Why don't they use the space station to go to Mars?

[blahblah99]

If they add enough propulsion & life support modules, why can't they use the station as a ship to go to Mars?

 

[Nebor]

Because how would it land?

 

[Vinny N]

Wouldn't it be even harder to get a station to go fast enough?

I remember reading somewhere that the amount of time astronauts can spend in space is a problem. It was some risk to their health and it simply was based on how long they were off the planet and in space.

Being on a station wouldn't solve that, especially if they have to stay on it even longer to get to Mars and then back.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

mars dosen't seem like a very nice place to go.

 

[MajinWade]

Isn't the space station protected in the Van Allen belt? If they moved it, it would not be adequately shielded. Also, I think the purpose of the space station is diplomacy and international relations. I've been told if we wanted it for anything else cost effectively, we should have built it alone. Bureaucracy costs a lot of money and time, especially international and inter-cultural bureaucracy.

 

[chiwawa626]

Space station is not a very strong rig for space travel. Its more or less made to be stationary. The say when the astronauts do their daily running exercise the whole thing shakes.