Frank,

I'll get into the details after I've built up the website. Artificial gravity would not be provided. The colonists would be in zero gravity for about 3 months. The basic idea is to first scout out the site on Mars with people that I call "pioneers". The pioneers would be your classical astonauts, i.e. Olympic athletes with Ph.D.s who were also combat experienced fighter pilots (think: Buzz Aldrin, John Young, Harrison Schmidt). These super humans would operate in small teams and search the surface of Mars for the ideal colony site. Once the site was certified, a cycler spacecraft as shown in my website would start transporting the colonists. The colonists (unlike the pioneers) would be ordinary human beings with a wide range of basic skills. About 1000 people would be transported in bulk. The system would be designed to be just safe and comfortable enough that most of the colonists would arrive on Mars (one way only) with their health and sanity intact. Think: Pilgrims crammed in the hold of the Mayflower for 2 months and you've captured the mindset. The pioneers would be waiting on Mars to receive the colonists and assist them from their landers to a temporary inflatable habitat. It would be assumed that the colonists could not walk on their own for the first week they were on Mars.

Gary