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The moon is the stepping stone to Mars
A mission to go directly to
Mars without first developing the capability on the moon might be
within the resources of the government, but we haven't seen a way to
make it work as a commercial enterprise. We whole-heartedly support
the NASA administrator's proposal that the U.S. government mount an
international manned expedition to Mars, especially if they leave the
moon for private enterprise.
Our goal is to establish a system where people can earn a living from space development. Once people are earning a living from it, without having to rely on tax money, progress will continue without bound. For this to happen, the finances have to work every step of way. As best we can analyze it, a private manned mission to Mars would require far too much capital investment in research and development, and return far too little revenues, for such a mission to be financially viable.
The moon's industrial infrastructure will make Mars possible
The equations change, however, if we first establish an industrial and economic infrastructure on the moon. By leveraging a Mars mission with metals and fuel derived from lunar resources, and by supporting it with the local population and industrial capabilities of the moon, we can bring Mars missions within the realm of private enterprise.
Most of the systems we will need for a Mars mission can be developed and tested on the moon. We won't be able to study the effects of the corrosive atmosphere of the red planet or long-term exposure to extreme cold. Except for those factors, however, we should be able to develop all the systems we will need to support our crew on the long journey to Mars in the relatively accessible environment of the moon. We will be able to have our crew test the habitat systems for a two-year Mars mission in a spaceborne evironment; but putting that habitat on the moon near our developing lunar community, we provide them a path to safety when we discover problems with our engineering. We can tune up the design, and wait to go on to Mars until we get it right.
To get to Mars, launch from the moon
Launching for Mars from the surface of the moon also give us a tremendous advantage because we will be able to use a mass driver, reacting against the mass of the moon, for our intial injection into the trans-Mars trajectory. This reduces the total mass our of spacecraft by at least a factor of four, perhaps as much as three million pounds.
The moon is the front door to the universe
All these factors point us toward the moon as the logical step for private enterprise in space. If you want to go, and want to stay, the moon is the front door to the universe.
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