14 DAY TRIAL // A manned mission to Mars has been on the mind of every major space agency on Earth for many years. All these organizations recognize the difficulties associated with landing astronauts on the Red Planet, ranging from the time it takes to get there to the health hazards any crew would encounter over the 18-month journey. However, I do not think that many space agencies recognize that they will not be able to achieve such an objective without international cooperation.
Under the 2010 National Space Act, US President Barack Obama calls on NASA to carry out a manned mission to a near-Earth object (NEO), most likely an asteroid, by 2025, and to land humans on Mars by the 2030s. My opinion is that this plan relies on a series of assumptions that may not necessarily be true, such as the fact that the required technologies will be ready on time.
At the same time, we should not forget that the space agency's budget is fluctuating a lot from year to year and usually experiences reductions from one fiscal year to the next. As such, staying on time and on budget with such a major mission will be extremely difficult. The know-how necessary to carry out a flight to Mars, even if only a flyby, is massive and needs to be tackled very fast.
The Russian Federation and China also have plans to land their own astronauts and cosmonauts on the Red Planet, but their plans are equally uninformed by the realities of what such a travel would entail. The most important thing to remember is that the technology to protect astronauts against radiations emitted by various cosmic sources is still not available.
Interestingly, the most significant obstacles preventing our exploration of Mars are the lack of adequate protection against radiation and the human element. Journeying to the Red Planet would require a crew of 3 or 6 astronauts to spend at least a year and a half cramped up in a very small capsule, unable to move, exercise, or otherwise stretch their limbs for the entire trip.
It is very hard to even begin to describe how uncomfortable it would be for these people to go to the bathroom inside their space suits for 18 months. Relatively minor aspects related to long-term space flight, such as this one, carry a huge psychological load that could significantly affect the success or failure of these missions.
For example, NASA now plans to go to Mars using its Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift delivery system, currently under development and scheduled for a maiden flight by 2018, and the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) capsule, whose first unmanned test flight is scheduled for this fall. The Orion's tight confines may easily drive astronauts crazy on their long trip away from home.
Even aboard the much larger International Space Station (ISS), where astronauts spend a maximum of six months distributed across more than 13 pressurized modules, which in 2011 totaled more than 837 cubic meters (29,600 cubic feet) of space, things can get crowded. Let us not forget that the station has individual sleeping bunks, private areas, and two bathrooms, as well as physical exercise equipment.
After spending half a year in space, astronauts return home exhibiting bone and muscle mass loss, as well as a host of other medical symptoms related to prolonged exposure to microgravity conditions. Just imagine how astronauts would feel after spending three times that amount of time in a space much, much smaller. The ethics of long-term space travel have recently been called into question.
However, what the ISS is – beyond the largest and most complex spacecraft ever built – is a testimony to what can be achieved through massive, well-thought-out, and long-term international cooperation. The facility has not yet been completed, but work has been going on to assemble it since 1998. By 2010, total costs associated with this project exceeded $150 billion (€108 billion).
The station became possible only after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The new Russian Federation and the United States decided to merge their flagship space station programs, Mir-2 and Freedom, respectively, thus setting the basis for developing the ISS.
The resulting project now involves NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). I find it absolutely amazing that these organizations managed to maintain cooperation for all these years, regardless of whatever problems emerged between their respective countries.
Even now, with the political crisis in Ukraine breaking apart all ties between NASA and RosCosmos, cooperation as far as the ISS is concerned continues unimpeded, since everyone realizes the importance of the project. This is precisely the type of collaboration that needs to happen if we are to explore Mars within our lifetimes and no lose any of our astronauts while doing so.
The head of human space flight programs at RosCosmos, Segey Krasnov, said back in 2011 that “when compared with partners acting separately, partners developing complementary abilities and resources could give us much more assurance of the success and safety of space exploration.”
“The ISS is helping further advance near-Earth space exploration and realization of prospective programs of research and exploration of the Solar system, including the Moon and Mars,” he added. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden echoed those sentiments in February 2011, when he said that “any mission to Mars is likely to be a global effort.”
Even further back, in 2010, the Director-General at ESA, Jean-Jacques Dordain, proposed that any mission to explore the Red Planet should include the newest and most rapidly-developing space agencies in the world, such as the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and the South Korean Space Agency (SKSA).
Despite widespread acknowledgements by people in this field that international cooperation is key to exploring Mars, the political side of things still takes preeminence. For example, NASA is prevented through acts passed by Congress to engage in any type of space-related cooperation with CNSA.
This is a very serious setback, because China boasts one of the most efficient space agencies in the world today, as well as one of the most ambitious. I personally see it as a younger version of NASA, back when financial haggles did not bog down space exploration plans developed simply for the sake of national prestige, not monetary gains.
China is also the world's second-largest (soon to become the largest) economy in the world, so excluding it from any international effort to get to Mars could be a catastrophic mistake. CNSA has already expressed its availability to participate in international projects, but invitations to do so have never arrived, primarily due to the opposition of the US Congress.
It remains to be seen whether or not countries will be able to come together on this issue. The fact that ISS operations have been extended until 2028 (a life span of 30 years) makes me hopeful that a consensus will eventually be reached. Unfortunately, thus far, there are no serious proposals for such a collaboration to even begin the preliminary stages of preparing a trip to the Red Planet.
What do you think? How should we go about exploring the Red Planet? Should NASA finally start cooperating with CNSA? Do you think the American space agency can reclaim its past glory and reach the Red Planet all on its own? Or will China beat it to the punch? Let me know in the comments section below.