Reenergizing the human space effort. (1 Viewer)

[Julie K]

Viking 2 may have been sitting just a meter above the ice: story here
So close....

 

[Jack Briggs]

Jeff:

Yes, it's possible. But we would have to start completely from scratch. The Apollo infrastructure has been completely dismantled. There is no cheap way to build a new Apollo spacecraft. To send humans to the Moon might be better accomplished with current technology.

What would be needed is a man-rated deep space vehicle and an upper stage. The orbiter/lander vehicle would take years to design, develop, and test. But it could be inserted into the Orbiter's payload bay and sent into orbit. The upper stage could be launched by an Ariane 5, which would require, therefore, a working agreement with ESA. And the two vehicles--orbiter/lander and upper stage--could be assembled/mated at the ISS.

None of this would be cheap, however.

Remember also that only three manned spacecraft have been designed and built since the Space Shuttle first started flying in April, 1981: the Soviet Union's now-defunct Buran space shuttle (flew only once, in 1988, during a two-orbit, unmanned mission), the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (apparently now cancelled as the administration further hacks NASA's budget to the bone), and the Shenzou (essentially, a Chinese knock-off of the Soyuz). That's all.

The current social/political climate does not place much priority on space. That's why I increasingly believe the private sector is where the Next Great Leap will occur.

 

[Max Leung]

Those "certain customers" were NASA, and it is the molded plastic variety of velcro that took off. So no, its not a myth.

Everyone claims Velcro was invented by NASA. That was the myth I dispelled.
Toilet paper was invented a long long time ago. You're saying if NASA uses special toilet paper in the shuttle, that NASA invented toilet paper? I thought not.
I can't resist:
"Buy our super-soft non-abrasive anti-bacterial toilet paper with soft and tingly vapor action. Developed by NASA scientists for the manned shuttle missions, approved for the 2020 Mars Mission! The most innovative hygiene solution ever! And now with lemon-lime and strawberry flavours!"

 

[RogerB]

Sci-fi author Robert Sawyer has an interesting short story on this very topic. The download is only forty-four cents.
Above It All - Robert Sawyer

 

[Dennis Reno]

Regarding the manned mission to Mars topic, here is an article regarding a more "cost effective" mission:
The Mars Direct Plan
I just started reading it myself so I don't have many comments. Any one familiar with the plan? If so, is it really feasible?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Yes, it is a plan developed by space activist and author Robert Zubrin, and it is outlined in his book, The Case for Mars.

At first, NASA was resistent to the idea, preferring instead to go about designing such a mission in the old "Battlestar Galactica" mode, as Zubrin calls it: Assembling a huge manned spacecraft in orbit, containing all the consumables required by the crew, and then launching it toward Mars. This old plan called for a completely outfitted space station as well as a manned lunar base.

Problem was, it was way too expensive to go to Mars that way. Congress was a little cool to the idea of a $400-billion, thirty-year-long program.

Since then, after a political reality check, NASA warmed to Zubrin's ideas, and has developed its own variation of the Mars Direct/live-off-the-land approach to exploring Mars.

The book is well worth reading.

 

[Dennis Reno]

Congress was a little cool to the idea of a $400-billion, thirty-year-long program.

They should have camouflaged it as a bloated social program or some obsolete defense equipment! As long as it might have a positive spin come re-election time they would pass it!

Thanks for the book title Jack. I'm going to check that one out. From what I read online the idea sounds plausible, but I'm hardly an expert in these areas. Who knows, if we are lucky maybe it will be the blueprint for the manned missions.