Buzz Aldrin – Mars Advocate

In my blog, Mars or Bust, I discuss Mars One Project’s plan to establish a Mars colony by 2023 and in that blog I mention that Neil Armstrong is the first person to walk on the moon.

Courtesy Google

Armstrong may have been the first but Dr. Buzz Aldrin was a close second. Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon’s surface fifteen minutes after Neil Armstrong.

Buzz Aldrin’s contribution to the United States space program is noteworthy. According to biography.com, Aldrin earned his Ph. D in aeronautics and astronautics. His thesis subject, “Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous” is the study of bringing piloted spacecraft into close proximity to one another. As a result, when he joined NASA he was put in charge of creating docking procedures for spacecraft.

Courtesy Google Images

After retiring from the role of active NASA astronaut, Buzz Aldrin continued to be a proponent of the space program. According to damninterest.com, in 1985 Aldrin reasoned there must be trajectories that swing by Earth and Mars every twenty-six months or so. Consequently, physicists discovered an orbit that behaved as Aldrin predicted. It was named the Aldrin Cycler.

Courtesy Google Images

National Geographic reports that in Aldrin’s latest book, Mission to Mars (2013 National Geographic Society), he details a plan that would lead to a permanent settlement on Mars. He advocates for an international coalition similar to that which built the International Space Station so that the costs would be spread among international teammates.

Aldrin’s plan calls for permanent settlers on Mars. According to National Geographic, he believes that establishing a permanent settlement on Mars will be incentive to build a cycling system so that the settlers are not abandoned.

Once the cycling system is complete, we will have the ability to efficiently ferry people and supplies to Mars.

I wonder if Aldrin has been in contact with the Mars One Project people. It would seem that his knowledge could greatly enhance the chances of success for that program.

What do you think? Would an international entity be our best shot at getting to Mars?

Courtesy Google Images

NEWS

6/17/13: According to ABC News, NASA selects eight new astronauts. ABC News states, “NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said these new candidates will help lead the first human mission to an asteroid in the 2020s, and then Mars …”

6/18/13: On this date in 1983, thirty years ago, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.

Sally Ride
Courtesy Google Images

Mars or Bust

I’m old enough to remember July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon. It was the greatest trip anyone had ever taken.

Courtesy Google Images

Bas Lansdorp and Arno A. Wielders are co-founders of the nonprofit Mars One Project. These men have a vision that the next greatest trip ever taken will be to Mars.

The Mars One Project is soliciting volunteers for a one-way trip to the red planet. Their goal is to have four people travel to Mars and establish a base by 2023.

These four intrepid souls would be followed every two years by more colonists bringing supplies.

Courtesy Google Images

According to the Mars One Project’s website, the plan is built upon existing technologies available from proven suppliers. The roadmap is:

1. Send supplies to the general location of a settlement site
2. Send a rover to scout a permanent settlement site
3. Send living and life support units and a second rover
4. Send the settlers

It’s a lofty endeavor and there are detractors. According to The Register, the Chinese government, via its state run media, has raised concerns. They are branding the Mars One Project a hoax, claiming that BasLansdorp has admitted that a Mars landing in 2023 is unlikely. BBC News reports that Dr. Veronica Bray, from the University of Arizona's Lunar and PlanetaryLaboratory, says, “I have no doubt that we could physically place a human being on Mars. Whether they'd be able to survive for an extended period of time is much more doubtful.”

More than 80,000 people have submitted video applications. 80,000 plus people are willing to risk their lives in an attempt to be the first humans to set foot on Mars.

Even if I was in my twenties and craved excitement, I wouldn’t volunteer …it’s a one way trip! And talk about high risk? The Marstronauts are going to be on their own. There won’t be any rescue … once they are there, they are there...Forever! Think about it … no physicians. If their food and water supplies are contaminated, there’s no ready replacement. If the life support were to fail …

Nope, I think I’ll stay right here on Earth.

However, I’m glad there are people willing to take risks like this. It’s daring people like the Marstronauts that blaze a path to discovery. And, I have to admit … how cool would it be to colonize Mars?

I know I have no desire to leave this planet, but would you volunteer for a trip to Mars? Why or why not? Leave a comment below.

Once in a Lifetime

Courtesy Google Images

According to Space.com on April 28, 2001, multimillionaire Dennis Tito became the first space tourist. He paid the Russians $20 million to ride a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Tito says he had dreamed of going to space since April 12, 1961, when Russian cosmonaut YuriGagarin became the first human in space.

Tito spent six days on the ISS and landed in Kazakhstan on May 6, 2001. Space.com reported that Tom Shelley, president of Space Adventures, the Virginia-based company that brokered Tito's eight-day mission, said, "The private spaceflight industry did start with Dennis' flight.”

Tito’s love affair with space is alive and well. He’s helping to underwrite a group called Inspiration Mars that plans to send one couple, in their 50s, on a 501 day trip around the Red Planet.

Courtesy Google Images

The dailymailonline reported they’ve set an aggressive timetable. They plan to launch on January 5, 2018 because that is the next time Mars will be closest, 75 million miles, to Earth. If they miss this window they will have to wait 15 years for the next one. “The planets realign every 15 years, and who wants to wait for 2033?” Tito said today at a press conference in Washington D.C.

Courtesy Google Images

The capsule that will send an intrepid couple on this nearly one and one half year trek will be small, just 600-cubic feet. Once these folks are launched toward Mars they’ll be on their own. If anything went wrong, there would be no rescue.

I think the people who are chosen for this endeavor will have to be really well adjusted as a I think the people who are chosen for this endeavor will have to be really well adjusted as a couple. They’d have to be to spend 501 days in a capsule with only each other as company. 501 straight days in a cramped capsule might strain the bonds of the strongest relationship.

When I read about this my first thought was that in 2018 my wife and I will meet the age requirement set forth by Inspiration Mars. I love my wife; we’ve been together for more than 26 years. I enjoy spending as much time as possible with her. If any couple could spend 501 continuous days in such a tiny space, I’m certain we could.

I think it would be cool to hop in a spaceship and travel millions and millions of miles through space. My wife – not so much. We fly a couple times a year but it still makes her a bit nervous. I can’t imagine trying to get her onto a craft that leaves the earth’s atmosphere.

What do you think – does anyone else share my desire to take an extraterrestrial vacation?

Curiosity Follow Up

My December 6, 2011 blog discussed the Mars Rover Curiosity. On Sunday, 8/5/12, it landed on the Red Planet in what CNN reported as a spectacle known as the "seven minutes of terror." The reason for the “terror” was the unknown; the distance between Mars and Earth caused a communications lag so the folks in mission control couldn’t follow the descent and landing in real time.

Courtesy ABC News

When they launched the rover on 11/26/11, there didn’t seem to be much hype. I don’t recall there being more than fifteen second blurbs on news casts. But after landing, ABC News ran a clip that showed the unbridled elation of the technicians in mission control when they received confirmation of a safe touchdown. It seems that every night thereafter, they’ve had a piece about some aspect of the current mission.

Courtesy ABC News

After traveling more than 200 million miles in about 8 ½ months, Curiosity has settled safely in Gale Crater on Mars’ surface. Within minutes, it sent its first image, and in the distance you can see the rim of the Gale Crater. (For all you conspiracy theorists, that’s not the Mojave Desert.)

Curiosity’s mission is to scout for signs of life on Mars and NASA expects it will function for two years.

I think it’s exciting. NASA says missions like this pave the way for manned exploration. We can only hope.

What do you think? Is the Curiosity mission frivolous or a logical step in potential human space travel?

Eat Your Vegetables?

Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) or C-Rations or C-Rats, as most of us called them, were first introduced during WWII to provide our troops with a nutritional meal that was fairly easy to lug in a pack.  I got my first and only taste of C-Rats when I was in the Marine Corps.  As I remember, a meal was comprised of a can of meat, some kind of vegetable, bread of some type, crackers and a dessert.  I seem to recall some kits had a little can of sterno that you could use to heat the meal if you so desired.  I do know that I was one of the few that actually liked C-Rats; but then, no one has ever accused me of having taste.

Plus, it had this cool little John Wayne (P-38) can opener.  No idea why it was called a John Wayne, but this tiny piece of hardware had a variety of uses including can opener and screwdriver.  And tough?  I used that thing for tasks it was never designed for — it couldn’t be destroyed.  I’d still be using it if I hadn’t lost it in the move to our new house in 2001; but I managed to hang on to it for more than 20 years.

Obviously, nutrition is an important aspect of any endeavor and the MRE provides enough caloric intake to allow soldiers to perform their duties.

What do astronauts consume to maintain their vitality while on a mission?  If you asked me that question 40 years ago I’d of said Tang.  Ah, Tang.  I remember the commercials from my childhood.  I wanted to drink Tang because it’s what the astronauts drank.

Tang wasn’t invented for NASA.  According to “Today I Found Out” William A. Mitchell created  it in 1957.  NASA adopted its use in 1962 for the Mercury program to add flavor to John Glenn’s drinking water.

Astronaut meals have come a long way since the 60s.  In the early days of the space program, astronauts dined on food from squeezable aluminum tubes.  Nutritionally sound, but not very tasty.

The Lunar and Planetary Institute website details some of the dietary challenges astronauts face.  In space they lose bone mass so they need diets rich in calcium.  They might not get enough to eat because they’re just not as hungry, the food is not appetizing, or they are too busy to eat.  Most lose about 5% of their weight during a typical Space Station stay of four to six months.

NASA has a Nutritional Biochemistry lab with highly educated personnel and according to their website, they conduct a variety of studies including nutritional assessment studies, particularly in the field of bone metabolism and develop vitamins using HPLC-electrochemical detection methods.

According to Oprah.com, NASA also has a laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which is a combination kitchen/lab.  Here, they’re developing food that could be used on a three-year mission to Mars.

I’m a pretty picky eater but I’d like to be one of the guinea pigs that tries the NASA concoctions.  Anyone else feeling brave?

Kepler-22b, New Earth?

In last week’s blog I expressed the hope we are not alone in the universe and that the Mars’ rover Curiosity will discover evidence of life on the Red Planet.

Is it possible that hope may become reality?  On Monday, December 5^th, NASA announced its Kepler telescope had discovered a planet, Kepler-22b, that may be Earth-like.  The scientists believe Kepler-22b has an average surface temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit which would allow water to exist in liquid form.

But, it will be a long time before the authenticity of the discovery is verified.  Kepler-22b is 600 light years from Earth.  1 light year is roughly 5.88 billion miles so 600 of these is a haul – not something you’d do in a weekend.

Unfortunately, unless Zefram Cochrane is about to test his warp drive enticing the Vulcans to visit this little blue orb, Kepler-22b will remain a mystery for generations.

What do you think?  Is this a new Earth?

Mars Rover - Curiosity

In the middle of a gluttonous weekend, otherwise known as Thanksgiving, 2011, an interesting event occurred.  It was barely a footnote in the evening newscast.  On Saturday, November 26th, NASA launched a car sized, nuclear powered, robotic rover named Curiosity toward Mars.  The trip will take 8 ½ months.

Curiosity’s mission is to take samples and relay its findings to scientists on Earth.  It’s another step in the cycle of determining if Mars has now or ever supported organic life forms.

Getting to Mars will only be half the challenge.  This nearly one ton-behemoth still has the task of settling safely in Gale Crater on Mars’ surface; no easy feat.

A couple years ago, I had the good fortune of visiting a Mars’ mission control center in Denver, where technicians monitor the progress of Mars rovers.  Unfortunately, it was at a time of inactivity.  It was still cool.  The folks working in these control centers adjust their schedules to accommodate a Martian day; somewhere in the neighborhood of 24 ½ Earth hours.

I’m excited about the prospect that there may be life of some type on Mars.  There’s water in the form of ice, at least on the surface.  Some scientists theorize there may even be water in liquid form below the surface.  Where there’s water, there’s always the potential for life.

I hope we are not alone in the universe.  Anyone else feel the same?