I guess now they have somewhere else now to send their cheap shit!!!
But all jokes aside, there is a lot of work to be done to actually setup a liveable colony in Mars. After all that is the end goal, if I have my facts right. Got me buggered why more efforts havent been done on our closest orbiting body "the moon" before they start playing around further afield. Ok it doesnt sound as impressive, but the issues faced will be similar.
Its what only a few days flight compared to 8 odd months.
One has to work out stuff like feasibly getting the heavy equip there. Lets face it living on the surface of one of those rocks up there is a hazardous affair. Solar radiation and those pesky meteorites for starters.
My money is on they will have to dig in/ use an existing cave to help escape the above mentioned. Gunna need something more substantial than a power drill and shovel to do the "earthworks".
Lots of lessons to be learnt and mistakes to be had. Better to do ones practice somewhere close by.
At least the guinea pigs, "sorry astronauts", arent too far away in real terms if theres a problem. If the rescuers can get there in time naturally.
Anyway like everyone else I guess I will just sit back and watch the show and inevitable pissing contest on the red planet.
