Minimum cost plant the flag mission to Mars

$400 Million.

Two Delta4 launches @$50-75million each plus $125-150million for a
transit/surface hab then the same amount for a return vehicle.

2 people. Vehicle weight 6metric tonnes. transit/surface vehicle acts as a
rover - instead of landing legs it has wheels. The return vehicle also has a
more reduced mobility system for emergency use only, has spare food for
surface operations, and has a solar powered fuel factory.
Diet is supplemented by algae grown using processed waste, thus alleviating
concerns about food mass allocations and also providing an emergency
lifesupport system should stored food be spoiled.


Nathan Rogers
Australia
"Stephen" wrote in message
om...
What do you think a minimum cost of a manned plant the flag mission to
Mars would be.
This would be one way. No need for an elaborate base on Mars. The
astronaut is assummed expendible. The glory for them and their family
would be enough.
We could probably launch this with one or two Shuttle Launch systems
(as discussed in other threads) and use some kind of nucleur/ion
propulsion to speed the trip to less than six months of travel time.
Landing would be little more than a capsule with parachute and rocket
thrusters for final touchdown.
The astronaut has to walk on landing to qualify (has to touch down
alive).

All up US$10 billion ?

This could be within the realm of many nations, so could be a real
race. Why would the Chinese race us to the moon when they have already
lost, when they can win the much more important race to another
planet, and be remembered for all time.

I think we would have many volunteers and with a bit of ingenuity
aperson should be able to survive for a considerable amount of time.
Food is light, water and air can be extracted from Mars.