QUOTE (djellison @ Dec 29 2014, 03:47 AM)
... "A straight shot with abrupt braking at Mars takes about six months whereas a trip relying on ballistic capture would take an additional several months" are at odds with one another..."
I think they are not considering the insertion burn as part of the cruise. Also of course you have several extra months of cruise time which has to be "manned" back on Earth, which also costs money.
Also a longer cruise time could mean more time for a failure to occur.