Research Paper
May 21, 2002
COLONIZING MARS
Man has always had the desire to conquer new lands and improve his way of life. Man�s destiny now lies in space. Man has already landed on the moon and built many stations in orbit. The next step is the colonization of the planets. Mars is the planet that most resembles our own Earth, and would be the easiest to colonize. Although the task is technologically daunting and much is undecided, it is planned that man will land on Mars, and have established a base by 2050.
Mars is the 3rd planet from the sun and has two small moons, Phoebes and Demos. Mars is 2/3 the size of Earth, so a 100 pound person would weigh only 38 pounds there. Martian soil is made of thin dusty particles of sand, primarily basalt and iron. The iron rusts and that�s what gives Mars a red appearance. The weather is very unpredictable on Mars. Temperatures range from -10 to -90 degrees and high wind kicks dirt and creates huge dust storms, some miles wide. Areas of highly eroded rock and large basins lead scientists to think that the Martian climate may have once been a lot warmer and that water may have flowed on the surface. Right now the water is frozen in the 2 polar ice caps. Mars is filled with incredible physical features. The highest point is Olympus Mons, a towering volcano 3 times higher than Mt. Everest. Earth�s 1 mile deep Grand Canyon looks minuscule when compared to Mar�s lowest canyon Valleris Marines, which is over 10 miles deep!
Right now it is unknown if life ever existed on Mars. One questionable meteorite was found in the Antarctic. It is believed to have been dislodged from Mars about 16 million years ago, and then it floated in space until landing in Antarctica 17,000 years ago. Some say it contains magnetic and fossil evidence that primitive life once existed on Mars. Scientists aren�t sure if there is life, but they would like to know before humans land there. If there is life, there is a risk that it could be dangerous and could contaminate Earth. It would do this by coming to Earth on the spacecraft or by dust on the spacesuits.
Mars used to be a mysterious red planet. Only in the past 50 years have scientists gathered this firm data through new telescopes and spacecraft. So far, NASA has had 7 successful missions to the red planet. First there were the Mariner 3 and 9 spacecrafts that gave the first successful fly-by photographs. Next, in 1976, the first of two Viking spacecrafts landed. These spacecrafts contained cameras, spectrometers, gas chronographs, and a seismometer for detecting earthquakes.
The next spacecraft to land was the Mars Pathfinder. It was launched December 1996 and landed 6 months later on July 4th, 1997. As it entered the atmosphere the Atmospheric Structure Instrument/Meteorology Package picked up information about wind, temperature and ice clouds on it�s way down. Next a parachute was launched and a retrograde burn was fired. Then a large balloon inflated around the spacecraft. This balloon hit the surface at 40mph, and bounced 15 times before rolling to a stop. The balloon then deflated and 4 solar panel arms folded down. On one of these arms was a rover named Sojourner. To be controlled form Earth, the signal is sent from Florida to a communication satellite. The satellite relays it to a large satellite dish in Australia. From there it goes directly to Mars Pathfinder, and then to Sojourner. Since the distance is so far, transmissions take 10 minutes. For this reason it had lasers to detect obstacles and was semi-autonomous. It also contained a radio modem for communications, a spectrometer, and 2 digital cameras. The Pathfinder main module contained windsocks, biological experiments, and magnetic field detectors. The mission was extremely successful-- 16,500 images were received from the rover, and 500 images from the lander. The best thing about the Pathfinder mission was it�s low cost. The lander cost only $71,000,000, and the rover cost $25,000,000.
The current NASA mission is the Mars Odyssey Spacecraft that reached Mars on October 24, 2001. �It�s an orbiter carrying experiments designed to build knowledge on Martian history and life.� (2001 Odyssey Overview p3) Mars Odyssey contains a Thermal Emissions Imaging system to detect infrared radiation on the planet. It has started mapping the planet and will continue to map until 2004.
From here on out, NASA plans to thoroughly analyze all aspects of Mars before humans land. The next step is to launch a sample return vehicle. This vehicle lands on Mars, scoops up some soil, and then launches it into orbit in a small sealed sphere. Then an orbital module picks up the capsule and returns it to Earth. Once on Earth scientists will do experiments on the soil that otherwise couldn�t be done on Mars.
For humans to land on Mars, NASA needs to study many safety factors. They are currently studying how factors such as composition, temperature, acceleration, deceleration, weightlessness and impact force affect the human body. Weightlessness weakens the muscles, which could lead to muscle diseases back on Earth. To stop this, crew members will have to exercise, or artificial gravity will have to be implemented. Spinning the spacecraft or building a tether can create artificial gravity. Spinning it creates centripetal force, which would pull objects onto the floor. Also, an Advanced Life Support system, or ARS, is being designed. ARS tightly controls air, water, food processing, solid waste recovery, and thermal control. Wastewater is distilled and oxygen is renewed by a machine called a getter.
Next, NASA will need to design the spacecraft. The spaceship must be launched at the precise time to get the shortest trajectory to Mars. This accrues about every 25 months. Traditional chemical engines are too expensive and have low specific impulse for interplanetary travel. The two most likely candidates for the first trip are the ion engine, and the solar sail. The ion engine produces energy by ionizing atoms, or energizing them. They are then propelled through a negative electro-static field at speeds of 60,000 mph in a ghostly blue beam. (Lenebard, pg. 3) Deep Space 1 was the first ionic propelled spacecraft. Shortly into it�s mission, the so-called �space age engine� pooped out. Clearly NASA has some work to do.
The solar sail is he cheapest way to get to Mars because it requires no fuel. The spacecraft�s �sail� would be made out of aluminum coated mylar, which would be about � the thickness of a garbage bag. About 1,000 square meters of mylar would catch a so-called solar �wind� of photons. The photons would bounce off the reflective surface and propel the craft. The current design has about 8 triangular sails that form a circle. The sails would be movable, so the craft could be steered. The solar sail will also contain small chemical rockets to slow down on a retrograde burn.
� shall call Beta, will serve as nothing but a science-center/small habitat. This is very important since only scientists will be sent to the Red Planet for the first few years. They will serve as the first "colonists" for the Martian outpost, and will naturally need more room to expand their research.� (Moore, 2)
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