Moon Walker wrote:

travel, say, just ten thousand miles above the Earth? No,
never. All they have are lame excuses. We know the truth.

Anyone who knows where the reflecting mirrors are on the moon and has a laser powerful enough can see the reflections. How did the mirrors get there?

And yes, you are right. Manned travel in open space is very hazardous to the health of the crew. That is why manned missions have lasted days and not months. If we put a human crew on the moon without the wherewithall to build shelters against solar radiation PDQ, then it is a suicide mission. Astrounauts have reported seeing bright flashes, even with the eyes shut. That is the effect of cosmic rays, very high energy particles impinging on the retina. How much of that can a human take before he get cataracts of the eye?

In addition to radiation hazards, 0-g exposures of the long run will turn human bone into something resembling brittle chalk, and muscles will degenerate rapidly. Humans are biologically not fit for longterm exposure to space and our current technology does not given them adequate protection against the hazards. On top of that, being cooped up in a small compartment with others can soon lead to emotional pain and conflict. Talk about cabin fever!

On a long voyage, more than a few day's out from Earth, if anything goes wrong and the means to fix it are not at hand in the vessel the crew is toast either figuratively or literally. Consequently I really question the wisdom of manned missions to Mars, which involves a three year round trip. Given current technology, it is a thoroughly bad idea.

Bob Kolker