Post by TRIPWIRE on Mar 22, 2004 23:10:48 GMT -5
January 12, 2004
Manned Mars Mission
Written by David M. Hickerson.
Originally posted at tripwire.hickersonfamily.net/2004_0112.html
Okay, a manned Mars mission would be damned cool if you ask me. Hell, I'd be happy with perminent moon presence but Bush goes on and says he wants to see a manned Mars mission? Okay, thats great, but I really don't think we're even close to that stage yet. I think it could be done, yes, definetly, within the next 10 years is even conceivable, but we aren't ready and won't really be ready in that time.
Several major issues need to be worked out before a Mars mission is truly possible. One major one is one we've all heard about recently. In 2003 there were several massive CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejection), or solar flares. Just think about all that radiation hitting our space travelers while they're en-route to Mars. What would that do to them? What comes to my mind looks a lot like what my dinner looks like after it comes out of the microwave.
Why, you ask, didn't those solar flares kill our men in the space station then? Good questions deserve good answers! The earth has a strong magnetic field that goes out about 1000 miles in the direction of the sun and basically rips those energetic particles (the solar wind) and projectile-vomits them to the other side of the planet. The image directly below depicts to some detail how this works.
Anyway, what this tells me is we need to find a way to create some kind of magnetic field around any spacecraft that is going to go to Mars. During a multi-year voyage into the void there will undoubtedly be solar flares, and of course, we can't forget all the radiation coming from other stars and things out there. And for anyone who would argue that Lead would stop the radiation... yes, it would, but it would shoot off other particles in the process that would do just as much damage. We're talking about radiation from the sun, not just uranium atoms or something like that from a power plant.
Another thing we need to do is graduate from landing 150 pound golf carts with microscopes to landing 500-1000 pound items like equipment that can attempt to turn some of the Mars atmosphere into propellent. Using martian "air," 6 metric tons of hydrogen could be converted into 108 metric tons of methane and oxygen. Look at this exponentially and it is obvious that if the process can be perfected, most of the fuel to return to Earth is already on Mars waiting for us. I'd say some missions should be made to see wrether this is really doable. Hell, maybe some of this fuel could be brought back to Earth and used to heat our homes or something...
Another thing to consider is electrical power. Craft built today use solar panels or hydrogen fuel cells for their power. Solar power is basically useless due to the diminished sunlight on Mars... and hydrogen fuel cells require that the crew cary a shitload of hydrogen with them. What about a fission reactor like on used on a submarine? Oh no, we can't do that, we're too afraid of nuclear things. Listen up people!!! Do you realize that about 17% of the electricity in the world is created by fission reactors? I'd be much less concerned about the nuclear reactor that might get built into a spaceship and more concerned with the next Chernobyl! A LOT more power will be needed by a Mars-bound spacecraft than what we use on these little rovers and things of that nature.
Anyway, I'm sure there are a bunch of things I havn't thought of... I just figure there is a lot more to be done before we seriously consider sending people to Mars... and I don't see how it will be done in the next 10 or so years. Maybe I'm wrong... but if it would take us another 10 years to get to the moon again, why would anyone get the impression that Mars is so close too? Please share your thoughts on the subject. Godbless!
Reference:
image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/art/mviews.html
www.pescu.net/marsdir.htm
science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm
www.astronautix.com/craft/marirect.htm
Manned Mars Mission
Written by David M. Hickerson.
Originally posted at tripwire.hickersonfamily.net/2004_0112.html
Okay, a manned Mars mission would be damned cool if you ask me. Hell, I'd be happy with perminent moon presence but Bush goes on and says he wants to see a manned Mars mission? Okay, thats great, but I really don't think we're even close to that stage yet. I think it could be done, yes, definetly, within the next 10 years is even conceivable, but we aren't ready and won't really be ready in that time.
Several major issues need to be worked out before a Mars mission is truly possible. One major one is one we've all heard about recently. In 2003 there were several massive CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejection), or solar flares. Just think about all that radiation hitting our space travelers while they're en-route to Mars. What would that do to them? What comes to my mind looks a lot like what my dinner looks like after it comes out of the microwave.
Why, you ask, didn't those solar flares kill our men in the space station then? Good questions deserve good answers! The earth has a strong magnetic field that goes out about 1000 miles in the direction of the sun and basically rips those energetic particles (the solar wind) and projectile-vomits them to the other side of the planet. The image directly below depicts to some detail how this works.
Anyway, what this tells me is we need to find a way to create some kind of magnetic field around any spacecraft that is going to go to Mars. During a multi-year voyage into the void there will undoubtedly be solar flares, and of course, we can't forget all the radiation coming from other stars and things out there. And for anyone who would argue that Lead would stop the radiation... yes, it would, but it would shoot off other particles in the process that would do just as much damage. We're talking about radiation from the sun, not just uranium atoms or something like that from a power plant.
Another thing we need to do is graduate from landing 150 pound golf carts with microscopes to landing 500-1000 pound items like equipment that can attempt to turn some of the Mars atmosphere into propellent. Using martian "air," 6 metric tons of hydrogen could be converted into 108 metric tons of methane and oxygen. Look at this exponentially and it is obvious that if the process can be perfected, most of the fuel to return to Earth is already on Mars waiting for us. I'd say some missions should be made to see wrether this is really doable. Hell, maybe some of this fuel could be brought back to Earth and used to heat our homes or something...
Another thing to consider is electrical power. Craft built today use solar panels or hydrogen fuel cells for their power. Solar power is basically useless due to the diminished sunlight on Mars... and hydrogen fuel cells require that the crew cary a shitload of hydrogen with them. What about a fission reactor like on used on a submarine? Oh no, we can't do that, we're too afraid of nuclear things. Listen up people!!! Do you realize that about 17% of the electricity in the world is created by fission reactors? I'd be much less concerned about the nuclear reactor that might get built into a spaceship and more concerned with the next Chernobyl! A LOT more power will be needed by a Mars-bound spacecraft than what we use on these little rovers and things of that nature.
Anyway, I'm sure there are a bunch of things I havn't thought of... I just figure there is a lot more to be done before we seriously consider sending people to Mars... and I don't see how it will be done in the next 10 or so years. Maybe I'm wrong... but if it would take us another 10 years to get to the moon again, why would anyone get the impression that Mars is so close too? Please share your thoughts on the subject. Godbless!
Reference:
image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/art/mviews.html
www.pescu.net/marsdir.htm
science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm
www.astronautix.com/craft/marirect.htm