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NASA

Sending Astronauts On a One-Way Trip To Mars 917

The Narrative Fallacy writes "Cosmologist Lawrence M. Krauss, director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University, writes in the NY Times that with the investment needed to return to the moon likely to run in excess of $150 billion and the cost of a round trip to Mars easily two to four times that, there is a way to reduce the cost and technical requirements of a manned mission to Mars: send the astronauts on a one way trip. 'While the idea of sending astronauts aloft never to return is jarring upon first hearing, the rationale for one-way trips into space has both historical and practical roots,' writes Krauss. 'Colonists and pilgrims seldom set off for the New World with the expectation of a return trip.' There are more immediate and pragmatic reasons to consider one-way human space exploration missions including money. 'If the fuel for the return is carried on the ship, this greatly increases the mass of the ship, which in turn requires even more fuel.' But would anyone volunteer to go on such a trip? Krauss says that informal surveys show that many scientists would be willing to go on a one-way mission into space and that we might want to restrict the voyage to older astronauts, whose longevity is limited in any case. "

Comment Re:Give people what the want, for Pete's sake! (Score 1) 175

I'm sorry, but you're wildly off base with your resolution figures.

What you're quoting as horizontal resolution is, in fact, the vertical resolution, and even then, only approximations.

Real numbers (from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-VHS)

        * 350Ã--240 (250 lines): Video CD
        * 330Ã--480 (250 lines): Umatic, Betamax, VHS, Video8
        * 400Ã--480 (300 lines): Super Betamax, Betacam (professional)
        * 440Ã--480 (330 lines): analog broadcast
        * 560Ã--480 (420 lines): LaserDisc, S-VHS, Hi8
        * 670Ã--480 (500 lines): Enhanced Definition Betamax
        * 720Ã--480 (520 lines): DVD, miniDV, Digital8, Digital Betacam (professional)
        * 720Ã--480 (400 lines): Widescreen DVD (anamorphic)
        * 1280Ã--720 (720 lines): HDV (miniDV tape), D-VHS, HD DVD, Blu-ray
        * 1440Ã--1080 (810 lines): HDV (miniDV tape)[1], HDCAM
        * 1920Ã--1080 (1080 lines): HD DVD, Blu-ray, D-VHS, HDCAM SR (professional)

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