[jdmtheNth]

She's the type of person you want to send to Mars.

[rurban]

Mars will be much harder.

No chance to survive, hard radiation, rescue would need at least a year.

[kzrdude]

Mars has sunlight and a more inspiring mission

[rurban]

True. When I look at their current training env in Houston, it looks much better than a dark cave, alone.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/apr/12/nasa-texas-h...

[kevin_thibedeau]

So does Antarctica. She'd die there alone as well.

[qup]

She'd die in this cave alone!

She can still be the kind of person you want to send to Mars.

[Teever]

I used to be irate when I would read these kinds of off the cuff comments about mars missions / colonization but I've come to realize that in 20 years I'll be able to look back and read these with amusement as I watch live streams of people on Mars doing crazy shit.

[shjake]

I wonder what did the people living in the 60s think is going happen 20 years…

[Teever]

I know that Von Braun expected humans to set foot on Mars by the late 1970s. If Von Braun thought that was possible it certainly was, if not for the pivot in budget that occured under Nixon.

For better or worse we're seeing a resurgence in privately funded space exploration which may be the key to making it happen this time.

[Towaway69]

Private companies are even worse in following long term goals especially if those goals become unprofitable.

Private companies can also go bust or be bought up by competitors only to be shutdown.

[Teever]

I agree with these points but I can see no evidence that they apply to SpaceX.

[elihu]

Radiation on Mars can be resolved in the same way, by living in a cave. I expect the first permanent settlements on Mars will either be in sealed sections of lava tubes or in underground artificial structures.

[mensetmanusman]

Water shields can mitigate the radiation damage.