http://www.mininova.org/tor/2499297

Mars Underground tells the tale of a group of people – in this particular case – of scientists, that isn’t accepted by the mainstream decision-makers of their institutional (in this case, scientific) community.  This is the story of the quest for Mars and of the plan’s forefather, Dr. Robert Zubrin. After the Apollo mission to the moon, it was clear to Zubrin that NASA works better if it is entrusted with a mission that has only one, clear, objective – as was the case when they had to master a plan to conquer the moon. Unfortunately for Zubrin, there are politics involved in the NASA budgeting and high position egos are also at stake. How will someone come up with the plan, then?

The main idea is easy: Wasting money on pending space stations or on a second tour to the moon should be halted – and instead, a tour to the only known planet that
has the required resources for humanity to thrive, Mars – should be expedited.

Zubrin’s plan was already given a chance during the Bush senior administration, when NASA asked for $450 billions in expenses in order to finance a second visit to the moon and a first visit to Mars. As expected, the plan was not approved by the US Congress. Zubrin then stepped in and recalculated the whole visit to Mars and concluded that only $25 billions would actually be necessary. He tried to harness support for this plan in NASA and other scientific institutions was actually successful in doing so, until some high positioned NASA big-shots rejected his plan again.

The plan’s key, stated briefly, is to spend more time 0n researching Mars instead of 0n the combustibles to get there. Sticking a flag in the planet’s surface, as was done with the moon, will not suffice or be satisfactory this time around. The first cargo would wait until the orbits of Mars and Earth orbits are closest to each other and would then enter Mar’s atmosphere, saving astronomic sums in combustibles. The first cargo would also include only one space shuttle, that will produce – using a small nuclear  reactor – the sufficient amount of combustible needed for trip back from Mars to planet earth, from the moment it lands on Mars. In the meantime, a second space shuttle will take off from earth, with cosmonauts aboard, who will be expected to stay in Mars for 6 months – thus, dividing the space cargo into 2 parts, which will rotate and be connected to one another and allowing for the needed gravity to be created, with all of its beneficial implications.

The expedition of scientists would eventually set a record for staying in Mars for 1 year,   and will have sufficient time to conduct all warranted researches. Among them, is to try to recover any proof of earlier life that supposedly existed on Mars, another test would be to pollute the planet atmosphere so as to bring about a rise in temperature that will lead the iced waters to melt and water the soil. However, some in NASA still object to the whole idea and claim that staying on Mars will expose the astronauts to great danger emanating from radiation and raise the probability that they will be afflicted with cancer.
In response to this matter, Zubrin suggested that a centered area inside the spaceship will be built, in order to protect the passengers from the extreme radiation caused either by the Sun or other particles traveling in space. Zubrin also pointed out that  “These  cancer odds are greater for smokers, only a 1% increase in the chances of developing cancer would grow for those members of the crew.