Posted on 03/05/2014 3:10:00 PM PST by lbryce
Congress has Mars in its eyes. In the wake of a hearing last week, the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology has asked NASA to consider a crewed fly-by of the Red Planet in 2021. The venture's funding and feasibility remain vague, however, and NASA's 2015 budget plan, released today, maintains that an asteroid will be the first destination for astronauts riding the agency's next-generation space capsule.
The Mars fly-by proposal is built on plans for a privately funded mission laid out by Inspiration MarsMovie Camera, a non-profit endeavour formed by multimillionaire Dennis Tito. Barely a year after Inspiration Mars was announced, Tito went before Congress hat in hand, saying the flight wouldn't be possible without the use of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion space capsule, both still in development. He made the case for a NASA-led fly-by of Mars and Venus in 2021, which he argued would cost less than $1 billion.
Congress seems to be taking the idea seriously. On 27 February, an independent panel testified on what it would take to make the mission a reality. The response was mostly positive, but some committee members raised concerns about the tight timeline and uncertain budget.
"While I thought it was a great idea if people wanted to take the risk in the private sector, I think this is a foolhardy use of very limited government resources," said California Republican Dana Rohrabacher. And based on the timeline for building SLS and Orion, a 2021 Mars mission would be the first crewed flight for both vehicles, which would mean skipping a piloted test flight closer to home.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
It's a plan to go to Mars that was not conceived within NASA but by Dennis Tito, billionaire who hatched this hare-brained scheme.
I remember first reading about this with Tito announcing his Mars fly-by with funding to come from advertising revenue. Only at the very end did he say in what appeared to be an afterthought about how the trip requiring NASA involvement for launch capacity and other technological assistance.
I remember being quite annoyed at this guy for what seemed incredible hubris to conceive of a plan in which he would remain firmly in control while inviting NASA to join in on his idea in contributing hardware and more. While never asking for money directly, the implication of his request remained clear to me
Since then, the plan has changed, makes no mention of funding from promotional venues and seems to want, require NASA to contribute its resources for the mission to ever take place.
From Forbes:
In addition to fundraising, the foundation also plans to earn money for the trip by selling media rights and by selling data from the trip to NASA. Tito also announced at the conference he will be personally funding the first 2 years of the 5 year mission to get the trip launched.
The foundation has signed an agreement with NASA to help develop some of the necessary technology, however, they have not asked NASA for any funding for the mission.
Well today's announcement seems to contradict asking NASA for funding.
FTA
The venture's funding and feasibility remain vague.
No kidding!
Nowhere does it discuss any details of the mission, how after the fly-by they get rocketed back to Earth. In terms of what we might gain from such a mission in terms of money required. I would have to think it's a very poor investment.
The article implies that the major objective of the mission as part NASA's 2015 budget plan, released today, maintains that an asteroid will be the first destination for astronauts riding the agency's next-generation space capsule.
From Tito's Mars:Inspiration Site
Role with NASA
Our "Mission for America" aligns perfectly with our nation's emerging space priorities and programs, and will contribute valuable research to accelerate the next generation of systems and their missions. NASA has a strong plan for taking Americans farther into space and is investing wisely in a new human spacecraft and heavy lift launch vehicle - systems our nation needs for our long-term plans beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). We're using the proven LEO systems and technology that NASA and the industry have created to seize this unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to create public awareness, enthusiasm and momentum for a long-term commitment and vision for space exploration beyond LEO…all the way to Mars.
In addition, the foundation has formed a partnership with NASA via a reimbursable Space Act Agreement between Paragon and the Ames Research Center to conduct thermal protection system and technology testing and evaluation. Foundation officials will also seek to tap into NASA’s knowledge, experience and technologies to fine-tune and/or develop some of the more challenging elements of this mission, including environmental controls, radiation protection, and human health and productivity plans.
In exchange for NASA's involvement he will allow NASA to share in the scientific discoveries made by Mars:Inspiration.
Well, golly, gee, Mr. Tito, thanks a bunch!!
FTA
The venture's funding and feasibility remain vague.
No kidding!
Forbes:Dennis Tito's 2018 Mars Flyby Is On The 'Ragged Edge Of Feasibility'
Space.com:Dennis Tito's 2021 Human Mars Flyby Mission Explained (Infographic)
FIFY
I'm usually quite observant in these matters bu in this case it never registered with me, just went right over my head.
Geez if you’re gonna go there, land. A flyby ain’t worth it. We’ve done flybys and orbits and mapping already. And landing and testing. It’s too big a mission NOT to land.
Look! A martian squirrel!
A red squirrel?
NASA can provide assistance if they want to reach out to the muslims on Mars.
Muslims have already spoken out against going to Mars.
Now that the Impostor has alienated the Russians,
after he DESTROYED NASA,
the US cannot even get to the Space Station.
I suppose the point would be that in a fly by they use Martian gravity to sling them back toward Earth. If you stop, you have to blast yourself back out of orbit to return. However, I agree with you that this doesn’t should like a good utilization of resources. In short, just publicity.
If a flyby costs a billion, a landing (and return) would probably cost at least 5 billion. The timing is right for a flyby while a landing would add years of planning.
I personally think the Russians have the right idea for a mission to a martian moon which kills two birds with one stone. The martian moons are just asteroids anyway.
Then there’s money....
At this point, we don’t have plans how to build a craft that could land AND take off to return.
Waste of money.
Perhaps what they had in mind was that a crewed mission would afford the opportunity to outclass the Mile High Club by eight or nine orders of magnitude.
They’ll need more living space than the Orion capsule.
Ask Wally Schirra, Don Eisele, Walter Cunningham, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, Bill Anders, Jim McDivitt, Dave Scott, Rusty Schweikert, Tom Stafford, John Young, and Gene Cernan.
All flew Apollo missions without landing.
Some never left Earth orbit.
All for reasons.
Neither NASA nor Congress seem to have any interest of getting a manned flight to Mars anytime in this century.
If this guy can get them off dead center, that’s a good thing.
I remember when they landed on the moon, I thought, by 2000 we’ll be on Mars. As it turned out, by 2000 even the moon was a dim memory.
I’ll admit, a one or two year mission just to circle it and come home will open up a new kind of frustration. And in my opinion sending a single ship is near suicidal. But I would like someone to light a fire under these guys and get going.
And failure would be a shame here. Done the proposed Obamaless, hetero way it still might fail but worthwhile. IIRC about 1/3 of Mars missions all time have failed. But demonstrating the possibility of a (mostly) private big space mission would be a great thing, especially one done on a shorter time line than Apollo! There are many probable problems involved in successfully completing such a mission. It would likely solve many of them and at least narrow some more. If it did fail those taking the risks would noble volunteers, a worthy example to our race. Finding such volunteers would be even easier than Obama finding extra votes and a lot more honest. Which will amaze and befuddle the risk adverse establishment. And the money would have been voluntarily spent. Sure a Mars landing mission would be even cooler, but there's no way to complete that in the five years this offers. And the expected flyby date of 8/21/2018 would be just shy of 10 years after Palin's national launch. She'd have fit word for the occasion, ideally delivered from the Northern White House.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.