How are they going to come back? All realistic plans I've seen are for one-way trips.
The thought of dying isn't the inherently problematic part, but rather the extreme isolation. People who go to war are there for only some months and have plans for going home, back to friends and family. People who dive and explore the oceans are isolated for a few days at worst; perhaps months in a nuclear sub, but there you have already a pretty large crew around you. Compared to decades spent isolated with a handful of people, and no return ticket to the rest of humanity, those are nothing.
>How are they going to come back? All realistic plans I've seen are for one-way trips.
Huh?
"The first crewed Mars mission would be expected to have approximately 12 people, with the primary goal to "build out and troubleshoot the propellant plant and Mars Base Alpha power system" as well as a" rudimentary base." In the event of an emergency, the spaceship would be able to return to Earth without having to wait a full 26 months for the next synodic period."
Wow, that is so hard I didn't think it was being seriously considered. They're going to send a Mars surface-to-orbit launcher as payload in one piece, without fuel, and then produce >30 tons of rocket fuel on Mars? My hat's off to them.
Musk hasn't discussed the exact details of his plan, but it seems like the unmanned missions in 2018, 2020, 2022, and possibly 2024 (if there's no manned mission that year) are meant to establish a rudimentary fuel production infrastructure and start producing fuel in anticipation of a manned mission.
NASA, I believe, is currently trying to solve the problem with more efficient engines for interplanetary travel. Ion drives seem to be the preferred method, but there is still some research going on in nuclear thermal rockets.
The thought of dying isn't the inherently problematic part, but rather the extreme isolation. People who go to war are there for only some months and have plans for going home, back to friends and family. People who dive and explore the oceans are isolated for a few days at worst; perhaps months in a nuclear sub, but there you have already a pretty large crew around you. Compared to decades spent isolated with a handful of people, and no return ticket to the rest of humanity, those are nothing.