What is it about?

In overview, the Ironberry Plan features intense ISRU in a favored location on Mars, robotics, and rocket transformation. It needs large rockets, but it does not require large numbers of large rockets, or rapid rocket reusability (RRR), or RRR's need for large consumption of precious Mars water. It offers an alternative to NASA's Moon-to-Mars policy in that, at least for an extended period, its activities do not focus on transporting humans to Mars or the moon. In contrast, it uses very low-cost precursor robotics, manufacturing, and local resources to provide an impressive infrastructure (for example, a robotically-built landing pad) that can support humans on Mars (possibly hastening our arrival there) and also continuations of Carl Sagan's Water Strategy, and the beginning of astronomy from Mars (hopefully in the middle infrared, which is best for sensing evidence for life on exoplanets).

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Why is it important?

It offers a practical, low-cost alternative plan to both NASA's Moon-to-Mars plan and Elon Musk's colonization plan based on low-cost Earth-to-Mars transport through RRR. Alternates to these two better-known plans are needed now. NASA's Moon-to-Mars plan (aka the Artmeis Plan) is now under attack from the Mars Society as "rudderless" and hopelessly slow. This society is now lobbying the US Congress to compel NASA to devise another plan. Musk's colonization enabled through RRR has to be significantly altered to make it a practicable plan of action. The range of possible practical plans for actions on Mars will be discussed in another paper. However, one class of plans will focus on using robots to turn local resources into needed Mars infrastructure that is heavy and too expensive to transport from Earth. The Ironberry Plan is in this class of plans. This plan has the advantage of being implemented at a location on Mars that, frankly, is the best on Mars by far for providing local resources for building needed infrastructure and a science station. As such, the strengths of this alternate plan will eventually convert many Mars-interested people into backers.

Perspectives

It is an excellent plan; you should read it.

Rif Miles Olsen
Two Planet Life and Two Planet Steel

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: The Ironberry Plan: an Electric and Steel-making Way to Build a Science Station on Mars, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, July 2024, British Interplanetary Society,
DOI: 10.59332/jbis-077-03-0091.
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