‘One-way ticket’ to Mars would speed up exploration

INVOKING the spirit of Star Trek in a scholarly article entitled To Boldly Go, two scientists contend human travel to Mars could happen much more quickly and cheaply if the missions are made one-way.

They argue that it would be little different from early settlers to North America, who left Europe with little expectation of return.

“The main point is to get Mars exploration moving,” said Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University, who wrote the article in the latest Journal of Cosmology with Paul Davies of Arizona State University.