Experts say man can live on Mars

Reuters ^ | 3/04/04

[KevinDavis]

CAPE CANAVERAL: Experts in the effects of space travel on the human body have told a presidential commission that there were challenges but no "showstoppers" in building a permanent moon base, then sending astronauts to Mars.

Aerospace medical experts Stanley Mohler and Mary Ann Frey, both longtime researchers in the field, identified a number of health risks future astronauts could face, from radiation poisoning to meteoroid collisions, but said NASA was developing plans for every known contingency.

"From the medical standpoint, there is further research to be done, but we don't see any. . . showstoppers out there," Mohler told the President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond yesterday.

The commission, chaired by former Air Force Secretary Edward "Pete" Aldredge, is charged with developing strategies for implementing the space goals announced by President George W Bush in January.

"It should be a relatively straightforward program of establishing 90- day (crew) rotations on a colony on the moon," Mohler told the panel in hearings at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Radiation, whether from solar flares or cosmic rays, was the highest hurdle identified by the scientists.

While the moon has plenty of lunar soil to shield habitation modules, a Mars mission, which could last 15 months, most of that time in transit, presents special problems.

But Mohler said the Russians have developed effective countermeasures that involve positioning their ships so the crew is shielded from most of the radiation from solar flares, and research in the United States is producing lighter-weight radiation shielding.

NOT JUST PHYSICAL PROBLEMS

Frey added a second problem to the top of her list: the psychological effects of long-term space travel.

"Crew members will be isolated at great distances from Earth with long lag times in communication. They'll be crowded into close quarters. They will be in danger and their sleep will be degraded," Frey said.

Despondency or depression under these conditions might diminish crew skills level and affect safety, experts say.

Funding is also a threat to crew health, she said, touching on a subject often mentioned at such forums because the Bush plan calls for major advances in space exploration with only minimal funding increases.

"A much greater level of commitment and funding for biomedical research and countermeasure research development must be made than has ever existed before," she said.

"This commitment will pay off in space and on Earth. The spin-offs from spaceflight research and technology have made possible our lifestyle on Earth in every area, including health," Frey said.

One area of concern since the dawn of human space flight did not present a major worry for Mohler – what to do about routine medical emergencies that arise when the nearest hospital is thousands, if not millions, of miles away.

Mohler said space pharmacies with as many as 200 different medications will be available, as well as "an onsite treatment facility, where, if a person's appendix acts up, they can bring it out."

Today, the commission will hear from John Glenn, a former US senator and the first American to orbit the Earth.

[KevinDavis]

Lets go!

[KevinDavis]

Space Ping! This is the space ping list! Let me know if you want on or off this list!

[jwalsh07]

Send two men, see how the species propagates.

[cynicom]

Glenn, american?? First democrat not American.

[TRY ONE]

"....on sending astronauts to Mars"

Ask Congressbabe Sheila Jackson Lee --- she's the expert"

[hford02]

John Glen's anti-admin tirade called the presidents goal a waste of time and an insult to the decade we've spent building an "international" space station. How
the every time the world gets together on some project
the US has to pickup the check?
Personally, if this happens (a moonbase) then maybe
we can test Heinlein's theory of downhill space warfare
in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".

[SCHROLL]

Let's go? Hell with that, when do we load up the Dems starting with the Clintons and bid them bon voyage?

[FoxInSocks]

NASA was developing plans for every known contingency

Gee, how long will that take?

Anyway, it's the unknown ones you have to look out for.

[Lawgvr1955]

John Glen. I remember when he was looked upon by all Americans as a hero. I know as a young child I looked up to him. His actions since the space days is disapointing to say the least. His actions covering for Clinton are legion.

It goes to prove that you should be careful in who you look up to.

[nmh]

Can we send liberals up there?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Experts say man can live on Mars

Did they say which "man?" I pick Michael Moore and we don't even have to worry about bringing him back or checking to see if he survives.

[Nowhere Man]

Can we send liberals up there?

And also any homosexual "married" couples too, a one way "honey-Mars" trip. B-)

[CWOJackson]

The perfect place for the free state project. Put Harry Browne on the first ship out.

[In_25_words_or_less]

Experts say man can live on Mars

Good to know.

[anobjectivist]

What is the point of going to the moon?

Aside from being a nice perch for telescopes (especially radio telescopes) is there anything there that will make it easy to set up a moon base in the short term?

From what I understand, the moon is lacking in carbon and other particularly interesting elements that are needed to process the raw materials found there.

This means, that if we actually want to build anything on the moon, we'll have to ship a lot more supplies than we would if we went somewhere else with a more suitable chemistry (Mars).

Am I missing something here that warrants the pressing need to spend a whole bunch of extra energy for not much benefit?

I'm all about going to mars, we could actually build a self-sufficient base there. However, a base on the moon will be dependent upon commerce with Earth, just like the space station, and we know how cute that piece of metal is right now.

[MaryFromMichigan]

Experts say man can live on Mars

They already do...

[goodnesswins]

ROFL>>>>!!!!

[irv]

Am I missing something here that warrants the pressing need to spend a whole bunch of extra energy for not much benefit?

The ability to dig a very deep hole to protect the military as pect of the mission from possible (Chinese or Russian?) counter-attack. A space station has a lot of benefits, but it's exposed.

[philetus]

I vote we let the "experts" go first.

[Ken H]

Send two men, see how the species propagates.

Mars needs women.