Yes we are off to mars.

Oh boy, another multi-billion dollar staged space event.

Meanwhile, we have homeless people sleeping in the streets and a crumbling infrastructure, not to mention our unsustainable debt.

Tell me, how does this nonsense help me pay my mortgage and feed my family?

Seems just another rocket to me.

Why not try a lot of rubber bands.

Or at least a first stage with a Maglev trajectory, modelled in a parabola. Better even to make that in one of those Elon Musk train tubes. Vacuum for low resistance and high speed. Just open the cover just before the rocket pops out and fires up. or make the cover a thin foil, disposable.

That would save a lot of fuel.

Just saying.

Come on friends, lets open source space travel.

Having criticism to NASA is OK in my book, they lied a lot.

That said, why not generate some ideas.

Let me push of this boat.

Vacuum tube as trajectory.

Normal rocket with an added first stage. That first stage only contains liquid Nitrogen.

Trajectory in a vacuum tube and curved.
Two, three or four magnetic tracks.
Neodymium magnets, cooled by the liquid Nitrogen.

One or more linear magnetic tracks for movement.

A non circular, more like a double leaf, formed exit covered by a strong foil. Just before the rocket touches the foil some air is injected in the remaining space in the tube. The foil deforms and makes contact with the sharp cutter edges. The foil gets destroyed.

Now jettison the first stage, the Nitrogen one.
Recover it with chute.
Start the rocket, the rest is normal.

Why not generate some ideas?

Why not just get a really strong guy to throw the rocket in to orbit? Makes about as much sense as your ideas as examined by someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

lol - they won't even let you grow vegetables in your garden and you think they're gonna let you build and fly a space ship.

Sound familiar...

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

It's all about you huh?

Sorry wrong video

Hollywood already has the footage by way of The Martian. Just need to greenscreen some of the "real astronauts" in and they're all set.

Mars is just a light in the sky. Thinking you can land on it is just silly.

We came out of that shithole... It's like leaving Chicongo, Detroit or the bronx...you may visit later for the trill..,or just never turn back.

One day they will lay down an invisible 'track' to help propel craft all around the solar system. The only hazards being comets and asteroids which would potentially cause disturbance to these 'fields'. See, I live in the future and am frustrated that technology to us today is spelled out in terms of smart phones and electric cars.

Once we get to Mars we should set up a photon beam generator. This can later be used like a rope and pulley to lay down the final tractor rail.