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Our next challenge: a human on Mars
SpaceRef ^ | 3.4.05

Posted on 03/05/2005 10:41:22 AM PST by ambrose

PRESS RELEASE

Date Released: Friday, March 4, 2005

Source: European Commission

Our next challenge: a human on Mars

"The European Space Agency will be the first space agency to reach all planets in the inner solar system." That was the assurance of Piero Messina, speaking for ESA's Aurora Exploration Programme at the last Earth & Space Expo lunchtime seminar in Brussels.

But is the exploration of space a race? Is NASA negligible? Messina was not denying the leadership of the USA, but he pointed out that today's NASA has only been interested in sending humans to new frontiers in space since President Bush declared it his personal goal just one year ago. "ESA has had humans in space on its mind for much longer than that," he said. "Europe is second to none."

Europe in space

The European Space Agency has had many technological successes in its exploration of space. The names of the satellites and spacecraft that have left Earth's orbit with the ESA logo on their sides are well-known: Rosetta, Cassini-Huygens, and the Mars Express. The next mission to Mars will be searching not just for rock and dust samples, but for signs of life.

The Aurora Programme planned to land humans on Mars by 2033, but Earth-bound politics since 2003 have already altered that timescale. The space station that has only just begun to be assembled should have been completed by now, so human footprints in the dust of Mars are further away than ever.

But Messina was adamant that the programme would continue to completion, with Mars as the primary, but not only, goal. The schedule for the next twenty years includes trial return flights, automated missions and a supplies dump. Robots and humans will work together to make progress possible.

Why spend all that money?

The Aurora programme is driven by high ideals and worldly desires. No one could argue with expanding human knowledge, the achievement of an identity for Europe that would transcend national boundaries, or inspiration to ignite the imagination, as was seen by rocketing interest in science and space training after the 1960s Apollo landings. The more pragmatic considerations behind sending the ExoMars rover into the red dust focus on boosting competitiveness by giving industry innovative advantages, and finding ways to increase global security through international co-operation.

What are we looking for?

But what the Aurora scientists also want is evidence of life. ExoMars will be equipped with sensors to look for signs of life that may have existed and may still exist on Mars. Traces of methane, which is produced by life forms and dissipates fast, will do nicely to start with. And if the surface seems barren, ExoMars will be equipped with a 2-metre-long drill to delve below the planet's crust. ExoMars will have its own laboratory, so scientists on Earth can run tests remotely on the samples without fear of contamination. We don't want to introduce Earth-originated microbes to alien samples or to the planet itself.

Who will be going?

When all the automated tests have been run, and the training is complete, humans will be sent to Mars. The journey will take six months, compared to the three-day journey to the Moon, so pre-flight selection will be critical. Conflict resolution may be one of the principal skills required in astronauts willing to spend 26 weeks in the most cramped and isolated conditions ever experienced by humans. The women and/or men on the spacecraft will be psychologically and physically fit, able to endure a testing voyage in a hostile environment. They will need to grow their own food and drink recycled water, and be their own space maintenance crew as well as scientists and pilots.

What are we doing now?

A base in the Arctic is testing tissue and psychological responses to extreme conditions. The study and development of life support systems is well advanced, and the water recycling technology developed by ESA for this purpose is now being used in the new Airbus passenger liner. Microgravity conditions are showing differences in the physiological responses between male and female astronauts.

Importantly, as none of this could happen without information sharing and co-operation, ESA and other space agencies around the world are talking to each other. Contributing scientific knowledge and technological expertise to the world space effort and keeping Europe at the forefront of the global space race.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: mars; space
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1 posted on 03/05/2005 10:41:22 AM PST by ambrose
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To: ambrose

A human on Mars. I was going to volunteer Hitlery Clinton, but it says human.


2 posted on 03/05/2005 10:43:43 AM PST by Imaverygooddriver (I`m a very good driver and I approve this message.)
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To: Imaverygooddriver

Who will be going?

Since this is a European endeavor, I think Chiraq should be first.


3 posted on 03/05/2005 10:49:47 AM PST by freedomfiter2
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To: ambrose

For now our next challenge is a successful space shuttle mission.


4 posted on 03/05/2005 10:50:35 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Please leave a message after the burp....)
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity

Zzzzzz..... that is soooooooooooo... 1981....

Sheesh, it is 2005...


5 posted on 03/05/2005 10:53:47 AM PST by ambrose (....)
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
For now our next challenge is a successful space shuttle mission.

Its not a challenge, its a waste of money! Think about the time from when we first learned to fly to landing on the moon spanned over 60 years. For the last 30 we've been wasting our time and money on a glider that hasn't produced jack crap!

6 posted on 03/05/2005 10:54:55 AM PST by Bommer
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To: Bommer

Bingo.


7 posted on 03/05/2005 10:56:20 AM PST by ambrose (....)
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To: ambrose

we probably ought to make sure there is no life on Mars before we send anyone there in person.


8 posted on 03/05/2005 11:02:48 AM PST by 1LongTimeLurker
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To: 1LongTimeLurker

Wouldn't want to kill all the Martians with Chicken Pox, eh?


9 posted on 03/05/2005 11:04:30 AM PST by ambrose (....)
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To: ambrose

or more importantly, kill all the Earthlings with Martian Pox.


10 posted on 03/05/2005 11:19:12 AM PST by kennedy ("Why would I listen to losers?")
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To: kennedy
Wouldn't need to worry about Martian Pox if it were a planned one way trip.
There would be volunteers.
11 posted on 03/05/2005 11:27:11 AM PST by ASA Vet (Those who know, don't talk. Those who talk, don't know.)
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To: ambrose

Don't send a human, send a Democrat.


12 posted on 03/05/2005 11:45:27 AM PST by msnimje
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To: ASA Vet; kennedy; RadioAstronomer
From everything I've read, getting to Mars really isn't much of a problem. We could do that right now, with our present technology. Send one rocket with astronaut-colonists, other rockets with food and supplies necessary to build shelters, etc. Additional supply rockets could be sent from time to time.

It is the need to make this a round-trip that makes it such a challenge for scientists.
13 posted on 03/05/2005 11:51:09 AM PST by ambrose (....)
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To: ambrose
The journey will take six months,

I am probably wrong but wouldn`t it take quite a bit longer than that.

14 posted on 03/05/2005 12:06:02 PM PST by carlr
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To: Bommer
I have to say that the Shuttle is not the most cost efficient way to deliever payloads into low earth orbit.

But it is a proving ground with the ISS that will allow us to live and work in space for long periods of time.

You cant run until you know how to walk.

As for being a waste of money, just the Hubble Mission alone was worth the data that has been obtained.


15 posted on 03/05/2005 12:07:55 PM PST by texson66 ("Tyranny is yielding to the lust of the governing." - Lord Moulton)
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To: texson66

I don't think the Hubble was a waste of money. Mars on the other hand...


16 posted on 03/05/2005 12:31:26 PM PST by k2blader (It is neither compassionate nor conservative to support the expansion of socialism.)
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To: texson66

The Hubble could have been launched from a conventional rocket booster for half the price like skylab, so the shuttle had nothing to do with its success other than dropping it off and fixing its lens. The truth is that payload capacity is huge compared to a disposable rocket booster. The Shuttle program has produced nothing in comparison to the Gemini and Apollo missions, and we lost a total of 3 astronauts compared to 14 with this high tech glider! You can only study rats in zero gravity for so many years to realize that the taxpayer is pissing their money away on an organization that has no imagination or spirit for adventure anymore. There uses to be a saying of "No Buck Rogers, no bucks!" The shuttle program is immune to that saying! Just a bloated diversity program to show how races and genders can fly gliders in space. We should have a base on the moon by now. All were doing is orbiting a gliding semi. woopie!


17 posted on 03/05/2005 12:45:57 PM PST by Bommer
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To: Bommer

You nailed it!


18 posted on 03/05/2005 12:49:50 PM PST by Lurking2Long
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To: ambrose
Wouldn't want to kill all the Martians with Chicken Pox, eh?

It could work both ways you know.

19 posted on 03/05/2005 1:55:45 PM PST by 1LongTimeLurker
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To: ASA Vet
Wouldn't need to worry about Martian Pox if it were a planned one way trip.

But we would have to worry about possibly disrupting a Martian eco-system.

20 posted on 03/05/2005 1:56:18 PM PST by 1LongTimeLurker
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