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Mars Exploration 2: Manned Missions (Concepts; Preparations; etc.)

"The human crew prepares to set food on the Red Planet."

Is this some kind of offering to the local gods? Probably a wise move!
Probably their only meal on the planet if they can't grow food there.
 
Will We Ever Colonize Mars? (Op-Ed)
by Paul Sutter, Astrophysicist | September 28, 2015 03:13pm ET

Paul Sutter is a research fellow at the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste and visiting scholar at the Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics (CCAPP). Sutter is also host of the podcasts Ask a Spaceman and RealSpace, and the YouTube series Space In Your Face. He contributed this article toSpace.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Ah, Mars. The place that dreams are made of. As long as those dreams involve a poisonous, tenuous atmosphere, inhospitable cold and lots and lots of red. Still, people seem to want to go there. But will we ever make it?

"Yes," if you ask Elon Musk. I agree, but it probably won't be as easy as you might think, even if you think it's going to be really really hard.

Gravity doesn't know when to give up
What's the problem? Pick up the nearest object and throw it. I don't care if there are people around you. Do it. This is an experiment. This is science. Note how far the object goes before it hits the ground. Now pick it up and throw it harder. It went further, didn't it?

Part of the reason you didn't throw it as far as your ego thought you would was air resistance. Plowing through the atmosphere like a bull in a molecular china shop, the object quickly loses speed. But the actual "hitting the ground” part is due to gravity. If you took away all the air, your thrown object would still eventually hit the ground.

In an airless world, no matter how hard you throw the object, it will reach the ground in the same amount of time. That's because gravity only works in the "down" direction, not the "over" direction, so for all gravity cares, you might as well have just lazily dropped it. But the harder you throw it, the more speed it will have, and the farther it will go before inevitably hitting the ground.

Or maybe not so inevitably. Imagine throwing something so hard that in the few seconds before it hits the ground, it reached the other side of a house. Or maybe a street. Throw it harder and you could get it across town. Across the country. Even faster: across an ocean.

Imagine throwing it so fast that by the time gravity gets around to doing its thing, the Earth has curved away from it. Gravity keeps on tugging at the object, but it frustratingly keeps missing the ground. ...

http://www.space.com/30679-will-hum...id=648610669693046784&adbpl=tw&adbpr=15431856
 
Leaked ‘NASA footage’ shows a manned mission to Mars in 1973

A film supposedly leaked from NASA shows blurry footage from a manned mission to Mars – in 1973.

The film, which shows some wobbly-cam footage of the planet, begins with a sign saying, ‘Not for public distribution.’

Must be real, then.

Conspiracy theorists believe that there was a ‘secret space programme’, codenamed Project Redsun, when humans landed on Mars in the late 60s or early 70s.

Etc...

http://metro.co.uk/2015/10/07/leaked-nasa-footage-shows-a-manned-mission-to-mars-in-1973-5426230/

Once again, those devious goits at NASA have performed a top secret project involving thousands of people (presumbly) which they've covered up for forty years. First they pretend to go to the Moon but don't, then they pretend not to go to Mars but do! Oooh, it gets me goat!:mad:
 
That might explain some of the mystery wreckage/debris they're now finding.
 
Note that in reality they are not finding any mystery wreckage. If they did they'd hold any number of triumphalist press briefings about it; they found salty sludge on the planet and made it into a media event -imagine what they'd do if they found nuts and bolts.
 
Well, there was this pasta they found on Mars; probably an artifact of the cutting tool, or evidence of a food-processing industry on our sister planet...
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Note that in reality they are not finding any mystery wreckage. If they did they'd hold any number of triumphalist press briefings about it; they found salty sludge on the planet and made it into a media event -imagine what they'd do if they found nuts and bolts.
If they found wreckage or signs of an ancient civilisation, do you really think they'd tell us?
They're not telling us everything.
 
If they found wreckage or signs of an ancient civilisation, do you really think they'd tell us?
Absolutely. Such a discovery would put NASA's budget through the roof. Instead they are attempting to big up the discovery of sludge.
 
The Journey to Mars: Bridging the Technology Gap

As the new movie “The Martian” demonstrates, there’s an amazing list of technologies required to safely send human beings to the Red Planet and bring them home again. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is home to the Technology Demonstration Missions program office, which oversees a host of key technology development efforts at NASA and partner facilities around the country, each dedicated to doing just that: advancing and maturing technologies critical to exploration of Mars and other solar-system destinations.

From groundbreaking deep-space navigational tools to revolutionary propulsion systems and vehicle braking and planetary descent technologies, Marshall and its TDM partners, working under the leadership of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington, are pursuing high-value technology projects with the potential to transform how we deliver robotic and human explorers to Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor.


The Deep Space Atomic Clock project led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, seeks to validate in flight a miniaturized, ultra-precise, mercury-ion atomic clock that could dramatically change the way we conduct deep-space radio navigation, reducing mission operations costs and safely delivering more science data — and more spacefaring scientists — to their destination. The project could further improve autonomous, or self-directed, navigational functions for critical flight events such as orbital insertion around the planet Mars or even landing on its surface. NASA anticipates the project will launch a prototype to Earth orbit via a commercial launch vehicle in 2016, where the payload will be operated for at least a year to demonstrate its navigational capabilities.


Read more at http://www.deepstuff.org/the-journey-to-mars-bridging-the-technology-gap/#U5JxGevWX6WIKtq1.99
 
The path to Mars goes through the moon — or the region of space near the moon, anyway.

NASA aims to put boots on Mars in the 2030s after first gathering human-spaceflight experience and expertise in low Earth orbit and the "proving ground" of cis-lunar space near the moon.

NASA has been working on this three-stage path to the Red Planet for some time, and the space agency lays out the basic plan in a 36-page report called "Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration," which was released Thursday (Oct. 8). [5 Ideas for Manned Missions to Mars]

"This strategy charts a course toward horizon goals while delivering near-term benefits and defining a resilient architecture that can accommodate budgetary changes, political priorities, new scientific discoveries, technological breakthroughs and evolving partnerships," William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement.

http://www.space.com/30788-nasa-astronauts-on-mars-plan.html?cmpid=514648
 
A successful crewed Mars campaign must recognize, and take pains to ameliorate, the psychological and cultural challenges that Red Planet pioneers will face, a prominent space architect says.

For example, a manned mission to Mars must take into account sojourning astronauts' lengthy isolation from friends and family, said Marc Cohen, of the California-based company Astrotecture.

"Ironically, the same can-do spirit that characterized so many of the successes throughout the space age also blinds the current crop of Mars advocates to the profound challenges of habitability that lie ahead," Cohen said Nov. 4 during a presentation to NASA's Future In-Space Operations working group. [5 Crewed Mission to Mars Ideas]

"Long-duration missions to Mars and beyond cannot succeed if human support and human system integration strategy is based on denial and avoidance of the crew issues that are as real as [issues like] burning all the propellant," Cohen added.

Cohen listed some of the challenges that would make a Mars trip difficult for astronauts, from the obvious (constant confinement; separation from family for a long period of time) to the more obscure (no separation of work and social life; the relative lack of fresh fruits and vegetables; disconnection from the natural world).

http://www.space.com/31193-manned-mars-mission-cultural-issues.html?cmpid=514648
 
In the wake of SpaceX’s successful rocket landing, some of the company’s most ardent fans are guessing at the shape of the biggest thing to come: the Mars Colonial Transporter.

The MCT is a crucial piece in SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s grand plan to send tens of thousands of colonists to the Red Planet, potentially starting in the next decade or two. Such a venture would mark a giant leap toward establishing a second cosmic home for humanity. Musk believes that’s a must if we’re to guard against extinction due to pandemics, asteroid strikes or other planet-wide catastrophes.

Early this year, Musk promised to unveil his architecture for Mars colonization by the end of 2015 – but in a recent GQ interview, he said the big reveal was more likely to come in early 2016. “Before we announce it, I want to make sure that we’re not gonna make really big changes to it,” he said

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/specul...-plans-for-spacexs-mars-colonial-transporter/
 
Elon Musk Says SpaceX Will Send People to Mars by 2025

Nobody can accuse Elon Musk of not shooting for the stars.

The SpaceX and Tesla founder said this week that he personally wants to visit space within the next five years and thinks that his company will launch a mission to Mars by 2025.

Speaking at the StartmeupHK Festival in Hong Kong this week, Musk said that he had already taken parabolic flights to prepare for space, but had not done much else.

"I don't think it's that hard, honestly," he said. "It's not that hard to float around."

Personal space travel ambitions aside, Musk also talked about how important it was for mankind to reach Mars. He said that SpaceX is planning to reveal its next-generation spacecraft at September's International Astronautical Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico.

That could be the next step toward eventually sending human beings to the Red Planet — something Musk said he thinks will happen by 2025. It's an ambitious goal considering that NASA's current plan is to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. ...

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-says-spacex-will-send-people-mars-2025-n506891
 
"I don't think it's that hard, honestly," he said. "It's not that hard to float around."
In spite of this idiotic remark, I suspect he has as much chance of doing it as NASA has. Unless they get that emdrive thing working, in which case I don't see why it couldn't happen in five years.
 
It is an idiotic remark. I can imagine lots of real astronauts being pissed off with Elon Musk...
 
Hmm, I think Musk is better than that. However he knows that his trip will not involve fixing the Hubble or performing odd experiments. He'll just be a tourist.
 
Yes, all he has to do is sit there as long as he can take the G's of getting into space. He's a passenger on a rocket propelled spaceplane.
 
Long-term stay in Zero-g has bad effects on astronaut bone calcium and muscle mass. This is why the ISS astronauts have to do several hours of exercise every day to counteract these negative effects.

And flying to Mars would involve a lot of zero-g. Surely Trump - er - Musk, realises this?
 
Don't compare the two.

He is talking about his trip to space, not about the Mars expedition.
 
NASA wants to grow genetically modified potatoes on Mars
The spuds will first be tested at the International Potato Center in Peru.


DO PERU’S POTATOES have the right stuff?

That’s the question scientists will be asking in Lima next month, when a selection of tubers will begin undergoing tests to determine whether they’re fit to grow on Mars.

NASA, the US space agency, is conducting the pioneering experiment together with Lima’s International Potato Center (CIP).

They will cultivate a hundred selected varieties already subjected to rigorous evaluation in extreme, Mars-like conditions that could eventually pave the way to building a dome on the Red Planet for farming the vegetable.

The selection was made from a total of 4,500 varieties registered at CIP, a nonprofit research facility that aims to reduce poverty and achieve food security.

Of the selected candidates, 40 are native to the Andes Mountains, conditioned to grow in different ecological zones, withstand sudden climate changes and reproduce in rocky, arid terrain. ...

http://www.thejournal.ie/potatoes-on-mars-2612853-Feb2016/?utm_source=shortlink
 
Potatoes on Mars? That's what the guy in 'The Martian' tried to do.
 
Here’s how we could build a colony on an alien world

If the human race is to survive in the long-run, we will probably have to colonise other planets. Whether we make the Earth uninhabitable ourselves or it simply reaches the natural end of its ability to support life, one day we will have to look for a new home.

Hollywood films such as The Martian and Interstellar give us a glimpse of what may be in store for us. Mars is certainly the most habitable destination in our solar system, but there are thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars that could be a replacement for our Earth. So what technology will we need to make this possible?



We effectively already have one space colony, the International Space Station (ISS). But it is only 350km away from Earth and relies on a continuous resupply of resources for its crew of six. Much of the technology developed for the ISS, such as radiation shielding, water and air recycling, solar power collection, is certainly transferable to future space settlements. However, a permanent space colony on the surface of another planet or moon adds a new set of challenges.

Unnatural habitat
The first requirement for a human settlement is a habitat, an isolated environment able to maintain air pressure, composition (the amount of oxygen), and temperature, and protect the inhabitants from radiation. This is likely to be a relatively large and heavy structure.

Launching large, heavy objects into space is a costly and difficult job. Spacecraft since the Apollo missions, which comprised several modules that had to separate and dock, have been sent up in pieces and assembled by astronauts. But given the impressive steps forward we are seeing in autonomous control, the pieces of a colony habitat may be able to assemble themselves. Today, manoeuvres similar to the Apollo docking are performedcompletely automatically.


Read more at http://www.deepstuff.org/heres-how-we-could-build-a-colony-on-an-alien-world/#jpMKffjppqTYzm01.99
 
'The Marge-ian Chronicles': 'The Simpsons' Riffs on Private Mars Colonization

Private Mars colonization has gotten "The Simpsons" treatment.

In the venerable show's latest episode — "The Marge-ian Chronicles," which aired Sunday (March 13) on Fox — Lisa applies to become an astronaut with a company called Exploration Inc., which aims to launch colonists toward Mars in 2026.


Exploration Inc. is an obvious nod to Mars One, the Netherlands-based nonprofit that wants to land four astronauts on Mars in 2027, as the vanguard of a permanent settlement. [Mars One's Red Planet Colony Project (Gallery)]

Mars One intends to pay for its ambitious activities primarily by staging a global media event around the entire project, from astronaut selection and training, to liftoff, to the pioneers' time on Mars. Exploration Inc. also relies on corporate sponsorship to pay the bills.


- See more at: http://www.space.com/32276-the-simpsons-mars-one-project.html?cmpid=514648#sthash.IhoG7qN1.dpuf
 
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Permanent Mars Colony Is 'Long Way Down the Road,' NASA Says

The first NASA astronauts to set foot on Mars will aim to establish a research-and-operations base, not a permanently inhabited colony, agency officials say.

According to NASA's current plans, the Mars outpost — which NASA hopes to set up by the end of the 2030s — will serve as a hub that accommodates astronauts on a temporary basis, said Ben Bussey, the chief exploration scientist in NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

A colony is "a long way down the road. No one's thinking of, on the NASA side, like a permanent human base," Bussey said Wednesday (March 16) during a presentation with the space agency's Future In-Space Operations (FISO) working group. [Red Planet or Bust: 5 Crewed Mars Mission Ideas]

"The idea here is that you would have your exploration zone that you set up for the first crew," Bussey added. "And that crew would leave, and then you send another crew at the next good launch opportunity. So it isn't permanently occupied, but it is visited multiple times."




[img class="pure-img" big-src="http://www.space.com/images/i/000/042/275/original/mars-surface-conditions-140918c-02.jpg?1411076855" src="http://www.space.com/images/i/000/0...855?interpolation=lanczos-none&downsize=192:*" alt="Conditions make living on Mars extremely challenging.
See how living on the Red Planet would be hard in this Space.com infographic.
Credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist
Mars exploration z
- See more at: http://www.space.com/32325-nasa-mar...utlook.html?cmpid=514648#sthash.QrUZsFVE.dpuf
 
Elon Musk wants to launch a spacecraft to Mars as soon as 2018.

Let that sink in. Depending on your definition of “as soon as,” that means sometime between 20 and 32 months from now. But Musk probably meant roughly 24 months, because May 2018 is when the next best Mars launch window opens—a period when the red planet’s orbit brings it closest to Earth’s. His company SpaceX has a lot to do in the meantime. Like, finish building the rocket it will use to launch the spacecraft, and figure out how to land the damn thing on Mars’ surface.

2018 is the very near future. If SpaceX were starting their Mars program today, their deadline would be a total joke. “They’ve said for a long time that they intend to test their Dragon 2 capsule by going to Mars and trying to land,” saysDavid Hewitt, a rocket scientist with private spaceflight company Dynetics. SpaceX has been working on its human-capable capsule for several years. It is not only bigger than the original cargo-only Dragon, but capable of making planet landings using eight thrusters.

http://www.wired.com/2016/04/spacexs-plan-reach-mars-2018-actually-not-crazy/?mbid=social_twitter
 
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