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Man on Mars: Introduction | Problems of a Manned Mission | NASA's Budget
Design of Mars-worthy spacecraft
Problem:
Winged spacecraft like the shuttle are clearly out as they are unreliable near home, as the two space shuttle disasters had shown us, what more about the unpredictable, wispy Mars atmosphere?
Solution:
Design of the spacecraft could be closer to the capsule model that has served the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs so well. A pod-like crew transfer vehicle to get astronauts to and from the space station and to take a little of the load off the shuttle have been designed by Boeing Aerospace and its design has won the backing of members of the U.S. Congress and the space community ever since the Columbia disaster resulted in the grounding of the entire shuttle fleet.
Journey to Mars
Problem:
A one-way flight to Mars from Earth would take roughly seven months and it is a journey that is both tedious and dangerous, given the amount of radiation that a spacecraft would be exposed to.
Solution:
Because of Mars' elliptical orbit, the distance between the Earth and Mars vary greatly. The two planets make a close approach every two years, providing a possible window for both outgoing and return flights. Ion propulsion and nuclear thermal propulsion can increase speed and cut down on travel time. Ion propulsion is a technology that involves ionizing a gas to propel a craft. Instead of a spacecraft being propelled with standard chemicals, the gas xenon is given an electrical charge, or ionized. It is then electrically accelerated to a speed of about 30 km/second. When xenon ions are emitted at such high speed as exhaust from a spacecraft, they push the spacecraft in the opposite direction (Newton's third law of force). However, the stream of ions produced by the engine is a thin one, therefore even a small ship takes a long time to accelerate. Nuclear thermal propulsion makes use of a larger reactor to superheat traditional fuel and blast it out the engine nozzle. Things will move faster with such an engine, but the engine would be heavier and cruder and the reactor will definitely cause jitters among the environmentalist. However the decision on whether that would be the preferred approach would involve many questions such as which technique might get the crew there the fastest (independent of how fuel efficient the trip might be) in order to reduce the radiation exposure and effects of long periods of near weightlessness. Heavy shielding could be used to protect the crew from the harmful radiation, but it will add to the overall weight of the spacecraft.
Food, water and fuel
Problem:
The Apollo missions to moon took no more than 12 days and one could fill up the tank and larder once before you left and carry along everything you need for the mission. However it would not be possible for a manned mission to Mars, considering the 14months of round-trip flight time between Mars and Earth and perhaps the one and a half year wait for the Earth-Mars alignment for the journey back to Earth.
Solution:
It could be possible to manufacture what is needed on Mars. If ice exists, it would be big news, because Martian water could be used for consumption, once purified. Also since water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, it could be possible that decompose water to fill up the tanks of the spacecraft once it arrive on the Red Planet.
Another suggestion given by John Hoffman, a physicist at the University of Texas at Dallas who is working on a 2007 Mars probe “is to send rockets up two years before people go, then robotically make water for an 18-month stay and fuel for the return journey.”
If it is possible to make water, fuel and air on-site, then it would be possible to grow food. If the chemical samples like those onboard the Spirit prove that Mars soil is not poisonous, it would be a relatively straightforward job to assemble a greenhouse on Mars and grow crops there. 13 crops have been identified to be able to thrive in a space habitat including wheat, potatoes, Soya beans and salad green by Donald Henninger, a NASA chief scientist.
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