"Doctor Bombay" wrote in message ...
Just was reading on the space dot com website that it will be a three year
mission when and if we send men to Mars.

But when I was watching the animation of the Spirit and Opportunity missions
it said it took 7 months for the rover to get to Mars.

Assuming that the Astronauts spend 2 weeks on Mars That is still only 14-1/2
months round trip.

Why will it take so much longer for men to get to Mars then Machines?

Thanks.

Three years stuck inside a can feels more like a prison sentence than
a honorary mission.

We should compare this to sea ships in the 19th century regular ships
usually takes around 6 months from Hong Kong to New York, while fast
clipper ships usually took around 3 months from one destination to
another destination.

http://baegis.ag.uidaho.edu/~myron/html/clipper.htm

Of course how much time it takes depends on the destination and the
conditions.

It also should be mentioned sea voyaging ships usually had the benefit
of rest and resupply at nearby ports on its route.



I think that by current technology, an ideal time would be an around 3
months voyage.

Around 1 month travelling to Mars, around 1 month surveying Mars,
around 1 month returning home from Mars.

Much like the current ISS mission which usually last around 3 months,
before they extend it to around 6 months.

A 6 months mission seems to be pushing it (like they did today),
especially a 1 year mission (like that poor guy that once stuck aboard
Mir).



And if sending an all in one package ship is too hard.

How about sending regular shipments of supplies and parts to the
manned ship? Both before and even after the manned ship was launched.

Making the Mars mission feels more like the current ISS mission. This
will take many launches, but it will be less stressful toward the crew
(which need to do many things and travel farther than the current
space station crew).