Whats a realistic timetable for a manned flight?
They’ve been saying 20 years in the future for 20 years. So, I’d say 20 years from now. For someone accused of siding with machines in the man-versus-machine debate in exploration, you sound pretty confident that a manned mission will happen. I think that’s a false debate. In Antarctica I did some underwater research in lakes covered with ten to sixteen feet (three to five meters) of ice year-round. We would drill holes in the ice, then put underwater vehicles into the water to take pictures and video and map the lake bottom. Only then would we suit up with scuba gear and go into the lakes ourselves. Our productivity increased dramatically because we had those robotic precursors. We were already familiar with the environment, so we could make the most of our limited time underwater. You don’t use either robots or humans. You use both. How might expeditions to Mars resemble expeditions on Earth? Actually, Antarctica is a pretty good analogy. I love the idea of Mars being colonized—it’s
