The difficulty of interplanetary travel may make Mars
colonization seem visionary. However, with innovative types of funding concerning
transportation, the settlement of Mars may succeed. The task of populating Mars will
begin with humans emigrating to Mar via a government sponsored model and a privately
sponsored model. If the government sponsorship is available, the technological means
required for immigration on a significant scale are essentially available today.
With government sponsorship, one possibility is a shuttle-derived heavy lift launch vehicle which lifts 145 tons, about the same as a Saturn V. The next stage would take the vehicle from Earth's orbit to Mars. This stage would consist of a nuclear thermal rocket with a 900 second impulse. This rocket is capable of sending seventy tons to Mars. Once there, normal aerobraking procedures with conical aeroshells are employed with the addition of parachutes and final rockets. The habitat this craft would be able to carry is an eight meter sphere with a total living area of 200 square meters. Thus, with a single rocket, 24 people and supplies could be sent one way to Mars.
Starting in 2010, the plan is to launch four of these transports every year. With these figures, the resulting population growth would be about one fifth that of colonial America. However, this is assuming that no technological advances are made to quicken the process. Therefore, it seems that the real feat of colonizing Mars lies not in getting there, but in utilizing resources, building housing, growing food and manufacturing export goods. In addition, the four billion dollar per year ticket of this colonization plan is low enough for many countries to keep up.
Nevertheless, the cost is still high. If Mars is ever going to reach the status of an independent society, the cost to send people has to be lowered to where individuals or private companies can go to Mars. Using conventional single stage to orbit (SSTO), methane/oxygen burning vehicles like the shuttle, the cost to transport payloads to low earth orbit (LEO), the cost amounts to about $100 per kilogram. If there is the technology to provide an interplanetary cyclic orbit from Earth to Mars continually, with the assumption that each passenger requires 500 kilograms of supplies and passenger weight, plus the weight of the lander, this translates to 3200 kilograms. As a result, the total cost for one passenger is $320,000. However, with such advances as scramjets, electric propulsion, magnetic sails, and gravity assists in both the SSTO and cycler, the ground to LEO cost can be almost nil. In addition, with other costs and efficiency reductions, the total cost can be as low as $30,000. However, if you consider the original $320,000, it is about the cost of a house for a well off middle class family. In addition, considering the fact that wages on Mars would be greatly inflated compared to Earth wages, it is feasable that a family would opt to move to Mars provided it was safe.
This labor differential would not only increase
immigration but drive Mars to technological and social advances. Although life on
Mars may be harsh, it will be efficient and practical because it will have to
survive. If necessity is the mother of invention, Mars will be the cradle of a new
civilization. A frontier society based on technological excellence and pragmatism,
populated by people with personal drive, will be a hotbed of invention, and the
competition that would ensue would force the Earth population to strive to keep up.
This process of rejuvenation is one of the best reasons to colonize Mars.