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Make Sure You Think Twice Before Going To Mars

February 17, 2016 By Jakob Nielsen Leave a Comment

Make Sure You Think Twice Before Going To Mars

Now that there are only a couple of days left for the sign up, make sure you think twice before going to Mars because there are some dangers there that should not be taken lightly. Earth is not that easy to live on with the numerous diseases and elements that can kill you. And it’s our home. It’s tough to say what will be waiting on a completely foreign planet.

There are a few days left to sign up for NASA’s program, which might include a trip to Mars
NASA plans the launch in the 2030s
PROs: existing water source under the Martian surface, and the chance of a lifetime
CONs: space travel, radiation risk, landing, poisonous atmosphere, atmospheric pressure, dust, and drastic temperatures

A planetary scientist from the SETI Institute, Pascal Lee, has offered a bit of a wake-up call for those still interested on signing up for NASA’s program, which could end with a trip to the Red Planet. It sounds exciting, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will have a place in history. The first person to step on Mars might start preparing a phrase to match Neil Armstrong’s.

NASA is planning a manned mission to the Red Planet in the 2030s, with Mars One and SpaceX even hoping to have civilians there sooner. Numerous names have been given to the people who will venture that far. They range from “explorers” and “heroes”, to “test subjects” and “lab rats”, so it’s certainly something to consider well. While it seems like the trip of a lifetime, there are too many risks to count.

First off, the actual trip. Those embarking on the journey will have to travel for around 6 months, hurdling through space in closed confinement and with limited supplies. It has been established that the human body can withstand that sort of exposure by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). On the other hand, the ISS is regularly resupplied, and they’re not too far away from home in case of emergency situations. At least, they’re obviously closer to our planet than Mars is.

If they pass the long trip in good health however, they will still have to deal with the landing. While NASA has managed to land small rovers across the red rocky grounds, a manned spacecraft will require much more delicacy. And, even if the landing is a success, there are still a couple of more factors that are just waiting to kill you.

According to Lee, one of the first concerns would be radiation. Most of the Mars’ atmosphere is lost, which will expose humans to the solar and cosmic radiation without protection. Both the space and sun will likely cause severe effects. In fact, spacesuits or rovers will not be the greatest ways to avoid the damage. According to former NASA physician, Jim Logan, astronauts will need to live around 9 feet underground to escape it.

Furthermore, the atmosphere itself is highly toxic to human beings. There is a very high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) that will place astronauts under the constant threat of suffocation. One malfunction of the oxygen supply, and they might suffer a very tragic fate and slow demise.

Another mystery is the dust on Mars. It has been shown to be much finer than the dust found on Earth, which could make humans highly vulnerable to choking on it. NASA stated that The Martian got at least one thing wrong. It’s not the 60-miles-per-hour dust storms that are dangerous, it’s the dust itself. There’s no knowing how solar panels or human lungs will react to it.

The temperature will also be a problem. If the heating system fails, astronauts will be subjected to temperatures that range between 80^o Fahrenheit (27^o Celsius) to -225^o Fahrenheit (-143^o Celsius).

Lastly, the atmospheric pressure on the Red Planet so very low that it will basically evaporate all the water in your body if you’re not in a well pressurized suit. That could mean a very slow, very painful death at the slightest misstep.

In spite of the warnings, it’s clear that some are still eager to venture beyond the limits of our planet to explore outer space. And that’s the only good part. It’s a chance of a lifetime, an opportunity to put your name in history. However, now it depends if it’s worth the cost. It will take a lot to move away from the warm yet deadly embrace of Earth with all its perils and venture into an even more dangerous and unknown world.

Image source: nightsky.ie

What To Eat On The Way To Mars

February 12, 2016 By Jenna Lewis Leave a Comment

What To Eat On The Way To Mars

With the possibility of a manned mission still looming on the horizon, scientists debate what to eat on the way to Mars and what is the proper diet an astronaut should keep. It’s safe to say that they will be in a unique situation.

NASA is still aiming for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s
The trip will take 3 years in total, with a 10-months-long stay on the Red Planet
NASA has yet to understand the true effects of space on the human body
That includes the need for nutrients that will be beneficial and will be able to last for years

NASA still has the goal in mind to send a crew to Mars in the 2030s. However, there are numerous obstacles in the way. Even if the space agency passes them with flying colors, the strain will be placed on top of the astronauts trained to participate in the mission. First of all, the psychological and physical effects of long-term exposure to space could be dangerous. And, for the most part, it’s wildly unknown.

So far, the longest a man has ever spent in space is less than a year on the International Space Station (ISS). However, NASA estimates that a trip to Mars, including a 10-month-long stay on the Red Planet, will take roughly 3 years. It’s a long trip, as the foreign planet is around 140 million miles away. That’s around 5,625 times the Earth’s circumference. It will not be easy on their bodies, or their minds for that matter. Isolation could result in dangerous psychological effects.

However, the most important aspect of their wellbeing is, of course, food. The very long trip will not only imply the need for meals that could last for years, but they will also have to satisfy all their nutritional requirements. Even on Earth, good and proper nutrition is key to a healthy life. One can only imagine how paramount that will be in such harsh conditions.

Millions of sailors died from scurvy in the Age of Sail, until they realized that their supplement of vitamin C from lemons and oranges was what saved them. While we have moved past such base knowledge, the trip to Mars can bring forward equally unknown consequences. And the problem is that the crew will be millions of miles away from home, with no one else to help. The most important thing is to assure that they will have everything they need, and what exactly they will need.

According to Sara Zwart, a food scientist from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, one of their goals is to optimize nutrition in a way that it will nullify the negative effects of space. This includes loss of bone density, muscle, vision problems, changes in the immune function, and, of course, damage caused by radiation exposure. They will need all the nutrients and vitamins that supplements can simply not satisfy for several years.

Although NASA is still years away from the manned mission, they have yet to understand what sort of food the astronauts will need in order to stay healthy, avoid diseases, or even death. While a sustainable food source would be ideal, Mark Watney’s potato garden from The Martian isn’t all that easy to duplicate.

Image source: ytimg.com

Take A 360 Degree Look Around Mars

February 9, 2016 By Kieron Robertson Leave a Comment

Close enough

With the help of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), you can take a 360 degree look around Mars and choose the angle of the view. It’s as close as we would ever get to riding Curiosity across the Red Planet.

The camera is placed on top of the Curiosity rover, near the Namib Dune
The video was created from images the rover snapped on December 18th of last year
Viewers can see the the dune, terrain, mountains in the distance, and the rover itself

NASA just released the 360 degree video, created from a string of images of the Martian surface. It displays the eerily barren land, with dull grey rocks and trademark red hint across its sands. The beautiful display is the first interactive image we have of the Red Planet, one starting from on top of the Curiosity rover.

The images were snapped on December 18^th, 2015, in what was Curiosity’s 1,197^th Martian day on the foreign planet. With them, JPL engineers were able to create an excellent way for everyone to gander around the foreign planet directly from our computers. At the very least, it could offer us an idea of how Matt Damon’s character felt in The Martian. Sans the fear of dying and desperate need for survival.

The camera angle initially faces the well-known Namib Dune, reported to be around 23 feet away from the Curiosity rover, stretching 16 feet in height. By simply clicking on the arrows in the corner of the video or dragging our cursor on the images, we can glance around the barren land of the foreign planet. We can let our eyes linger on the red-tinted skies, the rocky ground, the sandy dunes, or Martian mountains out in the distance on the horizon.

The Curiosity rover first landed on the foreign planet on August 6^th, 2012, and has offered us curious Earthlings a series of pictures displaying the barren landscape. The vehicle is “armed” with 17 cameras on board, used to navigate around the challenging terrain, avoid hazards, and aid in scientific examinations. However, NASA engineers have been making major leaps forward in how they utilize its tools.

It’s the first interactive video NASA has released of the Red Planet, among the string of images shown to the public. However, most would know what sort of controversy they have sparked, from seeing monkeys, people, or a statue of Budha around the rocky plains. NASA has been good at not engaging conspiracy theories, but they still have a heavy battle ahead with each picture. With an image so expansive, it’s possible that more assumptions will surface.

Now, who saw Bigfoot at 1:32?

Image source: technobuffalo.com

Committee Finds NASA’s Mars Plans To Be In Disarray

February 4, 2016 By Kevin Kopas 11 Comments

The journey to Mars might not be possible

In spite of vigorous promotion, a committee finds NASA’s Mars plans to be in disarray and doesn’t see much feasibility in a potential manned mission to the Red Planet.

NASA has been aiming for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s
Testing of the SLS rocket and Orion capsule are schedule for 2018 and 2023
Committee members estimated that NASA has neither the funds nor the technology for a mission to the Red Planet
They suggested that the space agency redirect its attention to the moon

Specifically, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has dismantled NASA’s plans on their highly anticipated mission to Mars. Apparently, it would take a lot for it to even be possible. This includes tremendous funds that far exceed NASA’s budget and advancement in technology that we have yet to start developing. It’s very possible that the ambitious goal won’t be achieved.

Congress members along with three other experts have argued that a manned mission would require around $1 trillion worth of investments. They found the space agency has no clear path, goal, and stable plan that would bring them to the end of their mission. Perhaps aiming for the Red Planet is a little too ambitious on their part. Tom Young, from the Goddard Space Flight Center stated that the agency is nowhere close to launching such a mission.

Admittedly though, NASA has been working on space crafts that aim to be used in their manned mission to Mars. That implies the heavily tested Orion capsule and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that is meant to blast it off to beyond the limits of our planet. However, it remains if they will pass trials, and there are only a handful planned.

According to the space agency, both the SLS and Orion will first be tested in 2018. The second trial will imply crew members that will take flight in 2023, though NASA is pushing for 2021. However, there are also bigger plans for the SLS. For example, the Committee criticized the space agency’s intention of using the rocket in the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). It’s essentially a mission for humans to trap an asteroid and redirect it.

It sounds thrilling and could be potentially exciting. However, republican representative Lamar Smith called it a “time-wasting distraction”. He stated that it will bring no true information about further exploring new space, it will not aid future mission, and won’t truly attribute to anything. It’s a “misguided mission without a mission”. Essentially, it’s thought to be a waste of time and valuable money that could be used for more achievable goals.

For example, a revisit to the moon. The European Space Agency (ESA) has expressed their interest in once again landing on our planet’s natural satellite. They would be benefiting from the collaboration and partnership of several nations, unlike NASA’s mission to Mars. That left NASA all by itself in its goal to reach the Red Planet, and fewer people are starting to think it’s even possible.

Somehow, NASA became the underdog in the race for space exploration. And everyone wants to see the underdog rise above it and win. But, sometimes, they tragically falter.

Image source: mars.nasa.gov

Mars Rover Opportunity Is Aging, Suffering Amnesia Events, NASA

January 4, 2015 By Kieron Robertson Leave a Comment

For 10 years, the Mars Rover has been moving on the red planet and age has finally started taking a toll on its systems. It has started suffering from memory loss symptoms.

According to a recent statement by NASA, Opportunity, NASA’s Mars rovers which has been exploring the Martian planet is suffering memory loss symptoms in which the computer repeatedly resets and ‘amnesia events’. Memory loss problems get aggravated when the rover tries to save statistics on its flash memory storage system. The robot bypasses its flash memory and saves data on its RAM. Data saved in flash memory is safe even when the Rover powers down during reboots. However any data which is stored in the RAM is lost once the Rover shut down for reboots.

There are two types of memories on the Rover, the Volatile RAM memory and the flash memory. The volatile RAM memory cannot store data for a very long time and if needed transfers the memory to the Flash memory which then transmits the data to the Mars Odyssey satellite. NASA scientists found the flash memory was not sending the data to the Odyssey satellite once the rover comes out of the sleep-mode.

John Callas, Project manager at the Pasadena, Calif.-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory said, “The mission can continue without storing data to flash memory, and instead store data in volatile RAM. While we’re operating Opportunity in that mode, we are also working on an approach to make the flash memory usable again.”

The amnesia bug is something which was expected and is believed to be an age related issue. The sister rover Spirit had worked for six years before it went defunct, succumbing to the harsh Martian atmosphere.

NASA said in a news release last month “The team is developing a set of commands to restore usability of the flash memory through an overhaul more extensive than the reformatting that has been used so far.”

NASA Plans a Floating City over the Clouds of Venus

December 22, 2014 By jeff Leave a Comment

The last decade has been dominated by exploration of Mars. Venus exploration has been deemed impossible due to its inhospitable conditions on the planet. However NASA believes that Cloud City could be the answer to this problem.

Most space agencies are focusing their attention on Mars. However giving a second look Venus also seems a good place considering it is closer at distances that range between 38 million kilometers and 261 million kilometers as compared to Mars which is at distances that ranges between 56 million to 401 million kilometers, it’s Earth’s closest neighbor.

Numerous probes have been sent to the planet’s surface and the instruments aboard the probes could last hardly 2 hours before succumbing to the inhospitable conditions on Venus. The Venus probe has to endure crushing pressure which is 92 times greater than Earth. It will also have to endure a searing temperature of 462 degrees Celsius. There are extreme volcanic activities and a dense atmosphere which is mostly composed of carbon dioxide with some nitrogen and a cloud layer which is composed of sulfuric acid.

However NASA says it has a solution in the form of HAVOC. It is a spacecraft which has been designed to cater to Venus exploration sometime in future. A brainchild of Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center, the lighter than air rocket will stay above the acid clouds for 30 days enabling researchers to collect data about the planet’s atmosphere.

The conditions on the surface of the planet may not be very favorable to humans; it is a different story at a height of 50 kilometers. Here the conditions are much akin to that on Earth. The atmospheric pressure is comparable and the gravity is only slightly lower. The conditions will enable longer stays and will also negate the adverse effects of living in Zero gravity. The temperature will be 75 degrees Celsius which is hot but manageable. The atmosphere will also afford protection from solar radiation.

The mission will start with the deployment of a robotic probe onto planet to carry out the initial checks and investigations. It will be followed by a crewed mission for 30 days floating above the sulfuric acid clouds. The final goal is a permanent human presence in the floating cloud citycialis 5mg price cvs

NASA Curiosity Rover Detects Methane-Level Spikes on Mars

December 18, 2014 By Kevin Kopas Leave a Comment

News from NASA’s Curiosity Rover has given an interesting picture of the planet’s methane. First the methane levels in the Gale Crater were lower than expected. However, scientists were surprised to see sudden spike in methane levels once in a while. NASA researchers are now saying that the source of the Methane is somewhere nearby but they are still not sure where.

The results were published in Science and shows that we have a lot more about the Martian atmosphere. Readings from the Rover revealed that the Methane levels were about half of what the scientists were predicting. The scientists had calculated the expected methane levels after taking into account all the natural processes that should be creating methane on the surface.

Curiosity’s project scientist, John Grotzinger, said in a news conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting Tuesday that it was very exciting that methane is present in the Martian atmosphere even though it’s not proof of life on its own. Methane is present consistently at low levels to the tune of about 0.7 parts per billion by volume, sudden spikes registering 10 times or higher than background levels has had the scientific community speculating about its origin. Scientists have gone to the extent of suggesting the existence of past or present life on the planet.

95% of all methane which is present on Earth originates from Microbial Organism and this has led scientists to speculate that the spikes in the concentration of methane detected by Rover could be due to the presence of Martian life.

However scientists are suggesting that the sudden spikes in the methane could be due to the release of the gas from underground stores known as clatharates.

Professor Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan told the BBC, “These are molecular cages of water-ice in which methane gas is trapped. From time to time, these could be destabilized, perhaps by some mechanical or thermal stress, and the methane gas would be released to find its way up through cracks or fissures in the rock to enter the atmosphere.”

What To Eat On The Way To Mars

Take A 360 Degree Look Around Mars

Committee Finds NASA’s Mars Plans To Be In Disarray

Mars Rover Opportunity Is Aging, Suffering Amnesia Events, NASA

NASA Plans a Floating City over the Clouds of Venus

NASA Curiosity Rover Detects Methane-Level Spikes on Mars

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