jump out of the lander and build a house and plant a garden. He might remain in the lander as long as a year, familiarizing himself with the terrain and climate, and sending out robot vehicles to get a clearer picture of what Mars really is.

Once the semi-robotic habitats are set up, and reasonable certainty has been made that they will support human life, then the teenager(s) might finally transfer to the habitats.

Then there's the setting up of the greenhouses, and finding out what kind of food will truly grow on Mars.

And on and on. It will be surprising if the kids haven't reached 50 years by the time that they are settled into "colony" life on Mars. But if things don't go smoothly, they might be 70... or they might be dead.

And what if there is war on Earth, and they have to reproduce on Mars, so that their kids and grandkids can possibly come back... after mining Mars for supplies to refuel the lander and orbiter. Will they be ready to avoid the radiation hot spots on earth from the home planet nuclear wars?

Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, it is. That's why teenagers... so they can live a long life out there if necessary.

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