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Imagine a pink sky
by day, vicious winds that cause dust storms, which can last for
weeks, and an atmosphere unable to hold in enough heat to keep water
liquid. The planet Mars has always fascinated scientists and spectators
alike. The fact is, at the tender age of about a billion years old,
Mars and Earth are thought to have been relatively similar in their
cosmic makeup - so why life arose and evolved quickly on  Earth
and not Mars, is still a mystery. The quest to find signs of life,
and understand what makes Mars tick, is well along the way by NASA
scientists and a private aerospace company owned by Robert Zubrin.
The aim of their respective research is to be the first to make
a human mission to Mars. Zubrin's firm is named Pioneer Astronautics
and he is the founder of a group called The Mars Society. Zubrin
has designed a Mars's mission, which he refers to as Mars Direct.
His plan has offered many unique ideas to NASA, which now have contracted
Zubrin to further test those ideas for the possible incorporation
into NASA's final plan. If all goes well, a crew of six will be
launch in the year 2014. Critical to any mission is timing. Earth
and Mars are at their closest distance to each other every 26 months,
which makes for the most efficient use of resources, specifically
fuel for the journey.
This is one of Zubrin’s
major contributions to the project. In Zubrin’s plan, whilst
on the surface of Mars a propellant-production system will be able
to produce enough fuel required for the astronauts journey back
to Earth. He will also show how astronauts can live off the harsh
land of Mars. Although, Mars is far more barren, drier and colder
than earth, it has many resources that can be utilized for life
support. By virtue of the propellant-processing unit, the crew will
be able to process oxygen and water for various life support systems,
as well as fuel for their vehicles used on Mars. This system makes
use of the fact that the atmosphere on Mars is 93.5% carbon dioxide.
The NASA team’s
strategy is to send two rockets to Mars. They are currently developing
a variety of rocket propulsion systems, ranging from solar electric
propulsion to nuclear electric propulsion. The first rocket sent
will hold the mission’s Earth return  vehicle,
which will be left in Mar’s orbit for the astronauts to rendezvous
with and to use for their homeward voyage. The second rocket will
have the surface habitat, exploration equipment, and the Mars ascent
vehicle. Before the astronauts leave Earth, another rocket will
be launched that will have a second set of equipment and vehicles.
This will be sent ahead as a safety contingency. The reason for
this is to set up as much as possible before the astronaunts arrive
and to have back on everything to help avoid unfavorable situations
that could occur. This first stage of the mission may begin
in 2011, with the launch of the first rocket. The crew’s mission
will last two and a half years -a six month journey one way, and
about a year and a half on the surface of Mars undertaking scientific
research before returning to Earth.
Operating
within a similar timeline, Zubrin’s focus strategy is to produce
a rocket smaller and lighter than that of NASA’s. He proposes
a vehicle that by virtue of its lighter weight can make a direct
mission to Mars, without the need to leave any vehicles in orbit
along the way. Again for safety, two sets of vehicles and equipment
would be deployed before the astronauts left Earth. With the innovations
that are being used in these plans, it makes a journey to Mars not
only more affordable, but actually makes it a more reachable goal.
The thought of traveling safely beyond the moon is truly an exciting
one and is one that is long due. With the signs being on the surface
that at some stage in its evolution, Mars had running water, the
question follows, was there some Martian life form, and are they
still there now? If the mission is able to come to full completion,
we may have the answer. One thing is for sure, in this race for
a human mission to Mars, which is just over a decade away, it will
certainly bring a totally new meaning to getting to know the neighbors.
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