Ice oceans found on Mars

drudge ^

[inquest]

It would have to be pretty close to a 90-degree angle in order for this transfer orbit to result in less than a three-year trip back, I would think.

...unless, these sails could be used to slow down sideways momentum, so that the ship could fall in more of a straight line. It's starting to look better now.

[no-s]

The return trip time will be about the same as the trip out, depending of course on the movement of the planets in the heavens...

Remember on the trip out, the spacecraft must arrive at Mars orbit where Mars is. So it's not an interception trajectory. Similarly on the return. I imagine it will be a constant acceleration gig the entire way, tho.

[gore3000]

Why would you need several feet of lead for radiation protection?

We don't need it. We did go to the moon and had no radiation problems. The spacecraft had such thin sides that the astronauts could have punched a hole in them if they had been stupid enough to try.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Thanks for the ping.

Time to re-read The War of the Worlds?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

We have hundreds of thousands of people sitting in sardine cans here on Earth. Some sit in these cans (prisons) for life.

Sounds like the French Guiana model for colonization. It worked for the French.