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To: Wonder Warthog
The International Space Station flies well within the Earth's magnetic field and the occupants are resupplied with water and food on a regular basis. Also, the length of time any of them are aboard is a maximum of about one year, after which they return to Earth with significant loss of bone density and other effects of sustained zero gravity living. Flying between planets is in another league. The Apollo fights lasted around one week. To Mars and back will, with present technology, take years.

I'm not saying the problems are unsolvable, but it's not really clear how they're going to be solved without a radical jump in technology to maybe, for example, supply the power necessary to create an electromagnetic field around the spacecraft that performs the same function as our planet's. Or develop a water and food recycling system that will sustain the crew. Drinking and eating what used to be urine and feces, without Earth's gradual recycling through soil and sun that allows us to not have to think about it, is something the astronauts might have to learn to stomach. Bottom line, getting the astronauts there is one thing. Getting them there and back alive is something else.

16 posted on 09/26/2016 6:21:24 AM PDT by katana
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To: katana
I can only say that you are seriously out of touch, both with solutions proposed and solutions tested. Pretty much every aspect you mention has been addressed conceptually, and often experimentally. Closed loop recycling has been under experimental development for almost fifty years, both on earth and in space, and would really only apply during the actual "on-planet" phase, and possibly not even then.

You appear to be under the misconception that this will be a "one ship trip".....it won't. Drone ships will be pre-launched and landed on Mars with materials and supplies, and possibly even during the transit phase (launched after the manned vehicle, but using higher accelerations to catch up and match velocity "in-flight").

Shielding is just a matter of arranging the mass you already have to carry, and will probably be water (actually ice). See "storm shelter" concept.

25 posted on 09/26/2016 8:32:49 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog (The Hog of Steel and NRA Life Member)
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To: katana

Drinking and eating what used to be urine and feces, without Earth’s gradual recycling through soil and sun that allows us to not have to think about it, is something the astronauts might have to learn to stomach.


Sorry, but the astronauts on the ISS are already ‘stomach’ing this. The ISS recycles 93% of its water, including urine.


27 posted on 09/26/2016 10:02:21 AM PDT by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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