Mission to Mars Page 4

  A prototype XM could be based on NASA’s canceled space station habitation module. It could be launched in the near term and attached to the space station for a long-duration shakedown test. Extended flights around the moon with second-generation XMs would serve as dry runs for its first real mission in 2018: a one-year flight culminating in a 30,000-mile-an-hour flyby of the comet 46P/Wirtanen.

  In 2019 and 2020 the asteroid 2001 GP2 will come within ten million miles of Earth, in position for a month-long rendezvous with the XM. In 2021 the mission would be a crewed approach to 99942 Apophis, the asteroid that will just miss Earth in 2029. That space rock has a tiny chance of hitting our home base in 2036. If a 2036 impact looms, the 2029 mission could be used to divert the 820-foot-wide piece of real estate.

  The last step toward Mars, around 2025, would be a landing on the planet’s 17-mile-wide moon, Phobos, which orbits Mars less than 4,000 miles above the Martian terrain. A Phobos base would be the perfect perch from which to monitor and control the robots that will build the infrastructure on the Martian surface, in preparation for the first human visitors.

  The objective of putting in place my Unified Space Vision is to bring about these milestones of space exploration. In realizing this comprehensive stepping-stone plan, America’s future in space can be guaranteed—as would be the first footfall on Mars.

  What does human spaceflight do for America?

  First of all, it reminds the American public that nothing is impossible if free people work together to accomplish great things. It captures the imagination of our youth and inspires them to study science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. Furthermore, a vigorous human spaceflight program fuels the American workforce with high technology and cutting-edge aerospace jobs. And it fosters collaborative international relationships to ensure U.S. foreign policy leadership.

  How do we accomplish this?

  Buzz Basics: My Technology Checklist

  If the vision of humans pushing outward beyond low Earth orbit in a sustainable way is to be achieved, I have my own inventory of “must-have” technologies. Success in moving onward to Mars and other objectives is predicated on advanced technology developments. NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT), led by Mason Peck, is providing a leadership role in pushing forward on a number of high-priority capabilities. The OCT has begun to rebuild the space agency’s advanced Space Technology Program.

  An early upgrade concept depicting an Aldrin starport—an activity hub in space—that uses solar dynamic power

  (Illustration Credit 2.3)

  Early design for building up the International Space Station

  (Illustration Credit 2.4)

  A report issued last year from the prestigious National Research Council of the National Academies—NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities: Restoring NASA’s Technological Edge and Paving the Way for a New Era in Space—observed that technological breakthroughs have been the foundation of virtually every NASA success. The Apollo landings on the moon, the report stated, are now an icon for the successful application of technology to a task that was once looked upon as a hazy dream.

  That report also noted that human and robotic exploration of the solar system is an intrinsically high-risk endeavor. And that means new technologies, new ideas, and bold applications of technology, engineering, and science are needed. On the other hand, the study added,

  [t]he technologies needed for the Apollo program were generally self-evident and driven by a clear and well-defined goal. In the modern era, the goals of the country’s broad space mission include multiple objectives, extensive involvement from both the public and private sectors, choices among multiple paths to different destinations, and very limited resources. As the breadth of the country’s space mission has expanded, the necessary technological developments have become less clear, and more effort is required to evaluate the best path for a forward-looking technology development program.

  Here’s a quick look at what I view as the “Buzz basics”—a list of the necessary technological developments required for moving outward and onward:

  • Aerocapture is a technique used to reduce velocity of a spacecraft into orbit around a planet or a moon by using that object’s atmosphere like a brake. By using the atmosphere, friction causes the spacecraft to slow down. This permits a quick orbital capture of the spacecraft, and reduces the need for hauling a load of onboard propellant. I strongly urge NASA’s Orion spacecraft to “test-drive” this capability and help press on with its application to future moon and Mars activities.

  • Radiation protection, to safeguard astronauts from solar particle events, galactic cosmic rays, and radiation trapped in planetary magnetic belts or encountered on a planetary body’s surface. There’s need to tackle head-on this issue to enable long-duration space missions, perhaps by using electrostatic or magnetic force radiation shielding, use of new lightweight materials, or adoption of antiradiation pharmaceuticals to thwart, alleviate, or restore to health any damage suffered by crews by exposure to radiation. Studies in this area advise that complete radiation shielding solutions could require a hybrid approach.

  • Life support for crews on long-haul space travel mandates the need for reliable, closed-loop environmental control and life-support systems. We must learn how to maximize self-sufficiency and minimize the need for resupply of vital consumables—air, water, and food. As crews move distant from our home planet, the current approach of regularly resupplying life-support consumables and returning wastes to Earth will not be possible. Let’s make better use of the International Space Station to test needed life-support technologies that recycle air, water, and waste in a closed-loop fashion. Also, eating the right diet and exercising hard in space, as explored on the space station, may help solve the issue of bone loss, a key concern facing explorers heading beyond low Earth orbit.

  Early Aldrin design for an orbiting station from which to stage missions to Mars

  (Illustration Credit 2.5)

  • Redundant systems are crucial in the event of failure. Backup hardware and procedures must compensate, whether it’s for a mechanical or software problem. Above all, human-critical applications, such as flight control and life support, must not fail. More attention is needed in this area as we venture outward on long-duration missions beyond Earth. Reliability through redundancy and backup must be a priority, but also more attention should be paid to systems that can be readily fixed—if properly designed to be fixable!

  • Inflatable structures can prove to be tough, durable, and adaptable. This portable technology is ideal for crew habitats on the moon and Mars, transported to remote locations and inflated to full size and shape. Pre-plumbed and ready-for-integration habitats can be designed to offer multiple compartments. Further work is advised on this “more roomy” technology that offers pressurized living volume that is critical for crew health maintenance. Once again, the International Space Station is a perfect place to exploit, validate, and upgrade this capability to “full-blown” status.

  Inflatable space habitat by Goodyear circa 1960

  (Illustration Credit 2.6)

  • Landing systems are a critical technology, be it for Earth reentry and/or robotic or human moon or Mars landings. Aerobraking technologies support only the entry phase. There’s need for on-the-spot delivery of heavier and heavier payloads on bodies of interest, particularly in the case for human exploration of Mars. We must amplify the ability to land at a variety of planetary locales and at a variety of times. Precision landing capability allows a spacecraft to land closer to a specific, predetermined position for safety’s sake, whether on autopilot or crew control, as well as maximizing operational or science objectives. In other words, the closer you are to where you want to be, the better!

  Call for a United Strategic Space Enterprise

  An essential component of the future is to maintain U.S. leadership of human space transportation. America must lead where it matters most, providing the systems to
safely transport people across space. We cannot afford to toss away over 50 years of accumulated experience and knowledge of human spaceflight systems. Once lost, it will require decades to replace. Moreover, without stated, clear destinations or goals for human spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, what is created is major uncertainty over the future of the United States in space.

  We also need to motivate the international community to jointly explore and develop the moon; there’s need to replace a “race” with a “partnership,” which begins with robotics. We are at a turning point in the history of American space policy, with past administrations laying the groundwork for effective global human exploration of space. We can commit to the continued human exploration of the inner solar system and Mars, within reasonable budgets. That equates to pennies per day for each U.S. taxpayer to help preserve America’s prominence in space!

  For my part, I am calling for establishment of a new organization: United Strategic Space Enterprise, or USSE. This would be a think tank to inform the public periodically on the definition and progress of a national space policy in the five areas I’ve cited: exploration, science, development, commerce, and security. The USSE would be nonpartisan and set up to limit conflicts of interest, not only from industry but from political influences, too. The USSE think tank would disseminate information through reports to the American people.

  Why is such a think tank needed?

  More than 40 years ago now, during the visionary days of Apollo, the NASA space exploration program demonstrated unquestioned American technological leadership to the world. It was a heady time for the United States. Simultaneously, the nation’s space vision served as inspiration for our nation, attracting young people to enter the engineering and science fields in great numbers. This bright young workforce helped accomplish the bold and challenging goals of that era, while also providing innovative new technologies that drove our economic engine for the decades that followed.

  However, vision requires sustained focus and commitment. Without ongoing, consistent observation, review, and guidance, a renewed vision for space will likely fall victim to the myopia of day-to-day bureaucracy, quarterly reports, and periodic election cycles, as has been all too often the case in the past. An independent group of recognized national leaders in the space community, tasked to inform the public debate and remind national leaders of the compelling human desire to extend civilization beyond the confines of Earth, would be an important contribution to the national agenda.

  I am proposing that a new, standing, senior space policy analysis group—United Strategic Space Enterprise—be instituted as an independently funded activity to help reenergize a vision for space, support bipartisan interests in space, and provide oversight to ensure effective implementation of the space program.

  The membership of the USSE will consist of 10 to 12 nationally recognized leaders in space-related matters, individuals who share a common interest in developing the pathways for the extension of the human presence beyond the confines of our planet, and who possess the requisite knowledge and understanding of the required technologies, policy, and finance of government and commercial space programs.

  In order to demonstrate complete objectivity and independence, all members shall be retired from any company or institutional or governmental organizations. I hereby commit my energy to assist with the founding of this group and will participate in its ongoing implementation.

  I anticipate that the USSE will provide a variety of tangible contributions to the national conversation on the nation’s future in space. While the actual products and services of the USSE would be at the discretion of the membership, and its sponsors, we anticipate that the following contributions will be provided by the USSE:

  • Regular status reports on the progress toward the fundamental goal for human spaceflight—the expansion of humankind into the cosmos. These reports would assess the status of national, international, and commercial progress toward human extraterrestrial exploration and development.

  • Periodic collective opinion pieces published in leading national and international media on topics of the USSE’s, or its sponsors’, choosing.

  • White papers produced on specific technical, policy, and programmatic issues at the discretion of the membership and its sponsors. These papers would draw from technical expertise from the host institution as well as from the broader community.

  As for a goal/end result of the USSE, there is a bottom line.

  We have a vision, but the United States urgently needs a respected body of expertise to provide guidance, encouragement, oversight, and accountability to fulfill that vision. A standing, independent body of preeminent space authorities would provide consistent and sustained assessments, guidance, and recommendations.

  The USSE, I believe, would help ensure that humankind remains on the path to become a multiplanetary civilization.

  Humans will one day live on Mars. The year 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the first time humans set foot on the moon. I have long suggested this historic anniversary is an ideal time for a future President to announce a commitment, similar to that of President Kennedy’s that brought about Apollo, to establish a permanent human presence on the planet Mars within the following two decades.

  Time will tell.

  Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane lifts SpaceShipTwo up to altitude.

  (Illustration Credit 2.7)

  CHAPTER THREE

  YOUR SPACE: BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE

  This space reserved: For citizen explorers.

  The projected number of sightseeing tourists trekking about planet Earth in 2012 was expected to reach one billion. There is a nascent travel destination for some of these vacationers, and that is space. Let’s call them “global space travelers.”

  Low Earth orbit can increasingly serve as an incubator for commercial activities, both round-trip Earth-to-space transportation and space taxis. So far, since the Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin roared into space in 1961, a few people have taken a suborbital flight, but nearly 600 people from 38 countries have gone into Earth orbit, 24 have traveled beyond low Earth orbit, and 12 individuals have strolled across the moon.

  Global space travelers will experience the wonder of space firsthand, while increasing our knowledge of how common people—without years of astronaut training—fare in the environment of space. At the same time, this new industry will ignite the market for commercial space vehicles. This enthusiasm—on the part of industry and the public—will inspire the government to set up sensible, forward-looking regulations. The space tourism industry will begin.

  I am sure of it: Space tourism will bloom very soon. Public space travel by private citizens or nonprofessionals is critical as it makes space more familiar. That appreciation, I feel, can shed today’s elitist nature of going into space. One upshot is to help garner more support for space exploration activities. Getting tourists into space will also nurture the next generation of astronauts, engineers, and scientists—individuals who will set the stage for humanity’s quest to move out beyond Earth.

  Regular tourist flights, orbital hotels—then the real payoff begins. I foresee an interplanetary cruise ship, a lunar cycler. Assembled in Earth orbit, this liner is given a powerful push—sending it on its way to the moon. The lunar cycler will undergo a cosmic dance: loop around the moon, return to Earth, slingshot around Earth, and return to the moon again. The round-trip will take just over a week. And every time the lunar cycler swings by Earth, it’ll be met by a supply ferry, maybe even restocked with champagne, and boarded by a fresh group of travelers.

  What comes after the moon? I think you can guess: Mars. Now this is a much longer trip. The first Mars cycler will probably carry only scientists—mission specialists—on its six-month Earth-to-Mars journey. But when that ship slingshots back to Earth for its maintenance cycle, the interest will be intense. Can you imagine taking a cruise on the very ship that carried the first human beings to Mars? Call me a
n optimist, but I have a strong intuition that people will line up for that possibility.

  Space tourism on the rise: the Virgin Galactic suborbital system

  (Illustration Credit 3.1)

  My enthusiasm for these viewpoints has been bolstered by market surveys and space tourism forecast studies conducted by Futron Corporation and notables such as Geoffrey Crouch, professor of tourism policy and marketing at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. The outlook for public interest and participation in space travel is potentially substantial.

  Several years ago, a Futron Corporation study examined American interest in space travel. Undertaken for NASA, the study forecast that suborbital space travel could reach 15,000 passengers annually by 2021. Professor Crouch’s survey of the Australian public in 2004 found that a majority (58 percent) of respondents would like to travel into space if they could. Of course, cost, safety, and product design factor into the equation, which is why the focus at this phase of development of the space tourism industry is on the technical design and development of the spacecraft and spaceports.

  Buzz and friends experience zero gravity.

  (Illustration Credit 3.2)

  Today the public can experience brief stints of weightlessness without going into space and at relatively reasonable costs, either by high-altitude jet fighter flights or on plane rides such as those offered by the Zero Gravity Corporation.

  Outreach to Space

  In 1998 I formally organized the ShareSpace Foundation, asking my good friends and fellow space supporters actor Tom Hanks and Peter Diamandis, Chairman of X Prize Foundation, to serve on an advisory board for the group. The foundation’s mission is to open the space frontier to all by educating new generations, fostering affordable spaceflight experiences, and advocating the quest for exploration. I’m now looking for a future home for ShareSpace as it aims to create a threefold approach to invite the public and our youth to learn about and participate in space via three E’s: experiences, education, and exploration.