Posted on 03/31/2016 10:05:23 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Establishing a human settlement on Mars has been the fevered dream of space agencies for some time. Long before NASA announced its “Journey to Mars” – a plan that outlined the steps that need to be taken to mount a manned mission by the 2030s – the agency’s was planning how a crewed mission could lead to the establishing of stations on the planet’s surface. And it seems that in the coming decades, this could finally become a reality.
But when it comes to establishing a permanent colony – another point of interest when it comes to Mars missions – the coming decades might be a bit too soon. Such was the message during a recent colloquium hosted by NASA’s Future In-Space Operations (FISO) working group. Titled “Selecting a Landing Site for Humans on Mars”, this presentation set out the goals for NASA’s manned mission in the coming decades.
Established in 2006 by the then-active FISO Working Group, the FISO lecture series is intended as an innovative outreach effort, helping leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering and space exploration connect with the public. Held on March 16th, the colloquium touched on a number of issues which were raised at the the First Landing Site/Exploration Zone Workshop for Human Missions to the Surface of Mars – which took place in October of 2015 at the Lunar Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, TX.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
There was a report a few weeks back stating that the moons of Mars were coming apart at the seams. It appears if the report is true that there won’t be moons on which to land. Mars may soon have its own ring.
Practically speaking, the best way to start a Mars colony is by sending nuclear powered mining robots first. They can do an enormous amount of work, slowly and methodically, before the astronauts arrive. They would dig into a vertical cliff face, reinforce the walls and ceiling, and harvest their lander for pressure doors, floors and other parts. The remains would be used as a large antenna.
They could even do pressure and temperature checks before the astronauts arrived, to insure everything worked.
This would mean that they astronauts could carry far more supplies and equipment with them, and could stay on Mars longer.
Once the astronauts arrived, they could direct the robots to do other work, such as digging a cistern for water, then finally use the nuclear engine of the robots to power the colony.
I think that will take a few million years, there might be advantages to a slow breakup terms of mining and converting the materials to engineering materials.
We have been going to Mars for decades.
Sounds like a excellent plan.
Well said Jeff.
As I understand it, Orion is a possible “threefer:”
1. Crew transfer vehicle for the ISS.
2. Transfer and on-orbit vehicle for Moon return missions
3. Transfer and on-orbit vehicle Mars manned missions
As for a permanent manned base on Mars, there is no reason for it as long as Mars remains just a place where very expensive, government-funded scientific research missions go to hang out. (”The Martian” (great movie) being an excellent example of this.)
Other than claiming bragging rights, robots can do the work cheaper, a heck of a lot cheaper, than humans with all their “needs” can.
Find a real economic incentive (profit $$$) for establishing permanent bases on the Moon and Mars (outside of supporting government funded activities) and business will respond.
If you can make it pay (and it will have to pay pretty big to justify the risks and investment), people will want to play.
I.K. Brunell and the Great Western.
One great idea for Mars exploration could literally be called a “space shuttle”. It would be a large spacecraft transporter, assembled and fueled in Earth orbit, that would take spaceships from Earth orbit to Mars orbit and back.
This would mean that the spaceships would not need to carry fuel for the entire journey, just from Earth ground to orbit, then Mars orbit to ground, then Mars ground back to Mars orbit.
Doing it this way would significantly reduce turn around time between Mars missions. It could also take unmanned missions of cargo to Mars, so that the tunnels built there by the nuclear powered mining robots could be significantly improved between human missions.
1. That is not "breaking news:" Scientists having been speculating about the eventual disintegration of Phobos (but not Deimos, the outer moon) for more than half a century.
2. It is estimated that Phobos might break up and form a ring in 40-50 million years - so NOT "soon."
Regards,
Keeping the illegals and gibsmedats off the streets is a higher priority.
If we knew there were Martian women who looked like that, we would have been there 40 years ago.
Actually, my comment wasn’t meant as a statement of fact, but, was irony. We haven’t been back to the moon in 40 years and getting to Mars will be much more of a challenge. The irony is planning a trip to the moons of Mars only to get there and find them gone.
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