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dannydare
Guest
Recent articles on the 40th anniversary of the moon landings talk about returns to the moon limiting weight that the astronauts take with them. None of these articles seem to suggest sending material ahead to the landing site so the astronauts can land and walk into a shelter with lots of necessary supplies and equipment.
A useful technique, and one that would work for Mars as well, is to first send a landing pad making device that will deploy a nice level landing pad on the surface and set up a transmitter to guide in the bulkier robot vehicles and eventually the manned vehicle.
There is no need to send the astronauts until it is known that all the prep equipment has arrived correctly and is waiting for them.
A useful technique, and one that would work for Mars as well, is to first send a landing pad making device that will deploy a nice level landing pad on the surface and set up a transmitter to guide in the bulkier robot vehicles and eventually the manned vehicle.
There is no need to send the astronauts until it is known that all the prep equipment has arrived correctly and is waiting for them.