Mission to Mars (7 page)
Authors: Buzz Aldrin
Tags: #Engineering & Transportation, #Engineering, #Aerospace, #Astronautics & Space Flight, #Aeronautical Engineering, #Science & Mathematics, #Science & Math, #Astronomy & Space Science, #Aeronautics & Astronautics, #Astrophysics & Space Science, #Mars, #Technology
Early Aldrin design for an orbiting station from which to stage missions to Mars
• 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
• 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!
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
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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.