Posted on 09/03/2020 9:13:36 PM PDT by PghBaldy
Recruit from stage 4 cancer patients. Radiation would be welcomed.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein would be a good read about now.
One good thing that comes from Norfolk Island are the cute little Norfolk Spruce/Pine trees people have in their homes. Where we lived before, I had an atrium with a skylight and a big planter box under the skylight. Featured in the planter was a Norfolk Island Spruce which I named “Sherwood”. I wonder if the folks who’ve lived there since have kept Sherwood alive?
There were explorers in history, such as Magellan, who never came back. Point taken, that space exploration has dangers.
History lesson on initial visitation of the Americas by Europeans seeking adventure or opportunity.
I miss the days when people could parse the meaning of words.
“Good chance you’ll die”
does not mean
“Probably you’ll die”
Although, the whole idea is silly, since “colonists” will certainly eventually die on Mars. One hopes not prematurely...
I just hope they get away from the idea of above-ground habitats, and start thinking sensibly about efficient underground construction methods.
The other thing that better be considered is some kind of centrifuge system in case 1/3 G isn’t enough for humans physiologically. NASA has been derelict in doing that kind of research.
“Keep in mind, Mars does not provide ANY of the basics, other than solar energy, to support human life there.”
That is not correct. There’s abundant water, which also means there’s abundant oxygen (CO2, which is almost the entire atmosphere on Mars, could provide it as well).
Another potential source of oxygen is the iron oxide in the soil/rocks that gives Mars its red color. The iron will be quite handy regardless.
The soil, after chemical treatment to remove peroxide, can provide a basis for farming when mixed with organics. The other alternative would be to go hydroponic with chemical fertilizer.
A final, and very interesting point, is that with CO2 and water, you have what you need to manufacture methane, which is the fuel used by the Starship’s Raptor engines.
Selenomelanin proposed to provide a block or negation of damage from X-ray exposure In space activities—a two million sunblock formulation?
Musk said there would be hundreds of cargo missions accomplished, before actual development of a man rated Starship vessel. Belly-flop aerobraking, and the subsequent transition to powered decent, likely pose the largest challenges to vehicle reuse. Ever view the “Adama Maneuver” from BSG for a preview?
The super booster is somewhat a known quantity, a larger version of current operational equipment. As long as the multi-engine system performs to plan, surpasses the USSR N-1‘s engine reliability, should be good to go.
https://youtu.be/evodPpqb9H4?t=145
Seem to recall Van Allen’s belts trap much of the particle radiation? ISS avoids much exposure through location.
Thin metal stops initial particles and produces secondary particles plus X-ray. Thin layers of foil alternating with speciality plastic sheeting performs better as shielding.
New sunblock and internal medication, which combines melanin with selenium, offers another approach to avoiding radiation damage.
Even solar is iffy when the huge dust storms form.
Of rather more moment, Mars does not have a magnetic field. That means any colonists who stay on the surface will fry. Of course, the colonists could stay deep underground, but why go to Mars to do what you can do in Kentucky?
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone at twenty-one
Came with his tomahawk, knife, and gun
Home from the French and Indian War
To North Carolina and the Yadkin shore.
He married his maid with a golden band,
Builded his house and cleared his land;
But the deep woods claimed their son again
And he turned his face from the homes of men.
Over the Blue Ridge, dark and lone,
The Mountains of Iron, the Hills of Stone,
Braving the Shawnee's jealous wrath,
He made his way on the Warrior's Path.
Alone he trod the shadowed trails;
But he was lord of a thousand vales
As he roved Kentucky, far and near,
Hunting the buffalo, elk, and deer.
What joy to see, what joy to win
So fair a land for his kith and kin,
Of streams unstained and woods unhewn!
" Elbow room! " laughed Daniel Boone.
On the Wilderness Road that his axmen made
The settlers flocked to the first stockade;
The deerskin shirts and the coonskin caps
Filed through the glens and the mountain gaps;
And hearts were high in the fateful spring
When the land said " Nay! " to the stubborn king.
While the men of the East of farm and town
Strove with the troops of the British Crown,
Daniel Boone from a surge of hate
Guarded a nation's westward gate.
Down in the fort in a wave of flame
The Shawnee horde and the Mingo came,
And the stout logs shook in a storm of lead;
But Boone stood firm and the savage fled.
Peace! And the settlers flocked anew,
The farm lands spread, the town lands grew;
But Daniel Boone was ill at ease
When he saw the smoke in his forest trees.
" There'll be no game in the country soon.
Elbow room! " cried Daniel Boone.
Straight as a pine at sixty-five —
Time enough for a man to thrive —
He launched his bateau on Ohio's breast
And his heart was glad as he oared it west;
There was kindly folk and his own true blood
Where great Missouri rolls his flood;
New woods, new streams, and room to spare,
And Daniel Boone found comfort there.
Yet far he ranged toward the sunset still,
Where the Kansas runs and the Smoky Hill,
And the prairies toss, by the south wind blown;
And he killed his bear on the Yellowstone.
But ever he dreamed of new domains
With vaster woods and wider plains;
Ever he dreamed of a world-to-be
Where there are no bounds and the soul is free.
At fourscore-five, still stout and hale,
He heard a call to a farther trail;
So he turned his face where the stars are strewn;
" Elbow room! " sighed Daniel Boone.
Down the Milky Way in its banks of blue
Far he has paddled his white canoe
To the splendid quest of the tameless soul —
He has reached the goal where there is no goal.
Now he rides and rides an endless trail
On the hippogriff of the flaming tail
Or the horse of the stars with the golden mane,
As he rode the first of the blue-grass strain.
The joy that lies in the search he seeks
On breathless hills with crystal peaks;
He makes his camp on heights untrod,
The steps of the shrine, alone with God.
Through the woods of the vast, on the plains of space
He hunts the pride of the mammoth race
And the dinosaur of the triple horn,
The manticore and the unicorn,
As once by the broad Missouri's flow
He followed the elk and the buffalo.
East of the sun and west of the moon,
" Elbow room! " laughs Daniel Boone.
The guy on the left is Lars Ulrich, Metallica’s drummer. He’s also a putz.
Here is a good link and different safety protocols that NASA is working on : https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/how-nasa-protects-astronauts-from-space-radiation-at-moon-mars-solar-cosmic-rays
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