Government And Voluntary Work

I do believe that public/private sector collaboration is possible in the drive for Mars. But roles need some reversal. The private sector needs to lead. It is only the dynamic of the private sector that can drive down costs. NASA's budget is currently mired in Congress largely because of its misbegotten plan to harness a minuscule asteroid and park it in lunar orbit for gradual exploitation. This proposal typifies NASA's loss of vision. The commitment to the hugely expensive Orion spacecraft and the SLS launch system, as I have argued before, shows that NASA has learned few lessons from the vast budgetary drain of the Space Shuttle program. NASA spends like there is no tomorrow and then wonders, when it turns out there is no tomorrow for its white elephants, just why that is so. The private sector is perfectly capable of creating the flight infrastructure for Mars. The rockets, the spacecraft and the habitats. It will do it at far less cost than NASA ever could. Design by committee is always the most expensive option. But there is a need for much development of life support systems, advanced propulsion, chemical engineering plants for Mars surface use, construction and transport methodologies on the Red Planet,and farming and hydroponic techniques and infrastructure. These ancillary necessities provide scope for much continuing work by the Space Agency, spurred on by the rapid development of private sector delivery mechanisms. Ideally, if Orion and the SLS were cancelled by Congress, then the budget left over for reassignment could go half to provide seed corn for private sector focused investment and half for these continuing and expanding NASA ancillary priorities.

The thought-power for taking forward blue-sky thinking and engineering innovation on the wide front that a successful Mars colony must require will be enormous and expensive. One productive possibility would be to set up a think/engineering tank manned by the many engineering and design experts available at both ends of the age spectrum. Enthusiasm abounds among retirees and students both. There is no reason why such a think tank could not be staffed nearly entirely on a salary free internship basis. A sort of Peace Corps of the skies. Would there be enough volunteers? For the chance to be involved at the ground floor of a project like this, you can bet there would. And good calibre people too. The housing and facilities costs for such an institution? Well how about a Manhattan Project style concentrated campus. The military could be employed to set up a canvassed encampment and supply it with accomodation, consumables and power. A useful training opportunity for logistics units if nothing else.

All these are just preliminary thoughts. The delivery of a Mars colony is going to require a lot of out of the box reasoning.