DailyDirt: Mars Is Not A Pleasant Vacation
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Getting on a rocket to Mars has been a dream for space exploration enthusiasts for decades. However, there are a lot of engineering problems that still need solutions before people can safely get to Mars (and back, unless you favor the one-way trip strategy). Optimists might expect humans to walk on Mars sometime in the 2030s, but realistically, there would have to be a significant change in the way deep space exploration is funded for that to happen. If you're just entering 5th grade or so, maybe you can consider a career on Mars. But perhaps you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.- Boeing has a promotional video for its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that could get people to Mars. Boeing suggests that six spacecraft elements need to be built, and two of them are already in the works. Getting those other four pieces might be difficult to do without several billion dollars more funding. [url]
- British astrophysicist Maggie Lieu wants to be the first woman to have a baby on Mars. She's a 24yo PhD candidate who is also on the shortlist for the Mars One project, so it's possible that her wish could come true. It sounds more than a bit risky to give birth on another planet, but it's been done in Antarctica.... [url]
- For a manned mission to Mars to work, an extremely sophisticated life support system will have to be developed to shield astronauts from radiation and keep bodies from atrophying in microgravity. When astronauts who have been in space for months come back to earth, there are plenty of able-bodied people to help them re-adjust to earth's full gravity -- but that's not really an option for landing on Mars. [url]
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Filed Under: astronauts, maggie lieu, manned missions, mars, mars one, microgravity, sls, space exploration, spacecraft
Companies: boeing, nasa
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Re:
A colony means raising children. And that means bone growth. We're optimized for doing this at one Earth gravity. We've only barely experimented with this at zero G, and we have no idea whether the Moon's 1/6th or Mars's 38% gravity would be enough.
But since Mar's gravity is closest, more than double that of the Moon's, it's the better bet.
(The Centrifuge Accommodations Module on ISS would have run experiments at different gravity levels. Launch was cancelled in 2005, and its sitting in a parking lot.)
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The first baby boy born on Mars...
If you don't know why, shame on you; look it up.
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Re: The first baby boy born on Mars...
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Disappointed
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