As I recall part of the problem was that they did not know what was in the martian "soil", so they did not know what was needed to extract water. The closest on earth would be extracting water from sand. Is the technology even possible? I would imagine anyone to discover how to extract water from relatively dry soil would become rich beyond imagination.
It seems there are a lot of unresolved problems blocking a trip to Mars, the technology of sustaining humans is a long way from making travel to Mars very feasible. It seems it would require a lot of money put into research that might not produce anything useful. It seems clear the public has little interest in this. We have problems on this planet we could invest in more research on, with clearer impact for the good of mankind. I read an old 1997 Ad Astra put out by the National Space Society. Robert
Zubrin was advocating that in 2000 NASA would complete a report on humans to Mars and by 2008 humans would be sent to Mars. Zubrin recommended "living off the land" in our Mars exploration efforts. I am not surprised about this lack of progress as I think robotic exploration is much more cost effective. As computers get more and more powerful the robotic edge over humans will grow.
Sincerely, Gary Vardon The book DO It Right will help you understand vital ideas leading to your greater success. GO to PublishAmerica.com Consulting For Profit is also available. Learn how to make money as a consultant.
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