[MB.]

What do you think would have happened had the Apollo program been completed in the late 1970s? Would a Mars or Venus mission have been achieved by the mid 1980s? Would the Space Station Freedom have been built a decade ahead of schedule? What would have been the impact on the society and cold war more generally? Would we still see the same focus on low earth orbit and autonomous missions?

[yiostheoy]

Looks like nobody has given this much if any thought.

Sending a man to Mars or Venus does not seem feasible in the near future.

It would take a long time to get there and just as long to get back.

Humans don't last very long without special maintenance issues such as surgery and drug treatments.

So you cannot just send a small crew. You would need an entire colony, such as the ship's crew of a caravel back in the age of sail.