Tito planning Mars flyby!
Discussion
Sorry if this is a double post but an article in the times outlines 2018 plan for mars flyby using SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon crew vehicle. Sounds a tad optimistic but good on the guy for setting his aims so high!
The article mentions that he's a 'multi-millionaire', I would have thought 'multi-billionaire' would be a prerequisite to even entertain such ideas. Is this destined to cancelation / failure / expectation readjustment?
Cheers,
Rob
The article mentions that he's a 'multi-millionaire', I would have thought 'multi-billionaire' would be a prerequisite to even entertain such ideas. Is this destined to cancelation / failure / expectation readjustment?
Cheers,
Rob
A year and a half, cooped up with one other person, in a volume of space smaller than my living room, with nothing to do except worry, fight and go slowly insane. Picking up a disturbingly high radiation dose on the way, if a flare doesn't kill you, and you don't even get to stop? I'd be up for any sane trip, (although I'd be too old to be accepted anyway, these days) but the proposed mission profile looks completely insane.
rjben said:
What have you got to lose!?
25 to 30 years of my life, possibly - and my sanity, almost certainly. I can see Mars through the "eyes" of Opportunity and Curiosity better than through a small porthole while barrelling past at several km/s too. Don't let me stop you volunteering though.Einion Yrth said:
A year and a half, cooped up with one other person, in a volume of space smaller than my living room, with nothing to do except worry, fight and go slowly insane. Picking up a disturbingly high radiation dose on the way, if a flare doesn't kill you, and you don't even get to stop? I'd be up for any sane trip, (although I'd be too old to be accepted anyway, these days) but the proposed mission profile looks completely insane.
Maybe they aren't like you.Eric Mc said:
Einion Yrth said:
A year and a half, cooped up with one other person, in a volume of space smaller than my living room, with nothing to do except worry, fight and go slowly insane. Picking up a disturbingly high radiation dose on the way, if a flare doesn't kill you, and you don't even get to stop? I'd be up for any sane trip, (although I'd be too old to be accepted anyway, these days) but the proposed mission profile looks completely insane.
Maybe they aren't like you.I expect it will be unmanned, but filled with cameras so people can sign up and watch it on the net.
Yes folks, the future of space exploration is to sit at your desk in front of a computer. Just like writing a letter, or doing a spreadsheet, or playing a game, or shopping, in fact everything else you can think of... and man never actually gets beyond his front door.
Yes folks, the future of space exploration is to sit at your desk in front of a computer. Just like writing a letter, or doing a spreadsheet, or playing a game, or shopping, in fact everything else you can think of... and man never actually gets beyond his front door.
Compared to the Moon landings in the 1960s, this isn't really so much of a leap. Ten years prior to that, NASA hadn't even put anybody into space. We already know how to get people into space and how to support people in space for a year or more, so it should be possible. Of course, the dying from radiation sickness is a bit of a problem...
davepoth said:
We already know how to get people into space and how to support people in space for a year or more, so it should be possible. Of course, the dying from radiation sickness is a bit of a problem...
Astronauts have spent many months in space stations orbiting Earth - or are they shielded by the vestiges of atmosphere?As for the lack of gravity weakening bones and muscles, why are rotating structures never considered?
Einion Yrth said:
Eric Mc said:
Einion Yrth said:
A year and a half, cooped up with one other person, in a volume of space smaller than my living room, with nothing to do except worry, fight and go slowly insane. Picking up a disturbingly high radiation dose on the way, if a flare doesn't kill you, and you don't even get to stop? I'd be up for any sane trip, (although I'd be too old to be accepted anyway, these days) but the proposed mission profile looks completely insane.
Maybe they aren't like you.These guys wouldn't even be isolated communications wise - although the time lag in radio signals would become a problem as the distance increases.
Bedazzled said:
It's the magnetic field rather than atmosphere I think. Vast rotating wheels are a bit hard to get into space, but it would be fab to see a space station constructed like that; cue the Blue Danube as they dock!
Sadly I think we're stuck here, even if someone builds a rocket that can get a few tonnes of lead shielding into space, the fuel required to boost the orbit to Mars with all that mass would be immense.
The whole point of this is that for all of the stuff we can try, we aren't really going to know whether it's safe enough or not until we strap someone to the top of a rocket and send them. That's how we used to do it.Sadly I think we're stuck here, even if someone builds a rocket that can get a few tonnes of lead shielding into space, the fuel required to boost the orbit to Mars with all that mass would be immense.
We put the ISS up (I know it took a while) and it has a mass of 420 tonnes, give or take a bit. The experience of the Apollo missions suggests that cosmic rays weren't much of an issue, but that solar radiation was - so the lead would probably only need to be thick and heavy on the bit of the capsule that was pointing at the Sun.
davepoth said:
The experience of the Apollo missions suggests that cosmic rays weren't much of an issue, but that solar radiation was - so the lead would probably only need to be thick and heavy on the bit of the capsule that was pointing at the Sun.
Is it possible to design shielding that's lightweight and works by its particluar molecular/atominc construction? What exactly in solar radiation are we tyring to stop - X-rays?Simpo Two said:
davepoth said:
The experience of the Apollo missions suggests that cosmic rays weren't much of an issue, but that solar radiation was - so the lead would probably only need to be thick and heavy on the bit of the capsule that was pointing at the Sun.
Is it possible to design shielding that's lightweight and works by its particluar molecular/atominc construction? What exactly in solar radiation are we tyring to stop - X-rays?Bedazzled said:
davepoth said:
The experience of the Apollo missions suggests that cosmic rays weren't much of an issue...
Only because they kept quiet about it, and they were in space less than a week. Apollo 11 - 8 days 3 hours
Apollo 12 - 10 days 4 hours
Apollo 14 - 9 days
Apollo 15 - 12 days 7 hours
Apollo 16 - 11 days 1 hour
Apollo 17 - 12 days 14 hours
They didn't keep quiet at all about cosmic rays. They were mentioned quite a bit during the missions - but the nature of such rays were very poorly understood back then. In fact they are not that well understood today. A leading scientist on cosmic rays was featured in the Radio 4 programme "The Life Scientific" last week and his contention was that interest in cosmic rays was actually kick started by the Apollo missions - particularly after astronauts started seeing flashes when their eyes were closed.
Edited by Eric Mc on Sunday 24th February 13:14
Not that I know of. I think the Gemini flights were so early in space exploration that the crews had enough on their plates to bother reporting, or even noticing, what were transient and fleeting phenomenon.
The Apollo astronauts had a bit more time to notice them - and were more likely to encounter them, being outside the earth's protective magnetosphere.
The Apollo astronauts had a bit more time to notice them - and were more likely to encounter them, being outside the earth's protective magnetosphere.
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