NASA NASA: We're sending humans to Mars

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NASA has officially announced plans to send humans to Mars using the Orion space capsule, with a target launch timeframe in the 2030s. There is skepticism about the feasibility of this timeline, given NASA's budget constraints and the technical challenges involved. Some participants in the discussion express doubts about the scientific value of a manned Mars mission, suggesting that establishing a moon base first would be more practical. Others speculate that the mission announcement may be a strategic move to garner public interest and funding for NASA. Overall, while excitement exists about the prospect of humans on Mars, many believe significant hurdles remain before this can become a reality.
  • #101
Jupiter5 said:
This is a one way trip,they will not be able to return to Earth ever.
Why?
NASA plans to get the astronauts back.

Forget the idea of the TV show, that won't fly.
 
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  • #102
mfb said:
that won't fly.
Ba-dump-bump.
 
  • #103
mfb

people are already working on developing habitat on Mars,and they are very well aware it's one way trip ( according to their statement: after exposing themselves for a long period of time on mars,their bodies will be engendered after returning on Earth)
P.S. no clue about TV show
 
  • #104
NASA is definitely planning a two-way trip and I don't know any government plan (world-wide) working on a one-way trip. If you disagree, please provide a reference for a one-way trip plan.
The plans usually include a few months on the surface to use Hohmann orbits both ways to save fuel, which gives a total mission duration of about 18 months.

Two astronauts have spent more than a year non-stop in space, with the record being 437 days in zero gravity. ~500 days including a few months at ~1/3 g are certainly possible.
 
  • #105
mfb said:
Two astronauts have spent more than a year non-stop in space, with the record being 437 days in zero gravity. ~500 days including a few months at ~1/3 g are certainly possible.
With 50% of that time (or so) in Earth's shadow from the sun and all of it in the Earth's ionsphere. A trip to Mars will not enjoy those earthly reductions in radiation.
 
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  • #107
Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Ph.D., and Paul Davies, Ph.D., (seriously, who puts PhD titles in papers?) don't have the money to make it happen and no space agency picked up that idea as far as I can see.

The two astronauts were Sergei Avdeyev (379 days) and Valeri Polyakov (438 days).
Then we have Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov and Musa Manarov with 365 days each, Yuri Romanenko with 326 days, Sergei Krikalev with 312 days and Valeri Polyakov (again!) with 240 days. List
Another 1-year mission for two astronauts is planned on the ISS this year, starting in March.
 
  • #108
mfb said:
NASA is definitely planning a two-way trip and I don't know any government plan (world-wide) working on a one-way trip. If you disagree, please provide a reference for a one-way trip plan.

He may be thinking about the recent stories about Mars One: http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/tech/mars-one-final-100/index.html
 
  • #109
mfb, there is a difference of staying inside a space station and staying on another planet ( check,how long they practiced their spacewalks, only measured in hour/minute time) , thank you for reference
 
  • #110
berkeman said:
He may be thinking about the recent stories about Mars One: http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/tech/mars-one-final-100/index.html

berkman ( it's she :) )

here is a link :

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/human-mars-mission.html

it is very interesting article , her is a part of it :

AFER
One-way would actually be safer for the astronauts than round-trip, Zubrin maintains. "All of the risk associated with the return flight—taking off from Mars, interplanetary flight, then entering [our atmosphere] and landing on Earth—are no longer in the mission," he says.

"I think people would be standing in line to do this."
The interplanetary-flight part includes prolonged exposure to zero gravity, cosmic radiation, and perhaps solar flares. Doubling these impacts, proponents stress, could leave returning astronauts more susceptible to contracting cancer or other illnesses down the road than if they'd remained in secure habitats on Mars.
 
  • #111
marcus said:
Hello Mhes,
Water is valuable. Mars is comparatively dry and rocky, largely hardened volcanic residue. I would say it would be thankless job to bore tunnel into most places on Mars.

With Ceres, I am assuming (we will know more soon) that there is a thick outer ice layer that one could essentially melt a tunnel into. Not like boring into rock.

With a source of energy, to make heat and light, one could have several LAKES in ice caverns on Ceres. One lake might be home to aquatic life.

Another lake might be used for cooling the settlement's power plant.
====================

2

a few problems arise with an ice settlement one being they CRACK natural ice has a tendency to do that a lot not only to shift but from surface tension changes.
ever hear a lake cracking? its loud very loud sometimes it can rival thunder if the ice is thick enough when it cracks. living within a structure deep in Ice could be a very loud place enough so to make living there not tenable.

the other problem with ice is it could be in some way toxic or full of biological's not friendly to humans.you can always sterilize rock it'd be hard to do with ice.
 
  • #112
berkeman said:
He may be thinking about the recent stories about Mars One: http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/tech/mars-one-final-100/index.html
That is the TV show I meant.

Jupiter5 said:
mfb, there is a difference of staying inside a space station and staying on another planet ( check,how long they practiced their spacewalks, only measured in hour/minute time) , thank you for reference
Staying in a station on a planet is better than staying in a space station in space because you have some gravity. Sure, the astronauts would work outside, too, but not the whole time.

You are comparing random blog entries to NASA plans? Sorry, that does not work.
 
  • #113
As there are more than a few disaffected people that depart civilization to live, and occasionally die, in cabins in remote regions, I also think many could be found to go one way to Mars. I also don't think such a collection speaks in favor of the idea.
 
  • #114
mfb,the references used in the above posted link are :

Aldrin, Buzz with David Noland. 2005. "Buzz Aldrin's roadmap to Mars—a PM exclusive." Popular Mechanics, December 14, 2005.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/moon-mars/2076326

Chang, Kenneth. 2010. "NASA gets new orders that bypass the moon." The New York Times, September 30, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/science/space/01nasa.html

Davies, Paul. 2010. "A ticket to Mars, please. One-way is fine." The Sunday Times, March 27, 2010.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7078019.ece

Kennedy, John F. 1961. "The decision to go to the moon: President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 speech before a joint session of Congress."
http://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html

McLane, James C. III. 2006. "'Spirit of the Lone Eagle': An audacious program for a manned Mars landing." The Space Review, July 31, 2006.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/669/1

Schmidt, Stanley and Robert Zubrin, eds. 1996. Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space. Wiley.
 
  • #115
Here is an excellent link from NASA about questions asked about human mission on Mars
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/marsplanning/faqs/

Q: How long will a mission to Mars last?
http://www.nasa.gov/templateimages/images/common/faqplus.gif Answer:

Earth's and Mars' orbit around the sun allow for an opportunity to embark to Mars about every 26 months. There are two scenarios for going to Mars and returning to Earth. The first requires astronauts to remain on Mars for only a few weeks before returning. The second scenario will see astronauts spending over a year on the Red Planet. The overall mission duration ranges from about a year to close to three years.

Q: Is NASA planning to establish a permanent settlement on Mars?
http://www.nasa.gov/templateimages/images/common/faqplus.gif Answer:

NASA has conducted several studies on the feasibility of establishing a permanent settlement on Mars. At this time, we are not looking to implement such a plan. We will be in a better position to evaluate such a plan after we have perfected the ability to go to Mars and return safely, as well as ensuring that we have the technology to create the necessary resources while on the Red Planet to survive.

Q: When will the first human mission to Mars be?
http://www.nasa.gov/templateimages/images/common/faqplus.gif Answer:

NASA currently is working to build the systems to take astronauts beyond low Earth orbit. NASA is working to meet the President's goal to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. We are developing the technology we will need and designing safety measures to protect our astronauts from the harsh environment beyond low Earth orbit.

the rest of the Q & A are on the link
 
  • #116
NASA said:
We will be in a better position to evaluate such a plan after we have perfected the ability to go to Mars and return safely[/color],

To summarize: All plans with money behind them include a return-trip. And I don't care about speculations from others as long as they have no way to get funding.

Based on that, I think the claim "This is a one way trip" is not right, especially as the topic of this thread is the NASA plan.
 
  • #117
mfb said:
To summarize: All plans with money behind them include a return-trip. And I don't care about speculations from others as long as they have no way to get funding.

Based on that, I think the claim "This is a one way trip" is not right, especially as the topic of this thread is the NASA plan.

mfb,you were writing about astronauts,I was writing about civilians in future colonies; the same statement form NASA is about returning trip for astronauts,not people who are future Mars residents. The idea about colonies on the other Planets is old as almost as an existence of humans. NASA and other space agencies are very well aware that the idea will take a long long time. So,I did not claim one-way trip for astronauts.
 

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