Journey to Mars
By: Jessica Luu, '20
(CHAOS 2017 EDITION)
(CHAOS 2017 EDITION)
Mars: our solar system’s fellow red planet. It has been 41 years since our first probe successfully landed on Mars. How long until we send our first humans on a mission to Mars? It may be sooner than you think. NASA is planning to send the first people to an asteroid by 2025, and the first to orbit Mars in the early 2030s, provided that they are able to acquire the right technology, enough money, and decide what they deem a reasonable risk. The steps leading up to the journey consists of three stages- Earth Reliant, Proving Ground and Earth Independent.
At this point, NASA is still in the “Earth Reliant” stage of the journey to Mars, which is expected to continue until the mid 2020s. In Earth Reliant exploration, NASA will concentrate on the operation of the International Space Station through 2024. In this time, astronauts aboard will study how to live and work in space and also how living in space for extended periods of time will affect the body. The development of commercial low-earth orbit, deep space, and life support systems is occurring at this point. A communications system for deep space is being established upon the space station, and NASA is working with their commercial crew and cargo partners to allow low-earth orbit, and motivate new economic activity so NASA can sustain their usage of the station. Because the astronauts are living on the space station, they will learn more about how the body changes, as mentioned, and how to protect their health using life support systems.
The next part of the journey is “Proving Ground”, which will take place from 2018 to 2030, and will include a series of missions near the moon; or “cislunar space”, as NASA calls it. Cislunar space takes a few days to travel to, as compared to the space station, which is only a few hours away from earth. Mars is a few months away from earth, so living in cislunar space is a stage of progress in the journey. There, astronauts will be sent on space walks and will also be sent on a yearlong mission to test habitation & readiness for Mars. Additionally, the Asteroid Redirect Mission will be taking place in this stage, in which a robotic vessel will be sent to redirect the orbit of an asteroid to the moon, where people will be sent to the asteroid to take samples. This mission will test a new system called Solar Electric Propulsion needed to send cargo on the mission to Mars, and human operations as well.
The final phase,“Earth Independent”, will continue through 2030 and beyond, and will use the knowledge attained from the previous research. NASA will be analyzing the entry, descent, and landing methods necessary to travel to Mars. Some missions are already in the Earth Independent phase, including a new rover to launch in 2020. The Mars 2020 Rover will be similar to living beings, with parts that are able to keep it “alive”. It has a neck and head, which is a mast with cameras that allows the rover to see like humans, a body, which protects its “vital organs”, and arms and hands, which allow the rover to collect rock samples to be studied. “Legs” and wheels permit the rover to move around, and it's brains are a set of computers. The rover’s prospective mission will be to carry out a round trip and take samples. Lastly, humans will be sent to orbit Mars in the early 2030s.
Even though the journey to Mars is scheduled to take place in the early 2030s, many factors have to be taken into account before the mission is finalized. Some challenges that have been posed for the journey are zero gravity, radiation, and supplies, and even more problems will arise once the astronauts arrive there. Being in zero gravity for an extended amount of time can have a dramatic effect of the human body, including bones and muscles. One’s muscles become weak after a long time in zero gravity, and bones will waste away in the form of about one percent of bone mass per month. Vision impairment has also been reported by astronauts, because of the fluid which collects in their brain and presses on to their eyeballs. Here on Earth and on the space station, we are shielded from the solar flares and cosmic rays, but on a mission to Mars, astronauts would be exposed to these radiation waves, which can damage DNA and brain cells. This would not be ideal for the astronauts, as they could arrive on Mars with brittle bones which could break easily, blurry vision and not as intelligent due to brain damage.
A lack of resources in outer space pose an issue as well. Water and air are resources which are not easily obtainable out in space; water is usually recycled from urine and sweat through filtering, and the filtered water can get contaminated by microbes. Filters can get clogged by calcium as well, which come from the bones of astronauts. The rate at which calcium is absorbed from bones in increased in space, which leads to a bone mass loss of 10 times that of osteoporosis, a disease which makes bones weak. The calcium is then excreted through urination, which clogs the filters. Limited space and the fuel resources would also be a problem. The shuttle would need enough space to allow the astronauts to live comfortably together for a long period of time. The total amount of time estimated for a journey to and back from Mars is 420 days, so the spacecraft would also need a lot of fuel for the mission. Possibilities for fuel sources are chemical, nuclear and solar, but each one of those has a problem of their own. Using a chemicals as a fuel source would at least be needed for takeoff, but it is inefficient. Nuclear fuel would be efficient, but having a reactor on a spaceship raises concerns for astronauts, and solar energy only produces a weak thrust, probably enough for a slow cargo ship.
When the astronauts arrive on Mars, some of the problems they will have to face are dangers to their health, as discussed, and a lack of resources. Mars has a thin atmosphere, which will not protect the astronauts. We don’t know what resources are out there, other than an abundance of rocks and ice that isn’t useful unless thawed, and there is not as much oxygen on Mars as there is on Earth. Most of the resources will have to be sent in another craft ahead of the crew that’s headed for Mars. The journey to Mars will give us more insight on the universe. It will be a rigorous one, but many believe that if we can achieve this, we can achieve anything.
At this point, NASA is still in the “Earth Reliant” stage of the journey to Mars, which is expected to continue until the mid 2020s. In Earth Reliant exploration, NASA will concentrate on the operation of the International Space Station through 2024. In this time, astronauts aboard will study how to live and work in space and also how living in space for extended periods of time will affect the body. The development of commercial low-earth orbit, deep space, and life support systems is occurring at this point. A communications system for deep space is being established upon the space station, and NASA is working with their commercial crew and cargo partners to allow low-earth orbit, and motivate new economic activity so NASA can sustain their usage of the station. Because the astronauts are living on the space station, they will learn more about how the body changes, as mentioned, and how to protect their health using life support systems.
The next part of the journey is “Proving Ground”, which will take place from 2018 to 2030, and will include a series of missions near the moon; or “cislunar space”, as NASA calls it. Cislunar space takes a few days to travel to, as compared to the space station, which is only a few hours away from earth. Mars is a few months away from earth, so living in cislunar space is a stage of progress in the journey. There, astronauts will be sent on space walks and will also be sent on a yearlong mission to test habitation & readiness for Mars. Additionally, the Asteroid Redirect Mission will be taking place in this stage, in which a robotic vessel will be sent to redirect the orbit of an asteroid to the moon, where people will be sent to the asteroid to take samples. This mission will test a new system called Solar Electric Propulsion needed to send cargo on the mission to Mars, and human operations as well.
The final phase,“Earth Independent”, will continue through 2030 and beyond, and will use the knowledge attained from the previous research. NASA will be analyzing the entry, descent, and landing methods necessary to travel to Mars. Some missions are already in the Earth Independent phase, including a new rover to launch in 2020. The Mars 2020 Rover will be similar to living beings, with parts that are able to keep it “alive”. It has a neck and head, which is a mast with cameras that allows the rover to see like humans, a body, which protects its “vital organs”, and arms and hands, which allow the rover to collect rock samples to be studied. “Legs” and wheels permit the rover to move around, and it's brains are a set of computers. The rover’s prospective mission will be to carry out a round trip and take samples. Lastly, humans will be sent to orbit Mars in the early 2030s.
Even though the journey to Mars is scheduled to take place in the early 2030s, many factors have to be taken into account before the mission is finalized. Some challenges that have been posed for the journey are zero gravity, radiation, and supplies, and even more problems will arise once the astronauts arrive there. Being in zero gravity for an extended amount of time can have a dramatic effect of the human body, including bones and muscles. One’s muscles become weak after a long time in zero gravity, and bones will waste away in the form of about one percent of bone mass per month. Vision impairment has also been reported by astronauts, because of the fluid which collects in their brain and presses on to their eyeballs. Here on Earth and on the space station, we are shielded from the solar flares and cosmic rays, but on a mission to Mars, astronauts would be exposed to these radiation waves, which can damage DNA and brain cells. This would not be ideal for the astronauts, as they could arrive on Mars with brittle bones which could break easily, blurry vision and not as intelligent due to brain damage.
A lack of resources in outer space pose an issue as well. Water and air are resources which are not easily obtainable out in space; water is usually recycled from urine and sweat through filtering, and the filtered water can get contaminated by microbes. Filters can get clogged by calcium as well, which come from the bones of astronauts. The rate at which calcium is absorbed from bones in increased in space, which leads to a bone mass loss of 10 times that of osteoporosis, a disease which makes bones weak. The calcium is then excreted through urination, which clogs the filters. Limited space and the fuel resources would also be a problem. The shuttle would need enough space to allow the astronauts to live comfortably together for a long period of time. The total amount of time estimated for a journey to and back from Mars is 420 days, so the spacecraft would also need a lot of fuel for the mission. Possibilities for fuel sources are chemical, nuclear and solar, but each one of those has a problem of their own. Using a chemicals as a fuel source would at least be needed for takeoff, but it is inefficient. Nuclear fuel would be efficient, but having a reactor on a spaceship raises concerns for astronauts, and solar energy only produces a weak thrust, probably enough for a slow cargo ship.
When the astronauts arrive on Mars, some of the problems they will have to face are dangers to their health, as discussed, and a lack of resources. Mars has a thin atmosphere, which will not protect the astronauts. We don’t know what resources are out there, other than an abundance of rocks and ice that isn’t useful unless thawed, and there is not as much oxygen on Mars as there is on Earth. Most of the resources will have to be sent in another craft ahead of the crew that’s headed for Mars. The journey to Mars will give us more insight on the universe. It will be a rigorous one, but many believe that if we can achieve this, we can achieve anything.
Works Cited:
Achenbach, J. (2016, November). Mars: The race to the red planet. National Geographic, 230(5), 32-61.
Daines, G. (2015, September 14). NASA's Journey to Mars. In NASA. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars
Dillow, C. (2010, January 13). Space Station Toilet Clogged With Calcium Deposits; Could
Astronauts’ Bone Loss be the Culprit?. In Popular Science. Retrieved January 21, 2017,
from http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-01/nasa-grapples-astronomical-engineering-problem-how-fix-toilet-space
Historical Log (n.d.). In NASA: Mars Exploration. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/missions/log/
Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior (2016, November 22). In NASA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6680
Ohshima, H. (2012, February 29). Preventing Bone Loss in Space Flight with Prophylactic Use of Bisphosphonate: Health Promotion of the Elderly by Space Medicine Technologies. In NASA. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/benefits/bone_loss.html
Rover (n.d.). In NASA: Mars 2020 Rover. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/rover/
Wilson, J. (2016, October 11). Journey to Mars Overview. In NASA. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from https://www.nasa.gov/content/journey-to-mars-overview
Achenbach, J. (2016, November). Mars: The race to the red planet. National Geographic, 230(5), 32-61.
Daines, G. (2015, September 14). NASA's Journey to Mars. In NASA. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars
Dillow, C. (2010, January 13). Space Station Toilet Clogged With Calcium Deposits; Could
Astronauts’ Bone Loss be the Culprit?. In Popular Science. Retrieved January 21, 2017,
from http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-01/nasa-grapples-astronomical-engineering-problem-how-fix-toilet-space
Historical Log (n.d.). In NASA: Mars Exploration. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/missions/log/
Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior (2016, November 22). In NASA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6680
Ohshima, H. (2012, February 29). Preventing Bone Loss in Space Flight with Prophylactic Use of Bisphosphonate: Health Promotion of the Elderly by Space Medicine Technologies. In NASA. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/benefits/bone_loss.html
Rover (n.d.). In NASA: Mars 2020 Rover. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/rover/
Wilson, J. (2016, October 11). Journey to Mars Overview. In NASA. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from https://www.nasa.gov/content/journey-to-mars-overview