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[JazzLover]

Have any of you heard of the latest brainstorm from NASA? Instead of sending astronauts to Mars and returning them safely to the Earth, there's now talk of sending them there and leaving them there for life!

They say that it would cost about the same for a mission to establish a permanent base on Mars as it would for a there and return mission.

Now that I think about it, I bet there would be no lack of volunteers.

[johnmason]

NASA putting Men on Mars permanently is an interesting idea

If they sent housing, food supplies and air up first so that the astronauts knew they had a safe way to survive, it could be relatively safe

I read an article recently that said that the Martian soil has all of the nutrients necessary to grow food. Of course, the "garden" would have to be covered by an enclosure that is pressurized with air but plants love carbon dioxide and that's plentiful in the Martian atmosphere

And I agree that there are people who would jump at the chance to become the first permanent settlers on Mars if it was reasonably safe

[AidansMom]

We can't even get our astronauts to and from Earth orbit so how can we even dream of putting anyone on Mars? When the first human lands on Mars they will be speaking Chinese. America's days as the leader in science and technology appear to be coming to an end. Taxpayers don't want to pay taxes to invest in research and companies won't invest in anything that doesn't produce a profit in time for next quarter's stock holders' meeting.

So now the remaining communist countries with leaders who have the power to make the obvious decisions to invest in research will end out owning the future's power generating systems, computers, medicine patents and the rest of the universe.

Capitalism is great up to a point but like all systems it has its weaknesses. When democracies swing to the right as is currently happening in the U.S., common sense is sometimes replaced by a hatred for government.

[JazzLover]

Yeah! I'm sure you've heard that old saying that the government spends money on guns and butter but now it seems like the politicians only want guns and nothing that's helpful to those in need or that looks to the future. On top of that, they've screwed things up so bad that we can't afford anything at all. Term limits are the answer. Go back to what things were in the beginning. Citizens serve in government for a few years and then go home. No career politicians!!!!!!!