Arggghhh...

Watch a video that was recorded from the Discovery Channel. "Race to Mars".

They were generally doing a great job on the science. Not perfect, but the mistakes were stuff they failed to mention (like solar flare hazards), not stuff they threw in that wasn't so.

Then they discovered there's a fault with the engines. And control back on Earth telkls them to do a "free return" pass around Mars because they can't trust the engines for an orbital insertion burn...


And I wanted to scream.

You see, Monn flights could have a "free return" orbit, because the Moon Orbits the Earth.

But a Mars mission *can't*. If they don't do the insertion burn, they will wind up back in Earth's orbit. Only Earth won't be within millions of miles.

For a Mars mission your *only* hope of return to Earth is gretting into an orbit around Mars, and then many months later boosting into a transfer orbit to Earth.

as I recall, the wait in Mars orbit may actually longer than either leg going vetween Earth and Mars.

This is something that any decent science advisor would have told them immediately after seeing that in the script.

Pity that they either don't have advisors or don't listen to them.