If Obama really wanted to promote progress in space exploration and development, he'd talk about privatizing the field and getting rid of the regulations prohibiting private parties from deploying their own spacecraft, terraforming, etc. But some basic questions I have are:
1) What is the warmest spot on Mars, weather wise? Is there any spot on the surface that is not radioactive?
I definitely agree with your first point, it should be pretty obvious that inefficient, coercive government programs are the worst way to colonize other planets. As long as the government programs exist though, contributions to private endeavors will be hamstrung since everyone is forced to pay for NASA anyways, so why would they invest in a private scheme? Additionally, gifted individuals will be encouraged to go into NASA rather than the private sector, and then there's the issue of all the regulations limiting private endeavors but not NASA.
As to your first question, there are
parts of Mars where the temperature of the ground is close to average room temperature on Earth. The average temperature, however, is -53°F.
As to radiation, that could be a slight problem, since Mars has little global magnetic field to speak of. A significant amount of ionizing radiation reaches the surface because of this. However, NASA considers over three years' exposure to the level of radiation experienced in Martian orbit to be safe, and levels on the surface are probably a fair bit lower. Still, it's safe to say any surface habitat would require some radiation shielding to be on the safe side.
2) If even just 2 people go on the maned mission, where is the 18+ months of water and MREs going to come from to sustain them to and from Mars?
That doesn't seem too hard. The longest stay in space so far was 438 days, by Russian Valeri Polyakov, and he didn't starve. Generally,
urine is recycled back into drinking water, so the water supply lastes longer than you'd think.
3) Where is this terraforming technology, really? Has anybody heard of a widescale demonstration of it, anywhere?
It's not something that can be easily tested, but it seems feasible.
Paraterraforming is a more reachable goal within our lifetimes, and it's been
tested to some extent here on Earth in the form of "biospheres".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars
4) Any answers to the issue of surviving the asteroid debris field between Earth and Mars? How about the high frequency radiation in space (above earth's upper atmosphere, in the debris field, on the surface of Mars, etc.)?
There is a
theory out there that most radiation can be avoided by traveling INSIDE an asteroid that orbits between Earth an Mars. But a
magnetically shielded spacecraft would be far more convenient than hitching rides on space rocks.
