Suppose that SEI gets off the ground in the early 90s using a combination of Robert Zubrin's Mars Direct plan and NASA's Design Reference Mission 3.0. The Ares V is built along with the Orion capsule to replace the shuttle and ISS is redesigned to be launched on three Ares V launches. NASA also partners with private companies to encourage investment in space, especially space-based manufacturing. The U.S gets back to the Moon in the late 90s to build a lunar base at the lunar South Pole and to Mars in 2007. Assume that history otherwise stays the same as in OTL. What does NASA do after Mars, now?
NASA Gets To Mars; What Now?
- Thread starter Puget Sound
- Start date
Not really, total spending on the Apollo programme was $23bn by the time of its termination. And for that you got nine manned flights to the Moon, of which six resulted in Lunar Landings.
A manned flight to Mars would set you back perhaps $30bn today, with recurring flights being about 10% that level since the hardware development is already done - which by the way is where a lot of the cost lies.
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Sachyriel
Banned
When NASA gets to Mars they'll be staying at the Chinese Base down by Olympus Mons.
Okay okay. So they get there first, NASA sets an American flag with 55 stripes and 200 stars down onto Mars (don't ask, long story involving Justin Bieber) and they're going to set up an observation post to look out for threats to Earth.
No, really, the first thing they do would be to build some sensors to make sure their home planet is well protected; they'll scan for unknown asteroids, comets and try to make sure their resupply mission isn't cancelled permanently.
Okay okay. So they get there first, NASA sets an American flag with 55 stripes and 200 stars down onto Mars (don't ask, long story involving Justin Bieber) and they're going to set up an observation post to look out for threats to Earth.
No, really, the first thing they do would be to build some sensors to make sure their home planet is well protected; they'll scan for unknown asteroids, comets and try to make sure their resupply mission isn't cancelled permanently.
Three missions, then it's cancelled. Results: 27 person-years on Mars (as opposed to less than one person-month on the Moon for Apollo), three potentially-useful bases, and proof that manned interplanetary travel is possible. Also a working Saturn V-scale booster and proven human interplanetary spacecraft, but they'll probably be thrown away.
- First person to the Asteroid belt?
- Permanently staffed base on the moon?
- First man on Ceres? Pluto? Eris?
- Manned probe to Venus (highly protected of course)?
- Non-orbiting space station?
- First man on Mercury?
- First man to fly one of those solar sail things I saw on the Discovery Channel once that could travel at like a fourth of the Speed of Light and therefore exit the Solar System in the thing and maybe, maybe travel to Proxima Centauri?
- Permanently staffed base on the moon?
- First man on Ceres? Pluto? Eris?
- Manned probe to Venus (highly protected of course)?
- Non-orbiting space station?
- First man on Mercury?
- First man to fly one of those solar sail things I saw on the Discovery Channel once that could travel at like a fourth of the Speed of Light and therefore exit the Solar System in the thing and maybe, maybe travel to Proxima Centauri?
I doubt that would ever happen. Engineers would have to design a "hab" that could withstand the high temperatres and crushing pressures for 8 months. A manned mission to Venus would have to stay there for 8 months until Earth and Venus were in proper allignment for the return to Earth.
Archibald
Banned
What ? Perhaps you are mixing things with another of Baxter novel, Titan (and yes, everyone dies in this one, including the whole mankind)
But Voyage astronauts are alive and well (AFAIK)
My first answer was a brain fart (got the flu when I typed it). A sequel to Voyage is doable, becuase Baxter left some clues in its narration.
The Mars Excursion Module works with LOX/ methane, and at another point in the novel, astronauts training include... deployment of a LOX/methane ISRU experiments.
Baxter did wrote Voyage in 1996, and inevitably heard of Bob Zubrin Mars Direct (1991)
IF Robert Zubrin is not butterflied away in the Voyage alt-universe, then a follow on to Ares can use the Mars Direct trick.
Future of Saturn V is safe, the ISRU thing has been deployed and checked on Mars itself, and perhaps some parts of Ares can be recycled into a Mars Direct scheme.
The HUGE difficulty (and Baxter makes that very clear) will be the political will.
The Ares program cost NASA Viking, Voyager, Hubble, most of the Mariner, Magellan, Galileo, Cassini (!) and plenty of other programs.
Food for thought !
But Voyage astronauts are alive and well (AFAIK)
My first answer was a brain fart (got the flu when I typed it). A sequel to Voyage is doable, becuase Baxter left some clues in its narration.
The Mars Excursion Module works with LOX/ methane, and at another point in the novel, astronauts training include... deployment of a LOX/methane ISRU experiments.
Baxter did wrote Voyage in 1996, and inevitably heard of Bob Zubrin Mars Direct (1991)
IF Robert Zubrin is not butterflied away in the Voyage alt-universe, then a follow on to Ares can use the Mars Direct trick.
Future of Saturn V is safe, the ISRU thing has been deployed and checked on Mars itself, and perhaps some parts of Ares can be recycled into a Mars Direct scheme.
The HUGE difficulty (and Baxter makes that very clear) will be the political will.
The Ares program cost NASA Viking, Voyager, Hubble, most of the Mariner, Magellan, Galileo, Cassini (!) and plenty of other programs.
Food for thought !
No one would be stupid enough to land humans on Venus. Any manned mission there would be a flyby or orbital mission.
Spengler
Banned
I think you need to heavily adjust for inflation.
Also what could be gained from going to Mars? NOt to mention the fact that you would need to ensure that the astronots surive the mission. Remember that muscular degeneration occours when one is in space for an exteneded period of time not to mention all that radiot that you would need to ensure the space craft is protected from in some way. There would also be the problem that you would probably want some other form of propulsion other than the current one used so you would have to test a new form of propulsion. (I would go for the Project Orion if you are going to use a new system of propulsion).
BTW if you want a good resource for missions to other planets try this.
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/appmissiontable.php
No one would be stupid enough to land humans on Venus. Any manned mission there would be a flyby or orbital mission.
Not a week goes by and I don't see some newts-can't-breed-on-the-ISS-so-humans-can't-live-in-space article on Space.com. Free-fall medical problems are a strawman argument that still gets a huge amount of attention.
Repeat after me:
ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY IS POSSIBLE
ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY IS POSSIBLE
ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY IS POSSIBLE
Okay?
Not to mention that Russian cosmonauts demonstrated 30 years ago that healthy adults can withstand 6 months or more of free-fall and re-adapt to gravity. So if the tether jams or something, they can still land on Mars and wait 2-3 weeks before doing strenuous work.