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Manned Mars Trip By 2018
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Dennis Tito, who was the first space tourist in 2001, is expected to use a press conference next week to announce a manned mission to Mars in 2018 - not necessary a landing but a round trip to the red planet. There might also be a manned mission by the rival SpaceX company as early as 2015.
Can a private company accomplish such a feat in a much shorter timescale than a national organisation like NASA is capable of achieving? They haven't managed a spaceflight yet so is this all just wishful thinking?
It reminds of the 1960's when the space race was in full flow and there were thoughts that once the moon had been reached then Mars could be attempted as soon as the early 1970's - and we all know what happened to those plans.
Dennis Tito, who was the first space tourist in 2001, is expected to use a press conference next week to announce a manned mission to Mars in 2018 - not necessary a landing but a round trip to the red planet. There might also be a manned mission by the rival SpaceX company as early as 2015.
Can a private company accomplish such a feat in a much shorter timescale than a national organisation like NASA is capable of achieving? They haven't managed a spaceflight yet so is this all just wishful thinking?
It reminds of the 1960's when the space race was in full flow and there were thoughts that once the moon had been reached then Mars could be attempted as soon as the early 1970's - and we all know what happened to those plans.
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Dunno - interesting though. I have read many articles in recent years suggesting that, as far as these blue sky projects are concerned, governments are no longer the best vehicle to deliver them - private companies are thought to be more flexible.
Not entirely sure of that logic, but it does look like space exploration is moving up the agenda again, what with space tourism, hypersonic flights, asteroid mining, and even plans to create a lunar base using 3d printers :)
Not entirely sure of that logic, but it does look like space exploration is moving up the agenda again, what with space tourism, hypersonic flights, asteroid mining, and even plans to create a lunar base using 3d printers :)
Sheer hubris of the highest order
To start with 501 days is 2 months longer that the current record And that's outside of the van Allen belt's protection
Mars' gravity is less than the Earths about 40% of ours but that's still a lot compared to the moons - this produces a minimum size of any lander - in order to take off again.
This in turn means any Martian space craft will almost certainly have to be assembled and fueled in orbit - you'll have noticed from the building of the ISS that this is an exceptionally difficult and expensive buisness. The I in ISS is there for a reason - cost!
I'm afraid the history of space flight is littered with people who thought that just trying harder would get over the problems.
To start with 501 days is 2 months longer that the current record And that's outside of the van Allen belt's protection
Mars' gravity is less than the Earths about 40% of ours but that's still a lot compared to the moons - this produces a minimum size of any lander - in order to take off again.
This in turn means any Martian space craft will almost certainly have to be assembled and fueled in orbit - you'll have noticed from the building of the ISS that this is an exceptionally difficult and expensive buisness. The I in ISS is there for a reason - cost!
I'm afraid the history of space flight is littered with people who thought that just trying harder would get over the problems.
This venture would need the resources of a large country. It would likely cost in excess of 100 billion pounds The technological barriers are immense. The journey to Mars and back would take around 20 months and a free-return trajectory, possible with the early Apollo missions, would not be possible.
Astronauts have never ventured beyond Earth's protective magnetic field for more than a week or so.
Coronal mass ejections from the Sun could prove fatal without adequate screening. Pie in the sky !
Astronauts have never ventured beyond Earth's protective magnetic field for more than a week or so.
Coronal mass ejections from the Sun could prove fatal without adequate screening. Pie in the sky !
Well I think they can be solved - it's just the costs and timescales have been massively underestimated.
Firstly you do the trip when the sun's at iits minimum of it's 11 year cycle - there'd be enough warning to get the crew into a highly shielded refuge.
The time in space is just about achievable with regards to fitness with enouh exercise and remember they'd spend some time on Mars.
You might actually send some unmanned vehicles to mars orbit containing supplies and a lander and rendez-vous in Mars orbit.
But the cost and the effort would be enormous
And why?
The only thing I can imagine that would justify it would be the discovery of fossils.
Even then I think I'd be lucky to see it in my lifetime
Firstly you do the trip when the sun's at iits minimum of it's 11 year cycle - there'd be enough warning to get the crew into a highly shielded refuge.
The time in space is just about achievable with regards to fitness with enouh exercise and remember they'd spend some time on Mars.
You might actually send some unmanned vehicles to mars orbit containing supplies and a lander and rendez-vous in Mars orbit.
But the cost and the effort would be enormous
And why?
The only thing I can imagine that would justify it would be the discovery of fossils.
Even then I think I'd be lucky to see it in my lifetime
I agree with the responses you have been given but will add my take on the issue if I may.
Technology - publicly, no knowledge of a material capable of protecting humans from the (I must stress) INTENSE constant flow of radiation from the Sun; the design of the craft would need to include an on board fuel reserve for it's propulsion in space, increasing it's weight (on Earth) and this would hinder our ability to launch said craft into space via rocket propulsion; and as Jtp says, the additional ability for it to have a lander capable of taking off again and docking is in itself a gargantuan task.
Cost - Private sector funded mission will be increasingly the norm in the C21st as they "stand on the shoulder of giants" and use results from research done throughout the last 60 years, they can use their accumulated wealth to attempt to mimic NASA's systems. It is our capitalist economy that now favours private rather than public money, as individuals acquire vast fortunes dedicates it to human achievement.
@bibblebub - "There are some people who would volunteer for a one-way mission."
That's not a mission, it's a funeral. By the very nature of a manned flight it is taken for granted that pilot and crew must return.
IHI
Technology - publicly, no knowledge of a material capable of protecting humans from the (I must stress) INTENSE constant flow of radiation from the Sun; the design of the craft would need to include an on board fuel reserve for it's propulsion in space, increasing it's weight (on Earth) and this would hinder our ability to launch said craft into space via rocket propulsion; and as Jtp says, the additional ability for it to have a lander capable of taking off again and docking is in itself a gargantuan task.
Cost - Private sector funded mission will be increasingly the norm in the C21st as they "stand on the shoulder of giants" and use results from research done throughout the last 60 years, they can use their accumulated wealth to attempt to mimic NASA's systems. It is our capitalist economy that now favours private rather than public money, as individuals acquire vast fortunes dedicates it to human achievement.
@bibblebub - "There are some people who would volunteer for a one-way mission."
That's not a mission, it's a funeral. By the very nature of a manned flight it is taken for granted that pilot and crew must return.
IHI
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Just a footnote to confirm that it has now been announced.
Just a footnote to confirm that it has now been announced.
one possible answer as to how to shield the pair from radiation is to use their poo http://
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