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

mars

it would seem that we ARE going to go to mars
this is just an asuption on the amount of resarch abound on the physicality of such a trip
the question is why?
 
Tin Finger said:
the question is why?

Off the top of my head, and from a variety of sources (some of them SF rather than actual pop science):

1. The collection of material from the surface of Mars will allow comparisons with terrestrial geology that will shed light on how the solar system formed. The more material studied (up to a point), the more illuminating the comparisons will be.
2. The possibility that life might exist on Mars has not yet been entirely ruled out. The only way to be sure one way or another is to go there.
3. Even if there is currently no life on Mars, there might have been in the past and the only way to check is to go there.
4. If there is, or at any time has been, life on Mars, it makes the probability of life elsewhere in our universe virtually certain. It would be nice to know.
5. It is, given what we know of the geological record of the Earth, inevitable that at some undetermined point in the future this planet will experience some natural cataclysm (one of numerous candidates) that will make the survival of humankind in any form, unlikely. To maximize our chances of survival past any such event, we need to establish a sizeable population off-world. At our current level of technology, Mars would arguably be the easiest of our neighbouring worlds to get to, and the easiest to adapt to our needs by means of terraforming. (Some might say the moon would be easier, but I can't see the moon being terraformed with our current level of tech, while there are experts who feel that we already possess the tech. to terraform Mars.)
6. Terrestrial resources are already running low. The solar system contains vast resources that we haven't begun to seriously even think about exploiting yet, and most of these resources -metals, minerals and ice- are expected to be found in the asteroid belt: it's far easier to reach the asteroid belt from Mars than from Earth, and that argues a need for some sort of colony on Mars to provide support to any Belt mining operation, even if said mining is entirely automated.
7. In the 60s, the Cold War mindset dictated that the US go to the moon to 'prove' the inherent superiority of US know-how over that of the Soviets. In the 21st C. the surest way that China could 'prove' the inherent superiority of Chinese determination coupled with the Communist system would be to bypass the moon and land a man on Mars before anyone else. I have absolutely no evidence that they intend to do so, but have a gut feeling that they will. If you could see the size of my gut, you'd better appreciate how strong that feeling might be. :D

(Note that the US could have had a man on Mars by 1985 if they'd built on the successes of Apollo: current Chinese space program tech. will certainly be up to 1990s standards at least, so it would be possible for them to send a man to Mars. Whether or not he'd get there alive is another question...)
 
Tin Finger: "it would seem that we ARE going to go to Mars"

For a strange moment I misread that sentence as

"it would seem that WE are going to go to Mars"

Well I've nothing on this coming weekend that should really
take priority. :p
 
to prove that it is in fact MARS that is made of cheese and not the moon ;)
 
Search said:
to prove that it is in fact MARS that is made of cheese and not the moon ;)
Red Leicester, in fact.

And not many people know that. ;)
 
NASA draws up blueprints for a Mars simulator
On August 27, Mars will be closer to Earth than at any point in the past 73,000 years.

That's good news for amateur astronomers, but it won't make a manned mission to the Red Planet any easier. For that, NASA has earmarked an initial million to build the Integrated Human Exploration Mission Simulation Facility, dubbed Integrity, at Houston's Johnson Space Center.

Integrity is an all-inclusive, deep-space mission simulator that will house mock transit, habitation and landing modules, complete with waste-, air- and water-recycling technologies.

Growing food
Astronauts will grow food in a Martian greenhouse and test new suits and rovers on a mock-Martian landscape. Even the soil will mimic the Red Planet's, enabling NASA to experiment with both robotic and human-operated drills, and monitor whether or not astronauts carry dangerous dust past the surface module's air lock.

Besides testing specific mission scenarios, Integrity will also inform R&D efforts, allowing NASA to prioritize technology investments.

The bean counters will also be pleased to know that Integrity will improve budget forecasting.

"We'll know what it's going to take," says program manager Don Henninger.

The facility could be ready as early as 2008. Since a manned trip to Mars isn't likely within the next two decades, that should give astronauts plenty of rehearsal time.
 
Russia plans Mars nuclear station
Russian scientists have announced plans to build a nuclear power station on Mars.
They say that all the necessary technical drawings have now been completed, and - after a few minor niggles have been ironed out - all will be ready for the construction work to begin.

The power plant should be up and running by 2030.

But experts are already asking questions about the feasibility of the project.

The first extra-terrestrial nuclear power station will serve the permanent research camp which, Russian scientists believe, could be set up on Mars within the next 30 years.

Deputy chief engineer of Red Star - a state scientific company closely affiliated with Russia's Nuclear Energy Ministry - says the station will be constructed in the mountainous areas of Mars, possibly in one of the canyons.

Cosmic building site

It will produce enough power for future Russian missions to the planet to be fully self-contained and will not need more than six engineers to maintain.

Scientists say that the station is now almost ready to be built - all they have to do is to find a way to protect staff and environment from radiation.

The only stumbling block is how to deliver ready-made building blocks to a construction site 300 million kilometres (186.4 million miles) away from Earth.

The plan is that the heavier equipment will be delivered to Mars by an automatic lander - like the European Beagle which is now making its way to the Red Planet.

The scientists say that more delicate goods will arrive in a manned spaceship.

Its crew will build both the station and the research base for all future expeditions.
 
Okay, so they've got to iron out a few "niggles", such as radiation shielding for the non-existant equipment, visiting cosmonauts etc. and ... oh, yeah ... actually getting the plant physically to Mars, let alone construction.

Although, planning must come into visionary exploration of space I can't help feeling they are being a tad optimistic. On a minor note, I can't see an almost bankrupt country paying for that kind of project and (considering current politics) the USA being perfectly happy to have Russia sending nuclear material (that stuff which hasn't been sold to dubious businessmen) into space.

I could say I can plan a complete manned station on Mars - all I need is several billion dollars, a few top-class scientific minds and permission to let of a bloody huge firework!
:laughing:
 
Actually, I expect the biggest problem is getting the fissionable material there. People seem to get nervous about that.

Shielding is easy: Build the plant well away from the base. Of course, you do need some shielding, so that you don't make that part of Mars radioactive, but you need to shield anything you build on Mars, as it has no magnetic field. So cosmic rays are a problem to start with. (Plus, you want to make sure that the reactor doesn't do funny things during a solar flare, for example.)

Actually building the plant, would probably involve excavating the site, and using local raw materials for at least part of the construction.

Of course, a lot of equipment will need to be carried from Earth, as making it from the local environment is impractical (even if the materials are there in abundance).
 
When Space.com has to post an article entitled Mars Will Not Kill You I find myself dispairing of man kind. What has happened to all the science teachers?, where are the crackpots coming from?. A little knowledge goes a long long way.

For those who may be interested further down in the article there is a table of the relative gravitational effects of many solar system bodies on the Earth. I was surprised that Jupiter has a larger impact than Mars.
Every day is a day at school :)

Stormkhan
... oh, yeah ... actually getting the plant physically to Mars, let alone construction.
Just getting all the equipment for a nuclear power station off the Earth would bankrupt the USA never mind Russia.... and then you have to land it safely/gently at the other end.
 
MAFIA PUTS FIRST MAN ON MARS!

The Mafia has muscled its way into new territory -- it's landed a manned spacecraft on Mars and begun colonization.

That's the startling assertion of a leading crime writer, who says that the four biggest Mafia families in the U.S., in a rare act of cooperation, pooled their vast resources and funded a top-secret space program that successfully reached the Red Planet on August 27.

"Very shrewdly, the heads of the various families, looking ahead to the future, have realized they'd best get a leg up on the rest of us if they want to continue to control organized crime as mankind begins its inevitable migration to other worlds," says true-crime author Albert Goodwell, who says he learned of the audacious project from his sources at the FBI.

<<read more>>

Figures.
 
They're just pissed because the Yakuza already got Venus, and are eying Jupiter.
 
They were interviewing a space scienist (pos. NASA) on the BBC and he mention putting men on Mars. The reporter asked him for more details and he suggested we should wait and see what George Bush has to say in the next couple of days - sounds interesting ;)
 
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I saw a guy at NASA being interviewed last week who suggested we should wait to see what George Bush has to say about men on Mars and it looks like we should expect new announcements soon:

Bush proposal to send man to Mars

Last Updated: Friday, 9 January, 2004, 12:36 GMT


President George W Bush will announce proposals next week to send Americans to Mars, and back to the Moon.

Senior US officials say he will also reveal plans for the construction of a permanent lunar space station.

Mr Bush intends to reinvigorate the US space programme following setbacks, including the Columbia shuttle disaster, the officials report.

The manned mission to Mars - where Nasa successfully just landed a probe - is not expected for at least 10 years.

Correspondents say Mr Bush had been expected to propose a bold new space mission as part of his re-election campaign.

Lunar testing ground

The president's father proposed men be sent to Mars when he was in office in 1989 but the project went nowhere due to cost.

Sources say George W Bush will encourage scientists to prepare for the mission in a decade's time, allowing the costs to be spread over a number of years.

The last time the US had men on the Moon was more than 30 years ago.

As the Moon is just three days away, while Mars is at least six months away, it is thought the former could become a testing ground for space equipment.

Click here to see a graphic showing the distances involved

"We know more about the Moon and if you want to test technology that is going to keep people alive, it's better to do it on the Moon," Chris Welch, a lecturer in space technology, at Kingston University, UK, told the BBC.

"If anything goes wrong you can get back from the Moon in three or four days."

As part of the Bush space initiative, there will reportedly be more exchanges of technology between the US space agency (Nasa) and the Pentagon.

Sustaining supplies

It is hoped the exploration could lead to new technologies and potential new energy supplies.

Experts say, however, that the costs and commitment required to get people to Mars, or even back to the Moon, should not be understated.

"The cost of a manned enclave on the Moon, I think, is going to make the space station look cheap. That's the only good thing about it," Stanford University's Douglas Osheroff told AP.

In any event, "I think we're still 30 years from going to Mars and if there's any reason to do that, I don't know", he added.

Wholly new rocket and capsule systems would have to be developed.

Although the Moon is relatively close at a distance of 385,000 kilometres, a mission to Mars would require astronauts to live off Earth for several years.

Humans versus robots

The recent flurry of spacecraft that went to the Red Planet took six months to get to their destination and they made good use of the closest alignment of Mars and Earth in 60,000 years.

Astronauts on Mars would have to have access to all the necessary air, food and water to sustain them on the surface for perhaps many months until the proper orbits allowed their safe return to Earth.

"I imagine they would take a rover with them," said Welch.

"They would take several scientists - geologists, astrobiologists. The advantage of human beings is that they are more flexible than robots.

"Robots can do a lot but having multiple trained human beings there would tell us so much more."

Europe has a plan dubbed Aurora which envisages putting people on Mars by about 2030.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3381531.stm
 
apparently we're actually going home

We're all from Mars: scientists
Graeme Webber
January 30, 2004

THE Martians are not coming - they've probably already arrived on earth. And we could be their descendants.

Two Australian scientists have developed new technology to confirm claims by NASA that a meteorite from Mars found in Antarctica in 1984 contained microscopic fossils from the red planet.

Scientists have fiercely debated whether the ancient, microscopic compounds were deposited by ancient bacteria or natural chemical reactions - and whether such bacteria was Martian or moved in after the meteorite fell to earth.
 
Everyone want to go to Mars...

I'll bet someone has already posted this, but here goes

At:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994642

Europe aiming to put astronauts on Mars


13:54 04 February 04

NewScientist.com news service

The European Space Agency has embarked on an ambitious space plan that includes sending astronauts to Mars in 2033.

The ultimate goal of sending people to Mars is similar to the initiative outlined by US President George W Bush in January, but ESA's programme, called Aurora, is far more detailed.

Aurora was first approved in principle in 2001, but details of the plan were presented to members of the British space industry on Tuesday in London. ESA's strategy is to take a step-by-step approach to developing the technologies required for a manned Mars mission.

The steps include creating a new vehicle that will re-enter Earth's atmosphere at high speeds by 2007, sending an orbiter and rover to Mars in 2009, and launching a two-stage mission to return samples from Mars in 2011 and 2014.

Between 2014 and 2018, officials plan demonstrations of spacecraft assembly in orbit, as well as new propulsion, aerobraking, and landing systems. By 2025, five years after President Bush vowed a return to the Moon, the Aurora programme will use a manned mission to the Moon to test life support systems and ways to use on-site resources.

"We need to go back to the Moon before we can go to Mars," said Aurora project manager Franco Ongaro, according to Reuters. "None of the people who worked on the Apollo programme are around now. We need to learn how to walk before we can run."

Nine European countries and Canada currently participate in Aurora. It is structured so that each country, at least initially, can adjust its level of participation in five-year blocks. A preliminary estimate of the programme's cost for the period between 2005 and 2009 is 900 million Euros (
Europe aiming to put astronauts on Mars


13:54 04 February 04

NewScientist.com news service

The European Space Agency has embarked on an ambitious space plan that includes sending astronauts to Mars in 2033.

The ultimate goal of sending people to Mars is similar to the initiative outlined by US President George W Bush in January, but ESA's programme, called Aurora, is far more detailed.

Aurora was first approved in principle in 2001, but details of the plan were presented to members of the British space industry on Tuesday in London. ESA's strategy is to take a step-by-step approach to developing the technologies required for a manned Mars mission.

The steps include creating a new vehicle that will re-enter Earth's atmosphere at high speeds by 2007, sending an orbiter and rover to Mars in 2009, and launching a two-stage mission to return samples from Mars in 2011 and 2014.

Between 2014 and 2018, officials plan demonstrations of spacecraft assembly in orbit, as well as new propulsion, aerobraking, and landing systems. By 2025, five years after President Bush vowed a return to the Moon, the Aurora programme will use a manned mission to the Moon to test life support systems and ways to use on-site resources.

"We need to go back to the Moon before we can go to Mars," said Aurora project manager Franco Ongaro, according to Reuters. "None of the people who worked on the Apollo programme are around now. We need to learn how to walk before we can run."

Nine European countries and Canada currently participate in Aurora. It is structured so that each country, at least initially, can adjust its level of participation in five-year blocks. A preliminary estimate of the programme's cost for the period between 2005 and 2009 is 900 million Euros ($1.1 billion).

"As Europe continues to assert itself both economically and politically as a leading world power, it cannot leave space exploration to the other space-faring powers, Russia, the US, Japan, and now China, without participating significantly," reads an Aurora programme summary from November 2003.

ESA believes its Mars Express orbiter, which recently began examining the Red Planet, and the SMART-1 mission now on its way to the Moon, will "pave the way" for Aurora.

Aurora timeline:

• 2007 - An entry vehicle demonstrator mission to validate and demonstrate high-speed re-entry technology

• 2009 - ExoMars, an exobiology mission to send a rover to Mars in order to search for traces of life - past or present - and characterise the nature of the surface environment

• 2011 and 2014 - Mars sample return, a split mission to bring back to Earth the first samples of Martian material. It will feature four elements: an orbiter and Earth re-entry module to launch in 2011; and descent and ascent modules to launch in 2013 or 2014

• 2014 - Human mission technology demonstrators to validate systems for orbital assembly and docking, life support and human habitation

• 2018 - A technology precursor mission to demonstrate aerobraking and aerocapture, solar electric propulsion and soft landing

• 2024 - A human mission to the Moon to demonstrate key life support and habitation technologies, as well as aspects of crew performance and adaptation and the use of on-site resources

• 2026 - An automatic mission to Mars to test the main phases of a human mission to Mars

• 2030 and 2033 - A split mission that will culminate in the first human landing on Mars
.1 billion).

"As Europe continues to assert itself both economically and politically as a leading world power, it cannot leave space exploration to the other space-faring powers, Russia, the US, Japan, and now China, without participating significantly," reads an Aurora programme summary from November 2003.

ESA believes its Mars Express orbiter, which recently began examining the Red Planet, and the SMART-1 mission now on its way to the Moon, will "pave the way" for Aurora.

Aurora timeline:

• 2007 - An entry vehicle demonstrator mission to validate and demonstrate high-speed re-entry technology

• 2009 - ExoMars, an exobiology mission to send a rover to Mars in order to search for traces of life - past or present - and characterise the nature of the surface environment

• 2011 and 2014 - Mars sample return, a split mission to bring back to Earth the first samples of Martian material. It will feature four elements: an orbiter and Earth re-entry module to launch in 2011; and descent and ascent modules to launch in 2013 or 2014

• 2014 - Human mission technology demonstrators to validate systems for orbital assembly and docking, life support and human habitation

• 2018 - A technology precursor mission to demonstrate aerobraking and aerocapture, solar electric propulsion and soft landing

• 2024 - A human mission to the Moon to demonstrate key life support and habitation technologies, as well as aspects of crew performance and adaptation and the use of on-site resources

• 2026 - An automatic mission to Mars to test the main phases of a human mission to Mars

• 2030 and 2033 - A split mission that will culminate in the first human landing on Mars

It really would be better if NASA, ESA, Russia and the Chinese got together on this one....as it is in the end nobody may go.
 
This could be the next Reality TV show if the Russian space programme needs the cash.


Russian call for Mars volunteers

Russian scientists are selecting volunteers to be locked in a capsule for 500 days to test plans for a trip to Mars.
The mock mission is designed to simulate the tough conditions of a space trip to the Red Planet.

A team of six men will be physically cut off from the outside world to test equipment intended to make them self-sufficient for long periods.

Their capsule will consist of a bedroom, a kitchen and a laboratory.

The capsule's own equipment should make all of the oxygen they need, repeatedly recycle three tonnes of water and grow some food to add to five tonnes of supplies packed inside.

The experiment, to be based in Moscow, tests a plan to make long-range space travel and settlements possible.

But such a real Mars mission is not going to happen any time soon.

Scientists only have two of their six volunteers so far and will not begin the mock-up mission until some time in 2006.


Russia holds several space records, including the record for the longest amount of time spent in space.

That honour goes to cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who lived on the Mir space station for 438 days in 1994-1995.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/s ... 076421.stm

Published: 2004/12/07 17:26:44 GMT

© BBC MMIV
 
Watch out for little green men.Or maybe not.


Martian life might threaten human mission



Before the US sends humans to Mars, it should rule out the possibility of dangerous life forms on the planet, a NASA advisory panel has reported. And it says the only reliable way to do that is with a robotic sample-return mission - which could take more than a decade to implement.

In January 2004, US president George W Bush announced a plan to send astronauts back to the Moon as early as 2015 and eventually on to Mars. In response, NASA's Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group this month issued a report on research needed to certify the safety of such a Mars mission.

One of the panel's top priorities goes well beyond the scope of any mission in NASA's current plans. The panel concluded that no amount of robotic testing on Mars could rule out the possibility of living microbial life at future human landing sites.

So astronauts could inadvertently bring the life back to Earth, with potentially dangerous consequences. "The possibility of transporting a replicating life form to Earth, where it is found to have a negative effect on some aspect of Earth's ecosystem" would present the greatest biological risk, the team wrote.

Secure facility
But that does not mean a human mission hinges on proving Mars is lifeless everywhere - just in the airborne dust, and in the soil around a future landing site, down to whatever depth the astronauts might reach. To check for life there, the panel recommends NASA dispatch a robotic mission to Mars that would return samples of its air and soil to Earth for analysis.

"If life is found in any sample, it must be assumed to be hazardous until proven otherwise," the team writes. An earlier NASA report found that handling such samples safely would require a new type of secure facility, which would take an estimated 10 years to design and build.

But the new report suggests such precautions are "what the science community believes is important", says John Rummel, NASA's planetary protection officer in Washington, DC, who is charged with preventing microbes from cross-contaminating planets. He says the effort would be worthwhile because the consequences of a mistake - however unlikely - could be so serious.

Dust and dynamics
The panel's other top priorities are:

• understanding the fine dust on the Martian surface, which might pose problems for machinery as well as for people;

• understanding the dynamics of the upper atmosphere, which could be crucial for a safe spacecraft entry and landing;

• learning about potential sources of water that could be used by human explorers. Water could be broken down into oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for fuel.

These three investigations are well within the scope of existing plans for Mars exploration. In fact, the present Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have already gathered useful data on the dust - and may get more of it as Opportunity studies the unusual dune it had been stuck in for six weeks. And the upcoming rover Mars Science Laboratory and Phoenix lander - which will be stationary - will learn even more.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn7544
 
Here's What You Wear to Mars


Associated Press 13:14 PM May, 08, 2006

FRYBURG, North Dakota -- Fabio Sau says moving from his native Italy to attend the University of North Dakota was like "coming to another planet" -- and now he's using the state's wildest terrain for a simulated mission to Mars.


Click here for larger imageSau is the guinea pig for an experimental Mars spacesuit that he and about 40 other students from five North Dakota schools developed under a $100,000 grant from NASA. The suit was formally unveiled Saturday in a craterlike area surrounded by buttes in the North Dakota Badlands, the highly eroded landscape that researchers say resembles Martian terrain.

It took about 20 minutes for Sau to put on the 47-pound, two-piece spacesuit with the help of two others. Then he walked out of a van, smiling and waving to a small crowd and giving a thumbs up. He explored prairie brush and cactus, pulling equipment in a small red wagon and collecting rocks.

"This is a very small project," Sau said. "But it was very well executed, and it's the first step toward something bigger and better."

The suit was developed in just over a year by students from the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State, Dickinson State, the state College of Science and Turtle Mountain Community College, said project manager Pablo de Leon, an aerospace engineer at UND.

The NASA grant went to the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium of schools to train students in space travel support systems and to do it as a cooperative effort among teams, according to the consortium's website.

De Leon, 41, said NASA got a bargain with the North Dakota project. Suit components developed by the students have been the basis for three patent applications so far, he said. And the grant is a tiny fraction compared with the price tag of $22 million each for space shuttle suits, he said.

The suit, with a transparent helmet, rigid upper body section and backpack holding communications gear, is "essentially a self-contained spacecraft," de Leon said.

It is designed so the wearer can walk up a 45-degree slope. The gloves, which must withstand low pressure and cold, have enough dexterity for tying a shoe, Sau said. Its boots are modified cold-weather hunting boots.

While it is heavy for exploring the Badlands, it would weigh only about 16 pounds in the lower gravity of Mars. It has an undergarment made of advanced fireproofing material.

Mike Zietz, an NDSU junior monitoring the temperature of the spacesuit Saturday, said it was about 100 degrees inside the suit and 70 degrees inside the helmet.

"People think engineering is boring or kind of boring, but this is exciting and motivating," Zietz said.

The inner pressure suit is covered with what looks like a blue coverall.

The color was chosen to make it stand out, said Shan de Silva, chairman of UND's Department of Space Studies.

"The dust on Mars is red. If a white suit gets dirty, you wouldn't be able to differentiate an astronaut on the surface," he said.

Most of the students from the five colleges who worked on the complex project never met until after the design was completed, said Jennie Untener, a UND space studies graduate student and spacesuit systems manager. They communicated mostly by phone or over the internet.

"It's good the schools were able to work together," said Untener, who's working on a thesis on the psychology of long-term space travel. "Other times, it's more of a competition."

While a usable suit would have to sustain an astronaut for several hours of exploration on the surface, the students' design did not address the issue of Mother Nature's call.

"You've got to hold it," de Leon said.

http://www.wired.com/news/wireservice/1,70843-0.html
 
A bubble of plasma could shield astronauts from radiation during long journeys through space, researchers are suggesting. If the idea proves viable, it means heavy metal protective panels could be replaced by a plasma shield of just a few grams....

....Slough says the problem could be solved with just a few grams of hydrogen in the form of a plasma surrounding the spacecraft. NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) recently awarded Slough's team $75,000 to explore the feasibility of the idea.

The details still need to be worked out, but the basic approach is clear. A high voltage device on the spacecraft would tear the hydrogen into its constituent protons and electrons. This plasma would then be spewed out into space, creating a cloud around the spacecraft.


Taken from NewScientist.com article

What do you make of that then?

Does it make Human_84's ship any more likely?
 
Well, I expect the article will be eagerly lapped up by the ETH brigade. I daresay you could dig up plenty of old cases where aliens boasted about their plasma shields.

The alien also added that they had both piloted and remote controlled UFOs of different shapes, which were surrounded by a plasma field, which could display different shapes.

source
 
I don't think it makes plasma driven flying saucers any less improbable, but it's possibly a tiny step toward StarTrek-type shields.
 
Volunteers Sought For Four-Month Arctic Mars Mission Simulation

Hard Work, No Pay, Eternal Glory
by Staff Writers

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 11, 2006
The Mars Society is seeking seven volunteers to participate as members of the crew of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) during an extended simulation of human Mars exploration operations on Devon Island (May 1 through August 31, 2007).
As currently planned, the crew will consist of four individuals chosen primarily for their skills as field scientists in areas including geology, geochemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, and paleontology. Two additional crew members will, be chosen primarily for their skills in engineering areas. Ability of crew members to support both roles is considered a strong plus.

For four months, these six crew members will conduct a sustained program of field exploration on Devon Island, 900 miles from the North Pole, while operating under many of the same constraints that will be faced by explorers on an actual human Mars mission.

For example, no one will be able to go outside without wearing a spacesuit simulator. The crew will be responsible for all of its own field work, lab work, reportage, repair of equipment, and chores of daily life. The will work in telescience collaboration with a Remote Science Team, a Mission Support group, and an Engineering team located in the continental United States. In addition to the six person Mars exploration crew, one field support person will also participate in the expedition in an out of simulation role. This person should have excellent field mechanic and wilderness skills.

Both volunteer investigators who bring with them a proposed program of research of their own compatible with the objectives of Flashline Station (see below) and those simply wishing to participate as members of the crew supporting the investigations of others will be considered. Volunteers may submit applications either as individuals or members of teams, or both.

Applications will be considered from anyone in good physical condition between 21 and 60 years of age without regard to race, creed, color, gender, or nation. Scientific, engineering, practical mechanical, wilderness, first aid, medical, and literary skills are all considered a plus. Dedication to the cause of human Mars exploration is an absolute must, as conditions are likely to be very tough and the job will be very trying. Those selected will be required to act under crew discipline and strict mission protocols during the Arctic simulation. Those selected will also perform a two- week training mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah during the month of February 2007. The Mars Society will pay travel expenses to the Desert and the Arctic Stations. There will be no salary.

Applications including resume, character references, and a brief letter explaining why you wish to participate should be sent to Volunteers, Mars Society, PO Box 273, Indian Hills, CO 80454 no later than September 30, 2007. Total length of applications should not exceed 4 pages. Please include 5 copies.

Mission Science Agenda:

The overall purpose of the Mars Society simulations is to investigate field exploration techniques that would be relevant to the scientific exploration of Mars. The approach of our investigations is to have real science goals in Mars analog environment and to conduct field work under simulated Mars mission constraints.

Relevant field activities include geological surveys, search for evidence of past life, search for extant life, and environmental and meteorological observations. In addition investigating the role and optimal combination of human exploration, telepresence, robotic exploration, and the use of remote sensing tools are all part of these simulations.

The four month FMARS mission simulation opens up additional focused science enabled by the long stay in Arctic conditions. The mission- long scientific focus of the 2007 FMARS will be on coupled physical and biological studies of the Arctic active layer over the transition from hard winter freeze to summer thaw.

The season start and end dates have been chosen so that observations will begin when ground temperatures are well below -20C. We will study the physics and biology of the transition from -20C to 0C and above.

Important biological and physical processes begin at -20C. The eutectic of NaCl is -21.1C and at this temperature salt solutions in the Arctic begin to flow (eg. Heldmann et al. 2005). In addition, laboratory measurements have shown that biological activity begins at temperatures near -20C in permafrost (Rivkina et al. 2001) and in sea ice (Junge et al. 2006). Both biological and physical flow process increase rapidly as the temperature is warmed to 0C and above.

Examples of science activities include (but are not limited to):

1. Temperature and flow relations in the active layer of the permafrost across -20 to 0C and applications to models of fluvial feature formation over permafrost on Earth and Mars.

2. Experiments with manipulation of the snow cover thickness and monitoring of the effect on the thaw of the underlying ground.

3. Measurement of melt generation in snowpacks and application to models for the melting of dusty snowpacks on Mars as the mechanism for creating gully features.

4. Measurement of in situ biological activity and changes in diversity and abundance as temperatures increase from -20 to 0C.

5. Measurement of the release of CH4 - an important greenhouse gas - from permafrost and possible applications to the source of CH4 on Mars.

6. Carbon release studies of permafrost as temperature changes with applicability to global warming.

7. Deployment of interactive sensor networks to achieve science goals and human factors studies of the human - sensor network interface.

8. Isolation and confinement of this expedition enables research on human performance under extreme conditions analogous to space mission conditions.

Science team members selected for this expedition are expected to have a track record in a science area listed above or a related activity. They are expected to lead a field research project leading to peer-reviewed publication working with the support of the Science Advisory Group and the Remote Science Team for the expedition.

Equipment to conduct the field experiments will be provided but team members may also propose to bring field equipment and instruments as part of their activities.

The Science Advisory Group consists of:

Shannon Rupert, New Mexico State University, Chair
Penny Boston, New Mexico Tech
Jen Heldmann, NASA Ames
Adrian Brown, NASA Ames
Chris McKay, NASA Ames
Charlie Cockell, Open University, Milton-Keynes, UK
Darlene Lim, NASA Ames
Shannon Hinsa, Michigan State University


Related Links
The Mars Society
http://www.marssociety.org/

Mars
 
Full text & comments at link.

A Conversation With Robert Zubrin Popular Science talks to the author of How to Live on Mars about the prospects for a move to the red planet
By Laurie J. Schmidt

If you've ever fantasized about going to Mars, you've no doubt thought about how you'd get there, how long it would take, and how you'd survive the planet's frigid temperatures. But you probably never considered things like how to invest your money on Mars, how to have a social life, and where to get a job there. In his new book, How to Live on Mars, Dr. Robert Zubrin moves beyond the idea of humans taking a brief exploratory mission to Mars, and considers what it would take to actually live there. Zubrin is the founder and president of the Mars Society and president of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace research and development company in Colorado. Popular Science correspondent Laurie Schmidt recently sat down with Zubrin to discuss his new book and his philosophy about the prospect of humans settling Mars.


Why did you write How to Live on Mars and why now?

I wrote it to excite a new and younger generation. I grew up in the Apollo era, and there needs to be literature to capture the imagination of the new younger generation. In the book there's a vision of a future civilization living and growing on Mars -- it's about creating a new branch of human civilization. As I see it, that new branch will have many of the positive and some of the negative aspects of America when it was young -- a place where the rules haven't been written yet. I think that when humans get around to exploring and building cities and towns on Mars, it will be viewed as one of the great times of humanity, a time when people set foot on another world and had the freedom to make their own world.

There are many different approaches you could have taken to writing a book about living on Mars. You chose to take a lighthearted, humorous approach -- can you tell me why?

It was a new way to reach an additional audience. I told it straight in The Case for Mars, then I told it in the form of an adventure story in First Landing. So this time I decided to try science humor.

www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-sp ... ert-zubrin
 
Rather Mars with nukes than not get to Mars at all.

Martian Projects Shall Use Nuclear Energy
http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Martia ... y_999.html

File image.
by Staff Writers

Moscow, Russia (XNA) Oct 28, 2009
The future Mars manned exploration projects will only become true by using nuclear energy, said President and Chief Designer of Russia's Energia Aerospace Corporation Vitaly Lopota here on Monday.
Since current rocket technologies are not sufficient for the future exploration of Mars and the whole Solar system, and since no alternative energy resources have been found as of now, the only possible way to implement those projects would be by using nuclear energy, Lopota said at an academic conference on aerospace.

Lopota also believed that the Mars projects should be prioritized over the Lunar ones, because the technologies applied to the former could be used in the latter, but it would be more difficult to achieve the goal in the reversed order.


Source: Xinhua News Agency
 
I've read too much SF to be happy about this. The AI will fall out with the astronaut and...

Spacesuits with artificial intelligence may look for life on Mars
http://www.physorg.com/news176552331.html
November 4th, 2009 in Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Two 'astronauts' exploring a stream near the MDRS. Image credit: P.C. McGuire, arXiv:0910.5454.


(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronauts may in future be wearing spacesuits equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and digital eyes, turning them into what the researchers call cyborg astrobiologists.

University of Chicago geoscientist, Patrick McGuire and his team, are developing a system to recognize the signs of life in barren environments. The system incorporates a form of artificial intelligence called a Hopfield neural network that is programmed to compare incoming data with patterns it has seen before, and identifying those that are different.

McGuire previously worked on a CRISM imager on a Mars orbiter. The imager detects infrared and other wavelengths invisible to humans, which enables it to identify different types of soil and rock. McGuire plans to use this experience in designing digital eyes for the spacesuits. The eyes would provide the data that is then analyzed by Hopfield networks on the hips of the suits.

He envisions the concept as a complex AI system with access to databases of information previously gathered in the area. The system would be able to think about these in similar ways to humans, McGuire explains.

The wearable computer was previously tested at Rivas Vaciamadrid and Riba de Santiuste in Spain, while the cell phone camera was tested in Malta. A complete prototype was tested at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. In the tests two scientists wearing spacesuits lived in the field for two weeks as astronauts. They used cell phone cameras and hand-held digital microscopes to gather the data, which was then sent via Bluetooth to the Hopfield network running on netbooks.

In the experiments, they tested the Hopfield neural network algorithm on sequences of images of a variety of rocks and colors from semi-arid regions in Spain and Utah. They found the algorithm could learn colors from one image or just a few, and it could recognize units that had been observed previously from the color data.

The tests successfully differentiated between lichen and surrounding rock and successfully proved the principle is sound. McGuire's next plan is to train the Hopfield network to process data on textures, but ultimately he plans to use the system at scales ranging from the microscopic to entire landscapes.

The system is nowhere near ready for Mars, but the algorithms used to identify and differentiate features could be uploaded to robots sent to explore Mars.


Demonstration of real-time color-based novelty detection with a field-capable digital microscope at Rivas Vaciamadrid. See paper below for details. Image credit: P.C. McGuire, arXiv:0910.5454.

More information: The Cyborg Astrobiologist: Testing a Novelty-Detection Algorithm on Two Mobile Exploration Systems at Rivas Vaciamadrid in Spain and at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, P.C. McGuire et at., arXiv:0910.5454. http://arxiv1.library.cornell.edu/abs/0910.5454
 
Six men get ready for 520-day simulated Mars trip
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre64h ... sia-mars/#

Posted 2010/05/18 at 2:21 pm EDT

MOSCOW, May 18, 2010 (Reuters) — Six men from Russia, Europe and China are preparing to spend 520 days together in a sealed-off warren to take a simulated trip to Mars to test how long isolation would affect humans.

Seven volunteers for the Mars500 experiment, which simulates a 520-day flight to Mars, pose for a picture in Moscow May 18, 2010. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

On June 3, three Russians, an Italian-Colombian, a Frenchman and a Chinese man will be locked up in a set of cramped compartments as the record-breaking Mars500 simulated flight to the Red Planet gets underway to last until November 2011.

"This 520-day flight to Mars ... is unprecedented in its overall duration," Martin Zell, European Space Agency (ESA) head of the experiment, told Reuters.

"I think when talking about a human mission to the Red Planet, it will probably still take 20 or, more likely, even 30 years to go there," said Zell, who is also in charge of ESA human missions to the $100-billion, 16-nation International Space Station (ISS).

The six men, allowed just three square meters of "personal space" each at the facilities at Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems, will follow a seven-day week, with two days off, except when special and emergency situations are simulated.

The crew, to be led by a Russian, will live and work like ISS astronauts, and their life will resemble that of Station members: maintenance, scientific experiments and daily exercise.

During the "surface operations" after 250 days, they will be divided, with three moving to the Martian "surface," while the other three stay in the orbiting "spacecraft" for a month.

PAVING THE WAY FOR THE FUTURE

Last year four Russians, one German and a Frenchman successfully completed a 105-day simulated trip to Mars at the same institute.

This time, the six-men crew will also be monitored closely, and their psychological and physiological parameters will be recorded during the mission.

All crew members have a varying command of English, but not all speak Russian, another working language during the trip.

"If we fail to understand each other, we will employ body language," quipped Russian crew member Sukhrob Kamolov.

Communication with Earth will be only via e-mail, with connections occasionally disrupted. It will include a maximum 40-minute delay, as on a real Mars mission.

The six upbeat "astronauts" did not conceal their emotions, despite the fact that none of them will probably ever make a real trip to Mars.

China's Wang Yue, the only crew member trained as a professional astronaut, mentioned competition in space -- in line with Beijing's ambition to launch its crew to Mars one day.

"I think Mars500 must be a milestone in the human space race, in human space history," Wang told a joint news conference. "Space exploration is difficult and huge, it needs international cooperation, so I am lucky to be here."

Other crewmembers shared his sentiments.

"If I can put my small brick into this big wall linking Earth to Mars, I will be very proud," said Frenchman Romain Charles. "Hopefully my grandchildren will go to Mars one day, and I will be able to tell them: 'I was part of it.'"

(Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
 
Professors urge one-way Martian colonization missions
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-pro ... ation.html
October 19th, 2010 in Space & Earth / Space Exploration


Mars, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA

For the chance to watch the sun rise over Olympus Mons, or maybe take a stroll across the vast plains of the Vastitas Borealis, would you sign on for a one-way flight to Mars?

It's a question that gives pause to even Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a Washington State University associate professor, who, with colleague Paul Davies, a physicist and cosmologist from Arizona State University, argues for precisely such a one-way manned mission to Mars in an article published this month in the "Journal of Cosmology."

In the article, "To Boldly Go: A One-Way Human Mission to Mars," the authors write that while technically feasible, a manned mission to Mars and back is unlikely to lift off anytime soon – largely because it is a hugely expensive proposition, both in terms of financial resources and political will. And because the greatest portion of the expense is tied up in safely returning the crew and spacecraft to earth, they reason that a manned one-way mission would not only cut the costs by several fold, but also mark the beginning of long-term human colonization of the planet.

Mars is by far the most promising for sustained colonization and development, the authors conclude, because it is similar in many respects to Earth and, crucially, possesses a moderate surface gravity, an atmosphere, abundant water and carbon dioxide, together with a range of essential minerals. It is the Earth's second closest planetary neighbor (after Venus) and a trip to Mars takes about six months using the most favorable launch option and current chemical rocket technology.

"We envision that Mars exploration would begin and proceed for a long time on the basis of outbound journeys only," said Schulze-Makuch. "One approach could be to send four astronauts initially, two on each of two space craft, each with a lander and sufficient supplies, to stake a single outpost on Mars. A one-way human mission to Mars would be the first step in establishing a permanent human presence on the planet."

While acknowledging that the mission would necessarily be crewed by volunteers, Schulze-Makuch and Davies stress that they aren't suggesting that astronauts simply be abandoned on the Red Planet for the sake of science. Unlike the Apollo moon missions, they propose a series of missions over time, sufficient to support long-term colonization.

"It would really be little different from the first white settlers of the North American continent, who left Europe with little expectation of return," Davies said of the proposed one-way Martian mission. "Explorers such as Columbus, Frobisher, Scott and Amundsen, while not embarking on their voyages with the intention of staying at their destination, nevertheless took huge personal risks to explore new lands, in the knowledge that there was a significant likelihood that they would perish in the attempt."

The authors propose the astronauts would be re-supplied on a periodic basis from Earth with basic necessities, but otherwise would be expected to become increasingly proficient at harvesting and utilizing resources available on Mars. Eventually they envision that outpost would reach self-sufficiency, and then it could serve as a hub for a greatly expanded colonization program.

The proposed project would begin with the selection of an appropriate site for the colony, preferentially associated with a cave or some other natural shelter, as well as other nearby resources, such as water, minerals and nutrients.

"Mars has natural and quite large lava caves, and some of them are located at a low elevation in close proximity to the former northern ocean, which means that they could harbor ice deposits inside similar to many ice-containing caves on Earth," said Schulze-Makuch."Ice caves would go a long way to solving the needs of a settlement for water and oxygen. Mars has no ozone shield and no magnetospheric shielding, and ice caves would also provide shelter from ionizing and ultraviolet radiation."

The article suggests that, in addition to offering humanity a "lifeboat" in the event of a mega-catastrophe on Earth, a Mars colony would provide a platform for further scientific research. Astrobiologists agree that there is a fair probability that Mars hosts, or once hosted, microbial life, perhaps deep beneath the surface and Davies and Schulze-Makuch suggest a scientific facility on Mars might therefore be a unique opportunity to study an alien life form and a second evolutionary record.

"Mars also conceals a wealth of geological and astronomical data that is almost impossible to access from Earth using robotic probes," the authors write. "A permanent human presence on Mars would open the way to comparative planetology on a scale unimagined by any former generation… A Mars base would offer a springboard for human/robotic exploration of the outer solar system and the asteroid belt. And establishing a permanent multicultural and multinational human presence on another world would have major beneficial political and social implications for Earth, and serve as a strong unifying and uplifting theme for all humanity."

Although they believe the strategy of colonizing Mars with one-way missions brings the goal of colonizing another planet technologically and financially within our reach, Schulze-Makuch and Davies acknowledge that such a project would require not only major international cooperation, but a return to the exploration spirit and risk-taking ethos of the great period of the Earth's exploration.

They write that when they raise the idea of a one-way Mars colonization mission among their scientific colleagues, a number express an interest in making the trip.

"Informal surveys conducted after lectures and conference presentations on our proposal, have repeatedly shown that many people are willing to volunteer for a one-way mission, both for reasons of scientific curiosity and in a spirit of adventure and human destiny," they write.

And yes, Schulze-Makuch offered that he too would be prepared to "boldly go" on a one-way mission to the Red Planet. But he hedges just a bit, holding out the single caveat that he would want the launch to wait until his young children have all grown into adults.

More information: The complete article from the 2010 Volume 12 issue of the Journal of Cosmology is available online at http://journalofco … Mars108.html

Provided by Washington State University
 
It would really be little different from the first white settlers of the North American continent, who left Europe with little expectation of return,
The colony of Roanoke springs to mind, as does the Darien venture. A non-return colony would need to be very well planned and provisioned. Launch windows for supply missions would be two years apart...

...but unlike Roanoke there would be constant radio contact. If we can keep in constant contact with Spirit and Opportunty, then communication with a manned colony would be relatively easy. We'd get to hear about every equipment failure and every death twenty minutes after it happened.
 
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