http://www.marsnews.com/ en-us tourdemars@marsnews.com Copyright 2008 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:52:05 -0800 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:02:43 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 tourdemars@marsnews.com 60 NASA chief Mike Griffin has outlined the punishing lunar endurance mission that would have to be completed before NASA could ever consider sending humans to Mars. Speaking on NASA's future mission priorities at this week's International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland, Griffin said that Mars is not automatically the next destination simply because humans have already been to the Moon. "The total human experience on the Moon is less than 27 human working days – on a world that is the size of Africa," he says. "So whether the Moon is a stepping stone to Mars or a place of interest in its own right depends on knowledge we don't have yet." To improve that knowledge, and to test the logistics and human factors of potential Mars missions in the bargain, Griffin proposes an elaborate lunar mission experiment. It would mimic the travel and landing time of a Mars mission by using the International Space Station as a mock Mars spaceship – and the Moon as a surrogate Mars. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/10/01/lunar_endurance_mission_to_act_as_boot_camp_for_mars.html Humans To Mars Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:52:05 -0800 A tethered spacecraft will spin through increasingly hi-fidelity testing in a lab, in zero gravity, and eventually space, as part of the next project chosen by the Mars Society. The Mars Society announced Tuesday that the Tethered Experiment for Mars inter-Planetary Operations (TEMPO 3 or TEMPO cubed) is the favorite proposal chosen from members' ideas for the group's next project. The project aims to supplement research on the feasibility of long-term space flight for humans. Mars Society president Robert Zubrin said that while space agencies around the world have "chosen to study the effects of zero gravity on humans with no end in sight," his group seeks to develop technology to provide humans with gravity in space. "Similar problems existed in the past, when aircrews flew at high altitude and low oxygen levels," he said in a news announcement. "The technological solution of providing oxygen was frowned upon by aviation doctors in favor of trying to 'negate the effect' of the low oxygen through medication. Today, flight crews use oxygen at high altitudes, and we expect astronauts to travel with gravity." http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/08/19/tempo_3_artificial_gravity_satellite_on_mars_societys_todo_list.html Mars Society Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:13:03 -0800 4Frontiers Corporation, a NewSpace technology, entertainment & education company, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $25,000 research grant from the Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC), as part of the Florida Space Research & Education Grant Program. This grant will assist 4Frontiers in pursuing its technology roadmap for Mars settlement technologies. The project’s goal is to study the performance of various transparent materials which have been selected as potential candidates for use in future Mars greenhouses. The research will involve the construction of small chambers that incorporate these materials, simulating a Mars greenhouse. The chambers will then be placed within a larger chamber which will simulate the environmental conditions found on the Martian surface. The project will investigate heat transfer and stress performance of these materials under the unique conditions specific to the red planet. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/08/06/4frontiers_corporation_awarded_florida_grant_to_investigate_mars_greenhouse_materials.html Humans To Mars Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:27:23 -0800 Hyperion Power Generation, a startup building compact nuclear power reactor units that are “about the size of a typical backyard hot tub”, says commercial deployments could start as early as 2013. The release quotes the company’s CEO John “Grizz” Deal, who says the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based startup has advanced development of its device enough to be able to reach that goal. The company says it initially plans to make 4,000 units — each being able to generate 70 megawatts of heat energy, or 27 megawatts of electricity from a steam turbine. That’s the equivalent power for 20,000 homes. There’s also the possibility of linking devices that could produce more power. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/08/04/hyperions_nuclearinabox_ready_by_2013.html Technology Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:55:56 -0800 The ice and minerals found using a robotic arm in the Martian soil could make it easier for humans to live on the planet in the not-so-distant future. The ice on the northern pole of Mars has been a particularly important find for NASA scientists because robots and astronauts could extract usable, even drinkable, water from it, helping to sustain an extended stay on the Red Planet, according to Ray Arvidson, a co-investigator for the Mars Lander's robotic arm team and a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "I think the fact that we found water ice means there's a large reservoir of it," Arvidson told Computerworld on Friday. "Water is crucial to us as humans, in terms of keeping us going. Water also is a resource that can be processed, in terms of getting oxygen and hydrogen. Finding that water near the surface is important. When you actually go to Mars, you don't want to take that water with you … the fact that the water is close to the surface is good." http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/27/nasa_ice_mineralrich_soil_could_support_human_outpost_on_mars.html Humans To Mars Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:30:07 -0800 Presumptive Republican White House nominee John McCain said Thursday he would like to see a manned mission to Mars as part of a "better set of priorities" for NASA that would better engage the public. At a townhall event in Florida, the Arizona senator was asked about funding for the US space agency's shuttle program, which is due to end in 2010. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/06/_mccain_would_like_to_see_a_man_on_mars.html Humans To Mars Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:35:41 -0800 Previewing the new exhibit, Facing Mars, at the Ontario Science Centre last week afforded me the double excitement of returning to the Science Centre and being able to go to Mars. Seriously, I was giddy. I've always been fascinated with all things space. In fact, my earliest memory was waking up in the hospital when I was three with a plastic toy space shuttle on my bed. Plus, the timing couldn't be better, because NASA had another hole-in-one shot to Mars last week and Canada's meteorological station is now reporting daily from the red planet. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/05/facing_mars_at_the_ontario_science_centre.html Humans To Mars Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:47:45 -0800 Dainese may be known for its luxe motorcycle helmets and leathers, but the Italian company recently displayed two pieces of decidedly futuristic apparel at the 2008 Legend of the Motorcycle Concours d'Elegance. In anticipation of NASA's down-the-road Mars landing missions, Dainese has teamed up with MIT for an ambitious project that intends to pressurize an astronaut's body without the usual bubble of air that creates bulky spacesuits. We've seen the suit concept before, but bringing on these bike gurus is just cool—and smart. Ditching the old-school “Moon Man” image, Dainese's futuristic space duds feature a fitted design strung with intertwining black-and-gold filaments. It may look like a sleek bodysuit by Armani, but the filaments actually serve a crucial purpose: They run along Lines of Non Extension (LoNEs) on the human body, which according to chairman Lino Dainese “remain stationary even when we move. If these points are united,” he explains, “the same pressure is established throughout the body.” http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/04/could_nasas_astronaut_suits_for_mars_be_designed_by_mit_and_the_motorcycle_fashionistas_at_dainese.html Humans To Mars Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:57:41 -0800 Last week, 32 talented candidates gathered at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, with the hope of becoming part of a unique study that will act as a platform for human exploration of the Solar System. The study, called Mars500, is a ground-based simulation of a mission to Mars and back. Two of the candidates, together with four Russian volunteers, will be sealed in an isolation chamber for a total of 105 days starting in October. This is followed by the full isolation period with another two European candidates, which lasts for 520 days starting early in 2009. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/03/mars500_european_candidates_selected.html Humans To Mars Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:00:43 -0800 If Dr. Robert Zubrin could take a trip to Mars, he would be sure to pack a bread maker in his suitcase. Not just because bread is a pretty reliable expeditionary food, but because the act of cooking, according to Zubrin, seems to help people get along with each other, especially when they are in slightly dire, less than luxurious and more than stressful circumstances. And Zubrin would know, too. He has, after all, led almost a half-dozen mock Mars missions on barren Arctic ice fields and scorching Utah deserts with volunteer teams made up of students, scientists, journalists and anyone else willing to wear fake spacesuits and live in tiny tin-can-like habitation modules for days on end. The simulated expeditions were made, in part, to research ways to live and work on the Red Planet. But they also revealed something else: what personality types might best be suited to make the 35 million-mile journey and who would be better off watching from Mission Control. "Some of these crews have worked out very well," said Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, a 7,000-member multinational group determined to reach what it calls the New World. "Others were at each other's throats." http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/02/mars_on_the_brain_red_planet_pioneers_to_face_cosmic_mind_trip.html Humans To Mars Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:13:50 -0800 What will it take to plant booted feet on Martian soil? And what will it take to keep them there indefinitely? We set our sights on the Red Planet. The dream of visiting Mars is as old as the fantasies of sci-fi authors Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury, but it took a giant step forward in January 2004, when U.S. President George W. Bush announced America's intention of returning to the Moon, and using that as a springboard to the Red Planet. The proposed U.S. program – still in its early design stages – kicks off with a series of robotic missions to the Moon, followed by more manned lunar missions around 2020. It also involves a new spaceship, called Orion, based on a combination of technology derived from the space shuttles and the venerable Saturn V – the booster used 38 years ago to launch Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on their historic voyage to the Moon. That's the Moon taken care of, but it's yet to be determined when the U.S. program is due to crank it up a notch and set its sights on Mars. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/05/29/next_stop_mars.html Humans To Mars Thu, 29 May 2008 16:46:59 -0800 The idea, to say the least, was provocative. Back in March Nancy Atkinson wrote a piece for Universe Today about a retired NASA engineer named Jim McLane, who suggested a way to jump-start human settlement of Mars: go before we're sure how to get back. "When we eliminate the need to launch off Mars, we remove the mission’s most daunting obstacle," McLane told her. He said it would not be a suicide mission, but that risks are necessary when you do great things. "I don’t think there would be any shortage of people willing to volunteer for the mission. Lindbergh was someone who was willing to risk everything because it was worth it. I don’t think it will be hard to find another Lindbergh to go to Mars." http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/05/28/oneway_flight_to_mars_a_soldier_volunteers.html Humans To Mars Wed, 28 May 2008 11:50:12 -0800 Radiation Shield Technologies has been granted a new patent for Demron, the protective garment that shields users from alpha and beta radiation, gamma rays, x-rays, and other nuclear emissions. The flexible, cool, and lightweight suit provides all the protection of a lead apron with a new level of comfort, and without any dermal or inhalation risks. Its malleability, thinness, and effectiveness allow it to be used for full-body nuclear, biological, and nuclear-biological chemical suits, tactical anti-nuclear vests, and high-energy suppression blankets. Several governments have ordered suits for use in emergencies that involve radiation, and scientists have even earmarked it for use in future missions to Mars. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/05/09/demron_lightweight_leadfree_radiationproof_suit.html Humans To Mars Fri, 09 May 2008 08:25:54 -0800 SFC William H. Ruth of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division stationed somewhere in Afghanistan wrote in response to SPACE.com Senior Editor Tariq Malik’s story Monday about Prof. Stephen Hawking’s belief in extraterrestrial life and he has a suggestion for NASA: “Please forward this to the proper channels. I have read Stephen Hawking’s latest remarks on space travel and the importance of it to human survival. The problem is, NASA is going about it all the wrong way. Here is an idea: Send battle-hardened, strong-minded soldiers and marines on the long trips into space. We are conditioned to live with the bare minimal (of) life’s necessities and are trained to be prepared for … the worst conditions that any environment could throw at us. Hell, me and my men will go, set up a colony somewhere and await colonists to arrive. Me and most of my men are on our 3rd or 4th deployment into a combat area. We are scouts, reconnaissance specialists. We go before everyone else and spend time living off the land. Sounds just like the type of men needed for a long colonization journey. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/04/25/afghanistan_heroes_offer_to_colonize_moon_mars_and_beyond.html Humans To Mars Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:16:32 -0800 For now, NASA openly says the prospect of sending astronauts to Mars is out of the question -- too complicated and expensive. But a retired NASA engineer named James C. McLane III says a Mars mission is doable, and would unify the world as never before. Just a couple of details: McLane would send only one astronaut. And it would be a one-way flight. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/04/06/oneway_trip_to_mars.html Humans To Mars Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:19:00 -0800