The exploration of Mars is - possible? - The Point

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JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona / NASA

Experts at NASA and in the private sector now believe that a manned mission to Mars is the realm of possibility in the next 20 years even though the challenges are immense . A three-day conference to examine the feasibility and usefulness of such a journey, co-organized by George Washington University, meets from Monday in the federal capital some of the greatest experts on the subject as Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, and several senior officials including the NASA director Charles Bolden.

The renewed interest in the Red Planet has led in recent months several more or less serious adventurers of which even offers a way to reduce project costs. The American public also seems very favorable to sending astronauts to Mars, according to a recent survey by the nonprofit group Explore Mars and aerospace giant Boeing. The survey of 1101 people showed that 75% would support doubling the annual budget of NASA, currently $ 17 billion to fund such a mission.

A priority of NASA

The space agency receives only 0.5% of the federal budget compared to 4% in the Apollo project of conquest of the Moon in the 1960s. The head of NASA, Charles Bolden, recently reiterated that “a manned mission to Mars is a priority for NASA.” The biggest obstacle to such a project is the fiscal crisis in the United States, said Scott Hubbard, professor at Stanford University in California and former head of the Mars exploration program at NASA. “If this project is launched today, it would be possible to put men on Mars in 20 years,” he says.

“Going to Mars requires no miracles, but money and a program to meet the technological challenges and engineering,” said the expert without giving any estimate cost some amount to hundreds of billions of dollars. Land on Mars a mass of 30 to 40 tons needed for such a mission will be one of the biggest technical challenges, Judge Scott Hubbard, emphasizing the great well known to enter the Martian atmosphere difficulty. It recalls the harrowing descent of seven minutes robot Curiosity on Mars in August that yet weighs a ton and is the heaviest to have landed on another planet gear.

A nuclear engine to develop

It will thus pre robotic missions to demonstrate that the system works. As for transportation, NASA continues to develop a heavy-lift launcher (SLS) and the Orion capsule for manned space exploration mission is remote. However, Scott Hubbard believes that a nuclear engine, yet to be developed, would be preferable to ensure a constant thrust halve the duration of the journey of six to nine months. The distance between Earth and Mars varies from 56 to 400 million km depending on the position of the two planets. In addition to the technological barriers, adverse effects on the human body long space trips are not well understood, especially with the cosmic radiation.

“Radiation in space with the increased risk of cancer is a danger to the crew that we need to understand,” said Stephen Davison, responsible for NASA program Space Biology at Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the astronaut training center is located. In addition to these radiation effects of microgravity on intracranial pressure are apparently responsible for vision problems of varying severity observed in astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), he said.

loss of bone and muscle mass in weightlessness, however, is well contained with exercise. Finally, the third big problem is psychological for isolated astronauts spending long periods confined in small spaces, says Stephen Davison. According to him “we must study the biological and psychological effects of space travel for at least ten years” in the ISS before embarking on a mission to Mars.