Manned interplanetary travel is IMPOSSIBLE today

There is a widespread misconception that with today's technologies
it would be possible to send people to Mars.

That is not possible. There are TWO major show stoppers.

Problem (1)

"Man" as we know it now, is not able to survive in space for
more than 6 months without damage, and after more than 1.5 years
the damage is so great as to be equivalent to a death sentence.

The longest stay of a man in space runs up to 400 days.

This is due to muscle degeneration due to lack of gravity. This
is a SHOW STOPPER for any manned missions beyond the moon.

Spaceships for interplanetary travel must have artificial gravity
(spin) so they need to be much bigger than they are now.

Note that this problem does NOT go away with exercise machines.

Problem (2)

Space is full with Gamma rays and cosmic rays. For any mission longer
than a few weeks you need shielding with at least several meters of
water. Without this, "Man" dies from cancer and DNA destruction.

This means that spaceships must carry thick shielding, what makes them
even heavier. The crew must live behind several meters of water to
survive in space. With time, that water becomes radioactive and must
be changed. This will not happen in short trips (Mars/Venus) but in
longer expeditions that would take several years (Uranus/Neptune).

Note too that Mars does not offer any protection against radiation
since its magnetic field is VER weak or non-existent. After eons of
being hit by cosmic rays, the surface of Mars is quite radioactive.
It would re-radiate into any not-shielded vessel. Astronauts would
be forced underground. Gravity in mars is only 1/3 of earth's. Not
enough to avoid muscle decay. It would be necessary to have a
rotating base.

A moon base is of course feasible, but it should be at least several
meters below the ground to take care of (2). But since lunar gravity
is too weak, the moon base should be rotating as well to take care of
problem (1).

Conclusion:

We need to build spaceships of enormous size to get to the planets.
That technology will be ready maybe 2040-2050. Not now.

On the other hand, look at the Mars rovers. They have survived unscathed
more than TWO YEARS in marsian conditions, and they allow "Man" to
explore Mars NOW, not in a century. Even easier is to explore the
moon robotically since the time-lag is just 2 seconds round trip.

Look at Cassini. It is cruising without any problems near Saturn.
The time-lag is around one hour, and yet, we have managed to land in
one of the moons of Saturn.

Let's face it: manned space exploration beyond the space station is
just science fiction now. It will be reality in a few decades, but
not before.
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