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NASA Report Details Long-Range Plans for Astronauts to Live on
Mars
By ANDY PASZTOR NASA laid out its most detailed plan yet to eventually land humans on Mars, including plans for a deep-space platform dedicated to testing equipment while protecting astronauts through years of preparation. In addition to such extensive preliminary efforts, the 36-page report envisions reusable supplies to feed and otherwise sustain crews. It predicts modular spacecraft intended to remain dormant for much of a decade. And it foresees mobile fuel depots-or alternate propulsion sources provided by minerals extracted from planets or asteroids-scattered around the solar system. Ultimately, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration anticipate Mars landers that will be at least 30 times heavier than the robotic spacecraft that have touched down on the Red Planet so far; and communications links to Earth would need to be hundreds of times faster. The report, which appears to track NASA's previous projected timeline of transporting astronauts at least into orbit around Mars by the mid-2030s, comes amid escalating criticism from House Republicans that the White House and NASA are scrimping on funding the building blocks to achieve such ambitious goals. These critics contend the agency wants to shift hundreds of millions of dollars annually to commercial taxis and cargo craft servicing the international space station in low-earth orbit, at the expense of a new rocket and capsule targeting missions deeper into space. Those issues are slated to be debated Friday during a hearing of the House Science Committee's space subcommittee. The document, initially set for release before NASA's confirmation last month of liquid water flowing on the surface of Mars, spells out an incremental strategy to develop and test essential technologies from electric propulsion to radiation shields to possibly using solar power or fission to produce liquid oxygen propellant on Mars itself. "We are developing the capabilities to get there, land there and live there," according to the report, by relying on an "evolutionary, resilient framework." Unlike the 1960s-era Apollo program that saw U.S. astronauts stay briefly on the moon, NASA emphasized that its vision for reaching and exploring Mars is different. "We will be going to stay," the report says, indicating that a typical manned, round-trip voyage could stretch for more than 1,000 days. While the general thrust of the document tracks NASA's preparatory work, it offers the most specific and spirited defense to date of how NASA eventually seeks to land hundreds of tons of equipment and supplies, perhaps spanning multiple flights, on Mars. Despite all the caveats about unknown challenges and language stressing that technical developments and testing will determine the pace of progress, some of the report still reads akin to science fiction. Discussing the need for "a completely new approach" when it comes to putting humans and their equipment down at a Martian landing site, the document indicates that "supersonic retropropulsion"-or a braking mechanism operating faster than the speed of sound-"may be necessary to provide safe and accurate" descent. Even some senior NASA managers have acknowledged that agency leaders have failed to lay out a coherent, long-term scientific and budgetary trajectory able to spark congressional or public enthusiasm. According to the report, however, global cooperation will be an essential ingredient in generating future support. The plan "builds on our existing international partnerships while embracing new ones." A big part of NASA's current plans focus on testing the Orion manned capsule, being built by a team headed by Lockheed Martin Corp. During a return to Earth from a potential deep-space mission, the spacecraft would be subjected to temperatures much higher than those encountered by capsules currently shuttling to and from the space station. To begin moving beyond low-earth orbit, NASA is betting on a heavy-lift rocket, dubbed the SLS, which is slated to make its maiden launch over the next several years. Another important and controversial building block on the path to Mars is something NASA calls an "asteroid redirect mission." Some time in the next decade, NASA hopes to snare an asteroid and grab samples for analysis. The report doesn't provide any budget estimates. But it notes that "near term" projects can be funded with current budgets, and longer-term efforts are expected to be supported by future "budgets commensurate with economic growth." From its introduction, the report sketches out a positive approach by stressing that "Mars is an achievable goal." It goes on to note that already "we have spent more than four decades on the journey" to the Red Planet "with wildly successful robotic explorers." And like previous pioneering endeavors, according to the report, the overall journey to Mars is bound to "foster and attract new commercial enterprises." http://www.wsj.com/articles/nasa-report-details-long-range-plans-for-astronauts-to-live-on-mars-1444365301 |
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Scientists get taste for space flight at
Embry-Riddle
Scientists get taste for space flight  Dr. Shawna Pandya wears a spacesuit while flying in the suborbital space flight simulator with Professor David Williams while participating in a training exercise at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. News-Journal/NIGEL COOK Sheathed in a one-size-fits-all jumpsuit, Dr. Shawna Pandya looked relieved as the pressurized air coarsed through the orange fabric. It was the first time Pandya donned a spacesuit, and aside from the difficulty flexing her arms and legs, "It's actually quite comfy." A small cadre of people followed her into a cramped, low-lit room where she will got her first taste of suborbital flight. Pandya, 31, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was one of about two dozen candidates at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University this week, testing the limits of their bodies in a simulated flight to the edge of the earth's atmosphere. No one who has gone through Project PoSSUM, which stands for Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere, has ever made the journey. But program coordinators are preparing "scientist-astronaut" candidates to study the relationship between space clouds and the earth's climate. Their first trip is expected in July 2017. Until then Pandya can only emulate the appearance of an astronaut. She climbed inside the simulator, her legs barely making it over the joystick, before they prepared to launch. Capable of reaching an altitude of more than 100 kilometers, the real rocketplane that they will fly is being produced by XCOR Aerospace, a California-based company. The training began on Sunday. The candidates climbed into a hyperbaric chamber in Melbourne to experience the early symptoms of hypoxia, an illness that occurs when the body does not have enough oxygen. The cognitive functions slow down, said Pedro Llanos, one of the candidates. "It was great because you need to learn about your own capability while ... navigating or flying before you pass out," he said of the exercise. Llanos, 35, who is an assistant professor of commercial space operations at Embry-Riddle, didn't learn of the program until recently. It was mentioned by another professor, Antonio Cortes, chair of the applied aviation sciences department. Program coordinators wanted to use the school's flight simulator as a training ground. PoSSUM was started as a non-profit to train people to conduct research on clouds and climate. Every year applicants are chosen to take part in the week-long training. Conducted every October, the battery of courses cost about $6,000. While the training prepares participants for space flight, there is no guarantee, according to its website. Participants also need a bachelor's degree in engineering or some other technology-related field. Many of those chosen this year have advanced degrees in medicine, engineering or one of the life sciences. Pandya, for example, studied space studies at the International Space University in France. "I've been helping people understand the space medicine aspect of things," she said. "My colleagues have been helping me understand the physics aspects of things." Project PoSSUM joins a number of private initiatives pushing to transport everyday citizens to the edge of space. It's in the area about 50 miles above sea-level known as the mesosphere where a vehicle can be propelled by a rocket and cruise in space for a few minutes before descending back to earth. That's where billionaire Richard Branson, tech whiz Jeff Bezos and investor Elon Musk want to explore with commercial flights. Branson's Virgin Galactic strives to allow the most well-heeled a chance to touch the edge of the world, riding a so-called space plane to get there. The price for one ticket? Upwards of $250,000, according to the Associated Press. Branson's effort has not been without a few hiccups, notably a catastrophic crash during a test flight over the Mojave Desert about one year ago. But Project Possum is not space travel for its own sake, said Jason Reimuller, principal investigator for PoSSUM. Participants will study, among other things, how clouds located at the edge of the atmosphere relate to the earth's climate. The clouds are most visible above the polar regions, so they're looking at Alaska and Sweden as potential launch locations, Reimuller said. "We focus just on the science," Reimuller said, "we're not about tourism." |
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