Briefing: Space colonies
A Nasa scientist says plans are afoot to send humans to Mars to build a settlement by 2030. However, to cut costs, they will never be able to return
Cal Flyn
No return trip from Mars means the price tag could be cut by 80% (MPI)
Is there life on Mars? If not, there's certainly a plan to put it there. Speaking at The Long Now Foundation in San Francisco, California, last week, Pete Worden, a leading scientist at the US space agency Nasa, revealed that the aim of the human space programme was now to settle on another world. "Twenty years ago you had to whisper that in dark bars. You'd get fired," he said. "But now it's an open thing that we talk about." The first stop will be Mars. The pioneers will be taking a trip of a lifetime — but with a catch. There will be no return flight. Nasa believes that flying people to and from the planet would be too costly, so volunteers would leave on…