Hi! Roger,   
      
   On 06/23/2016 10:01 AM, you wrote:   
      
    PQ>> NASA wants to do a return mission, using the 'battlestar galactica'   
    PQ>> methodology. Which requires a humoungous effort & budget.   
      
    RN> What do they propose powering it with?   
      
   The naming is referencing the scale of operations.  Both the Mare One ships   
   and NASA's will use standard chemical rockets.   
      
   Mars One wanted originally to use existing (or upgraded) Apollo-type   
   hardware.  They couldn't get their stuff together, financially-speaking.   
      
   Otherwise they had a viable plan using cheap existing hardware, and a   
   timetable of roughly 2013-2015/2016 for their first missions.  Yep, their   
   first unmanned ship should have landed one or two years ago, and ought to have   
   been manufacturing oxygen, water & fuel for the return mission this last   
   year.  BTW, 2016 sees Mars at its closest to Earth for the last decade.   
      
   Mars One is based on a proposal for an original Mars Direct mission. Check out   
   any EwwToob vids about Robert Zubrin (The Case For Mars or anything that   
   mentions "Mars direct", or maybe "Mars Underground"). (Totally unrelated but   
   if you get a chance, check out his "Transorbital Railroad" video.  It's a   
   blast!)   
      
   Conversely, NASA wants to take everything (food, oxygen, water & fuel).  Also,   
   the crew number is essentially doubled.  Plus they plan a lot of EVA around   
   another purpose-built station in LEO, to build their 'mother ship'.  Once in   
   orbit around Mars there will be a lot of EVA and shuttle/rendezvous events   
   getting to & from the surface, with a reduced time on planet schedule   
   (compared with Mars Direct).  Meanwhile NASA's timetable is... "oh, maybe   
   after 2025 we might get something going".   
      
   I haven't checked recently, but Mars One is already in the early stages of   
   garnering industry to provide hardware, while their first batch of cosmonaut   
   crews are in-training.  All the basics have been worked out with a lot of R&D   
   (on how to produce fuel, water & air, and, living & working in the various   
   crew cabins & vehicles) having been done by the Mars Direct/Mars Society brain   
   trust.  Since it's a private operation, they need more financing.  Their plan   
   is to have a colony established on Mars _by_ 2026-ish.   
      
   Cheers,   
   Paul.   
      
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