[ExI] one way ticket to mars

[Eugen Leitl]

On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 04:40:19PM -0700, spike wrote:
> So why did you guys give me so much grief about this idea a mere 15 yrs ago?
> 
>  
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/22/world/mars-one-way-ticket/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
> 
>  
> 
> Anyone wish to refute the notion that any humanned trip to Mars will be
> one-way?  If you figure out a way to do it, this company would surely be
> happy to hear from you.  I sure as hell never did figure out a way to get
> back, and we tried approximately a jillion different concepts.

I would argue that any manned mission would involve sending automation ahead
to build habitat and closed-loop ecosystem, so needs not to be one-way
in principle.

Novel propulsion seems to make travel in 30-40 days feasible, and
return is even easier (chemical rocket launch from Mars, and aerobraking 
reentry) so even less need for one-way.