gladyousurvived.
IguessIshouldexplainhowMarsmissionswork,foranylayman
whomaybereadingthis.Wegottoearthorbitthenormalway,through
anordinaryshiptoHermes.AlltheAresmissionsuseHermestogetto
andfromMars.It’sreallybigandcostalotsoNASAonlybuiltone.
OncewegottoHermes,fouradditionalunmannedmissionsbrought
usfuelandsupplieswhilewepreparedforourtrip.Onceeverythingwas
ago,wesetoutforMars.Butnotveryfast.Gonearethedaysofheavy
chemicalfuelburnsandtrans-Marsinjectionorbits.
Hermesispoweredbyionengines.TheythrowArgonoutthebackof
theshipreallyfasttogetatinyamountofacceleration.Thethingis,it
doesn'ttakemuchreactantmass,soalittleArgon(andanuclearreactor
topowerthings)letusaccelerateconstantlythewholewaythere.You'd
beamazedathowfastyoucangetgoingwithatinyaccelerationovera
longtime.
Icouldregaleyouwithtalesofhowwehadgreatfunonthetrip,butI
won’t.Wedidhavefun,butIdon’tfeellikerelivingitrightnow.Suffice
ittosaywegottoMars124dayslaterwithoutstranglingeachother.
Fromthere,wetooktheMDV(MarsDescentVehicle)tothesurface.
TheMDVisbasicallyabigcanwithsomelightthrustersandparachutes
attached.ItssolepurposeistogetsixhumansfromMarsorbittothe
surfacewithoutkillinganyofthem.
AndnowwecometotherealtrickofMarsexploration:Havingall
ourshitthereinadvance.
Atotalof14unmannedmissionsdepositedeverythingwewouldneed
forsurfaceoperations.Theytriedtheirbesttolandallthesupplyvessels
inthesamegeneralarea,anddidareasonablygoodjob.Suppliesaren’t
nearlysofragileashumansandcanhitthegroundreallyhard.Butthey
tendedtobouncearoundalot.
Naturally,theydidn’tsendustoMarsuntilthey’dconfirmedallthe
supplieshadmadeittothesurfaceandtheircontainersweren’tbreached.
Starttofinish,includingsupplymissions,aMarsmissiontakesabout3
years.Infact,therewereAres3suppliesenroutetoMarswhiletheAres