- cross-posted to:
- space@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- space@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.world
- technology@lemmy.world
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
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Mars: six months away at the fastest transfer. Requires multiple launches just to get the vehicle ready for the trip. If something goes wrong, everyone very likely to just fucking die.
Moon: 3 days away pretty much always. Entirely possible to send scouting parties in lightweight vehicles that can be ready in one launch. Can come home in abort shuttle if something goes wrong. Really close so good practice at making people not die from radiation and potential issues with low gravity.
Don’t get the hype with mars. It’s nearly identical to the moon in terms of being able to support human life, meaning neither can without massive work. But mars is so much further away that it’s not even funny.
PS, his first starship exploded halfway to space because he didn’t have a flame diverter like every other huge rocket has had for the passed 50 years. Forgetting basic shit like that does not breed confidence that all of the equipment you need is even going to be there.
Mars has more gravity. I think lunar gravity is low enough to still potentially cause serious problems for humans. I’m not an expert though.
I also think that whenever lunar colonies are going to take off, it’s going to be a real shit show. It’s too easy to put a rail gun over there and take out whole countries. Whenever Ww3 starts, it’s definitely going to leak into space but not as far as mars. Mars is true frontier while earth has a claim to the moon in a way.
It takes 3 days to get to the moon.
Any weapons on the moon would be largely ineffective due to the orbit and the sheer distance involved. 300,000 kilometers makes hitting anything specific on the earth a pipe dream.
It’s still way easier to just launch a point to point icbm for an attack. 30 minutes of flight time is a lot better than a few days.
As for gravity, we don’t know how low gravity for extended periods will effect humans. At least on the moon, if it turns out to be a critical problem, we can send people back in a few days. Mars could take up to 20 months just to get a transfer window and get back. Any mars colony needs to be completely self sufficient from day one, whereas a lunar colony can be built up over time and supplied much more readily until we can figure out how to grow enough food and recycle/harvest enough water.
You can easily take out all enemy satellites if you have a proper colony with defensible positions on the moon I think. You could literally kessler syndrome the bitch and have the only satellite in town. It’s definitely a valid strategic position.
I also think the fact that it takes so long to get to is a plus for some people. If war breaks out or musk starts abusing human right, they won’t hesitate to grab his moon colony. This won’t happen on mars, it’s just too far.
Not that your points aren’t completely valid but you are asking for possible reasons mars might be more attractive than to moon to some. Also, twice the gravity is nothing to scoff at.
That being said, I’m craving any kind of space exploration. It does seem nuts that we don’t have any kind of permanent installations on the moon yet. I’m still pissed the cunt spent 40 b on twitter instead of space.