Since we’ve had aspirations of going to Mars for almost as long as we wanted to go to the moon, one would think we would want to put a base on the moon so that we could research what’s needed to get to Mara. But, alas, we’ve never gone back since the 60’s. 🤷♂️
Which is one of the (good) reasons for the effort to return. The Moon is a good environment to put colonization technology to the test, before entrusting a Mars base with it. At least if there is a catastrophe on the Moon, the trip home is only a few days. If there is a catastrophe on Mars, very bad scenario.
I tend to think that the perils of a long voyage are underrated, however. Too much glib thinking. It's more like a trip to Antarctica by sailing ship in terms of isolation and beyond human reach.
Since we’ve had aspirations of going to Mars for almost as long as we wanted to go to the moon, one would think we would want to put a base on the moon so that we could research what’s needed to get to Mara. But, alas, we’ve never gone back since the 60’s. 🤷♂️
EDIT: Wow, banned for this comment.
Which is one of the (good) reasons for the effort to return. The Moon is a good environment to put colonization technology to the test, before entrusting a Mars base with it. At least if there is a catastrophe on the Moon, the trip home is only a few days. If there is a catastrophe on Mars, very bad scenario.
I tend to think that the perils of a long voyage are underrated, however. Too much glib thinking. It's more like a trip to Antarctica by sailing ship in terms of isolation and beyond human reach.