Transport - 3

Extra-planetary vehicles will have one major differentiation from Earth based vehicles in that they will all have to provide onboard survival capabilities for the driver and passengers. 

Regardless of intended purpose or design all vehicles have 3 main functions.

1. The first is rescue 

2. The second is to support the next larger capacity vehicle. Both functions are one and the same as they both relate to rescue.

3. Support colonial and expeditionary purposes

Vehicles should be multipurpose with safety and rescue as the basic design principles. Being in a hostile atmosphere requires a quick response to any emergency including vehicular breakdown. A short 20 minute drive from the colony would result in a much longer walk back with a rapidly dwindling air supply.

On earth, sheltering in place during a storm is an option, on Mars, that option would be a death sentence as every breath is one that is unrecoverable. This is why all vehicles need to be so equipped as to return to base regardless of conditions and to be able to provide immediate assistance to a vehicle capacity larger than itself. 

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