This is perhaps not as dumb as it sounds.<p>If it were viable to properly shield the ISS from radiation and dust and small rocks, it could be a good idea to put it on an Aldrin Cycler orbit. Then all you would need to send to Mars every time a crew would have to go there would be the lander and supplies for the ISS to keep the crew alive and well for the 150 days or so of the transfer (and pack some supplies for the transfer back). That would significantly reduce the mass you have to send every trip. Having a capable platform on a permanent transfer orbit would also be great for science. Much better than LEO.<p>You would, of course, have to send repair and expansion parts, some extra propellant for trajectory corrections, replacements for damaged modules and build a whole lot more redundancy into the ISS than it has now - remember it would not be possible to use the Soyuz lifeboats on an emergency - not even when crossing Earth orbit as the ISS would be going too fast for the Soyuz to properly aerobrake.<p>It doesn't solve all the problems and is not what the journalist proposed, but it is close enough - the ISS would go to Mars and back (and to Mars and back and so on for as long as it could be repaired).<p>I would go for it.<p>But the upgrades wouldn't be cheap.