[Spaceships] [High-Tech] [Action] Cydonia Or Bust, TL8

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Langy

True enough. That's why you don't hide them... at least, not completely. You run it as if it were a normal manned mission to Mars, but when it arrives the astronauts turn out to be military special forces and the ship turns out to be packing some serious guns.

Anyways, I think we could probably do it significantly faster than Fred suggests if it's an emergency situation and we're willing to cut corners or use technology like Orion drives. I'd put an upward bound of 10 years - again, if this were an emergency. Probably closer to five.

Ten years is my lower limit. This is harder than the Apollo Program (sending a dozen people to live for a few years on Mars is a wee bit more difficult than sending two to live a few days on the Moon- and no country has been able to put men on the moon since the 1970s). Similarly, if you ignore all necessary testing and trial runs, send only veterans with curiously short CVs and interesting gaps in their training schedule, and use a drive which scraps half the satellites in orbit with EMP, how do you hope to convince anyone that its just an ordinary expedition?

[SCAR]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

Ten years is my lower limit. This is harder than the Apollo Program (sending a dozen people to live for a few years on Mars is a wee bit more difficult than sending two to live a few days on the Moon- and no country has been able to put men on the moon since the 1970s). Similarly, if you ignore all necessary testing and trial runs, send only veterans with curiously short CVs and interesting gaps in their training schedule, and use a drive which scraps half the satellites in orbit with EMP, how do you hope to convince anyone that its just an ordinary expedition?

Are we expecting to bring the troops home? There is nothing in the OP's requirements to say this isn't a suicide mission.
If its expected to be a one way mission, that reduces the complexities some what!

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

Similarly, if you ignore all necessary testing and trial runs, send only veterans with curiously short CVs and interesting gaps in their training schedule, and use a drive which scraps half the satellites in orbit with EMP, how do you hope to convince anyone that its just an ordinary expedition?

I know it's a feature of the style of fiction, but I've always wondered how you build something like this with global funding without somebody leaking the hidden details. During the build, there's going to be a lot of people who have to be either let in or brushed off, from the multiple US Presidents who have to propose the budgeting to the CAD guy who is told to add what looks like a weapons locker in the lander. Surely one of them is going to get drunk, or decide the people deserve to know, or think hostile aliens make for good reelection soundbites.

[David Johnston2]

THe original post said nothing about the mission being secret, and really if you are going to put together a combat capable expedition to Mars in anything short of 30 years, you pretty much have to scare everyone into a conniption.