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WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY FOR MARS RIGHT NOW-Portree '97
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- A/T: COMMON RISK-BASED OBJECTIONS TO MARS OF COURSE THERE IS RISK TO A MARS MISSION BECAUSE IT IS SPACE EXPLORATION-Zubrin 97
- HUMANS ARE READY NOW FOR HUMANS TO MARS-Zubrin 09
- NO BIOMEDICAL ROADBLOCKS EXIST FOR A MARS MISSION-Portree 97
- RISKS OF RADIATION FROM A MARS MISSION ARE NOT SUBSTANTIAL-Zubrin 97
- RADIATION IS NOT AN ISSUE FOR A MARS MISSION-Zubrin 99
- RADIATION IS NOT A TOP CONCERN FOR HUMAN HEALTH ON MARS MISSIONS-Portree 97
- ZERO GRAVITY IS NOT A CONCERN FOR A MARS MISSION-Zubrin 99
- BACK-CONTAMINATION OF EARTH IS NOT AN ISSUE WITH A MARS MISSION-Zubrin 99
- HUMAN STRESS IS NOT AN ISSUE WITH A MARS MISSION-Zubrin 99
- DUST STORMS ARE NOT AN ISSUE WITH A MARS MISSION-Zubrin 99
- A/T: SHOULD GO ROBOTIC MISSIONS INSTEAD HUMANS MUST EXPLORE MARS-Haque ‘11
- THE POINT OF ALL OF THE UNSTAFFED MISSIONS IS TO EVENTUALLY ACHIEVE A STAFFED MISSION-Vergano 07
- UNSTAFFED EXPLORATION DOESNT COUNT AS TRUE EXPLORATION; HUMANS ARE REQUIRED-Lamb 10
- HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE IS A CRITICAL PART OF AMERICAS SPACE PROGRAM-Coile 04
- MOST OF MARS MYSTERIES WILL STAY UNKNOWN UNTIL HUMANS ARE ABLE TO TRAVEL THERE-Zubrin 96
- MARS IS AN IMPORTANT HUMAN ASPIRATION-Geller ‘11
- UNSTAFFED MISSIONS ARENT THE SAME AS EXPERIENCING IT WITH HUMAN EXPLORERS-Scoblic 04
- LOOKING FOR PRACTICAL REASONS FOR STAFFED MISSIONS TO MARS MAY MISS THE REAL, UNDERLYING JUSTIFICATION-Scoblic 04
- HUMANS MUST GO TO MARS TO DO WHAT THE ROBOTS CANT-Zubrin 99
- HUMAN CREWS ON MARS COULD DO IN TWO YEARS WHAT ROBOTS WOULD TAKE UP TO 200 YEARS TO ACCOMPLISH-Portree 97
- ALTERNATIVE PLAN: ONE-WAY MARS TRIPS ELIMINATING THE RETURN TRIP WOULD DECREASE THE COST OF MARS MISSIONS BY 80%-Lamb 10
- ONE-WAY TRIPS TO MARS WOULD BE THRILLING FOR SCIENTIFIC EXPLORERS-Lamb 10
WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY FOR MARS RIGHT NOW-Portree '97 [David S.F.; The new Martian chronicles; Astronomy; August 1997; page 32] The last word on risk comes from someone who might face the danger first hand. Tom Jones is a veteran Shuttle astronaut who works closely with the JSC Mars team. Members of his 1990 astronaut class wore a cloth patch that showed the moon and Mars because they hoped to visit both places. Jones, a geologist whose life would be on the line during a Mars mission, says "we can do a Mars mission with what we know now. If the goal is to send people to Mars to look for life," he says, "then let's send people to Mars." A/T: COMMON RISK-BASED OBJECTIONS TO MARS OF COURSE THERE IS RISK TO A MARS MISSION BECAUSE IT IS SPACE EXPLORATION-Zubrin '97 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; The Case for Mars The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must; 1997; Kindle Edition; Location 421] The Martian environment itself may hold some surprises, yet the 1970s vintage Viking landers, which were designed for ninety days of operation, functioned without hindrance on the Martian surface for four years, unaffected by cold, wind, or dust. The biggest mission risk arises from possible failures in critical mechanical or electrical systems. Multiple backups for all important systems can minimize the risk, as can the presence of two ace mechanics during the mission. Anyway you slice it, though, going to Mars the first time will involve a certain level of risk. This will be true whether we make the attempt with Mars Direct in 2007 or leave it for another generation to try. Nothing great has ever been accomplished without risk. Nothing great has ever been accomplished without courage. HUMANS ARE READY NOW FOR HUMANS TO MARS-Zubrin '09 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; The moon–mars initiative: Making the vision real; Futures; October 2009; page 541] Humans to Mars may seem like a wildly bold goal to proclaim in the wake of disaster, yet such a program is entirely achievable. From the technological point of view, we’re ready. Despite the greater distance to Mars, we are much better prepared today to send humans to Mars than we were to launch humans to the Moon in 1961 when John F. Kennedy challenged the nation to achieve that goal – and we were there 8 years later. Given the will, we could have our first teams on Mars within a decade. NO BIOMEDICAL ROADBLOCKS EXIST FOR A MARS MISSION-Portree '97 [David S.F.; The new Martian chronicles; Astronomy; August 1997; page 32] After working with astronauts for 10 years, Charles sees no biomedical roadblocks to Mars travel. But astronaut bodies will undergo changes. For example, in weightlessness travelers will lose bone density at the rate of about one percent per month. Earth's gravity restores bone mass, but structural changes persist after astronauts return to the ground. Biomedical studies slated for the space station, which is set for completion by 2003, should provide more data on the effects of long-duration weightlessness and let physicians perfect countermeasures. Charles already prescribes countermeasures which have proven effective for astronauts during long stays on the Mir space station--rigorous daily exercise, plenty of fluids, and salt tablets. RISKS OF RADIATION FROM A MARS MISSION ARE NOT SUBSTANTIAL-Zubrin '97 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; The Case for Mars The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must; 1997; Kindle Edition; Location 416] Mars Direct is not without risk. The consequences of extended exposure to Mars’ gravity—38 percent that of Earth—are unknown. However, experience with the more severe deconditioning of astronauts in orbiting zero-gravity facilities indicates that most of the ill effects are temporary. Then there is space radiation, which on the six-month transit trajectories necessitated by current or near-term propulsion technology will give the astronauts doses sufficient to cause an additional 0.5 to 1 percent probability of a fatal cancer at some point later in life. This is nothing to scoff at, but those of us who stay home all face a 20 percent risk of fatal cancer anyway. RADIATION IS NOT AN ISSUE FOR A MARS MISSION-Zubrin '99 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; Sending Humans to Mars; Scientific American Presents; 1999; page 46] Nevertheless, there are plenty of opponents to the idea of sending people to Mars; these critics frequently cite several issues, which they claim make such missions too dangerous to be considered at this time. Like the dragons that once marred the maps of medieval cartographers, these fears have deterred many who otherwise might be willing to support this mission. It is therefore fitting to address these considerations here. One of the most common concerns is the allegation that the radiation doses involved in a Mars mission present insuperable risks or are not well understood. This is untrue. Solar flare radiation, consisting of protons with energies of about one million electron volts, can be shielded by 12 centimeters (five inches) of water or provisions, and there will be enough materials on board the ship to build an adequate pantry storm shelter for use in such an event. The residual cosmic-ray dose, about 50 rem for the 2.5 year mission, represents a statistical cancer risk of about 1 percent, roughly the same as the risk from smoking for the same amount of time. RADIATION IS NOT A TOP CONCERN FOR HUMAN HEALTH ON MARS MISSIONS-Portree '97 [David S.F.; The new Martian chronicles; Astronomy; August 1997; page 32] Beyond that, Joosten says no standards exist for governing safe levels of radiation exposure during interplanetary flight. Shuttle astronauts in Earth orbit are statistically lumped into a category that includes nuclear power plant workers. So-called radiation workers might see a 3% increase in mortality. By necessity, the level of acceptable radiation exposure might have to be set higher because interplanetary explorers are outside of Earth's protective magnetic cocoon. Even then, radiation is unlikely to be ranked above other risks. Charles notes that, "with radiation, at least, we can devise engineering solutions." He suggests arranging an expedition's cache of food and water to act as radiation shielding. ZERO GRAVITY IS NOT A CONCERN FOR A MARS MISSION-Zubrin '99 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; Sending Humans to Mars; Scientific American Presents; 1999; page 46] The hazards of zero gravity have caused concern among other critics. Cosmonauts have experienced marked physiological deterioration after extended stays in zero gravity on the Russian space station. Yet in 1996 American astronaut Shannon W. Lucid spent six months in zero gravity [see "Six Months on Mir," by Shannon W. Lucid; SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, May 1998]. Because she actually implemented the rigorous exercise program designed by NASA flight surgeons, she returned to Earth in acceptable physical condition, able to walk off the shuttle despite the pull of Earth's gravity. And, as I mentioned earlier, the manned ships going to Mars could be flown employing artificial gravity generated by rotating the spacecraft. The engineering challenges associated with designing such systems are modest and make the issue of zero-gravity health effects during interplanetary missions moot. BACK-CONTAMINATION OF EARTH IS NOT AN ISSUE WITH A MARS MISSION-Zubrin '99 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; Sending Humans to Mars; Scientific American Presents; 1999; page 46] Recently some people have raised the possibility of back-contamination of our planet as a reason to shun human missions to Mars (or even sample-return trips carried out by robots). Such fears have no basis in science. The surface of Mars is too cold for liquid water, it is exposed to a near vacuum and to ultraviolet and cosmic radiation, and it contains an antiseptic mixture of peroxides that have eliminated any trace of organic material. The surface of Mars is as sterile an environment as one could ask for. And even if there were life deep underground, it is quite impossible that these life-forms would pose a threat to terrestrial animals and plants. Pathogens are specifically adapted to their hosts, and there are no highly developed animals or plants to support a pathogenic life cycle in the Martian subsurface groundwater. In any case, Earth currently receives about 500 kilograms (1,100pounds) of Martian material each year in the form of meteorites that originated on Mars and were blown into space by meteoric impacts. The trauma that this material has experienced during ejection from Mars, the trip to Earth and entry into Earth's atmosphere is insufficient to have sterilized it. If there is the Red Death on Mars, we already have it. Members of the space community who are concerned with public health matters would do much better to offer assistance to medical relief agencies fighting infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis here on Earth. HUMAN STRESS IS NOT AN ISSUE WITH A MARS MISSION-Zubrin '99 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; Sending Humans to Mars; Scientific American Presents; 1999; page 46] Another issue mentioned frequently by the popular media is the concern that the isolation and stress of a 2.5-year round-trip mission to Mars present forbidding difficulties. On consideration, there is little reason to believe that this is true. Compared with the stresses dealt with by previous generations of explorers, mariners, prisoners, soldiers in combat and refugees in hiding, the adversities that will be faced by the hand-picked crew of a Mars mission seem extremely modest. In fact, history indicates that the human psyche, far from being the weak link in the chain of the piloted Mars mission, is very likely to be the strongest. DUST STORMS ARE NOT AN ISSUE WITH A MARS MISSION-Zubrin '99 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; Sending Humans to Mars; Scientific American Presents; 1999; page 46] Mars does have intermittent local, and occasionally global, dust storms with wind speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour (125 miles per hour). Attempting to land during such an event would certainly be a bad idea (in 1971 the Soviets lost two unmanned Mars probes this way). Once a ship is on the ground, however, the storms present little danger. The atmosphere on Mars has only about 1 percent the density of Earth's atmosphere at sea level. Thus, a wind with a speed of 200 kph on Mars exerts the same force as a 20-kph wind on Earth — really just a moderate breeze. The Viking landers endured many such storms with no damage. A/T: SHOULD GO ROBOTIC MISSIONS INSTEAD HUMANS MUST EXPLORE MARS-Haque ‘11 [Shirin, Ph.D., Astronomer, University of the West Indies, The Beckoning Red Dot in the Sky, The Journal of Cosmology, 2011, http://journalofcosmology.com/Mars151.html; retrieved 29 July 2011] The human spirit of adventure and exploration of the unknown is likely encoded into our genetic makeup to ensure our survival as a species despite the risk and possible death to the soldiers of exploration at the frontier for the sake of the many that follow and the future. Going to Mars is nothing more than the next logical step in our advancement of discovery and exploration. It must be done. Until we can do it -- we remain restless caged spirits. Sometimes, like in the case of the lunar landings, there was the dynamics of political agendas. Had there not been political agendas, I believe with certainty that humans would have landed on the moon nonetheless. It was the logical step at the time. The opportunity to make history, to be the early charters risking it all is a small price for the satisfaction of doing it. It is an elixir of life only to experienced. It is a part of us in the deepest sense and what makes us human.
[Dan; Prepare for landing; USA Today; 5 September 2007; page 7D] The next big mission comes in 2009, when NASA hopes to land its nuclear-powered Mars Science Laboratory Rover, designed to answer Hartmann's question on whether Mars could have supported microbes. "We need to connect the mission to future landings," says Friedman, whose society sponsored a DVD aboard the Phoenix lander that was packed with a story collection and the names of more than a quarter-million Mars mission supporters, intended as a library for future astronauts. The real question in Mars exploration, he adds, is whether the success of the robotic missions can translate into astronaut landings. "Mars is the eventual goal of any human space flight program," Friedman says. "For all the success we're having now, we have to remember it's not an ordinary thing to explore another planet." UNSTAFFED EXPLORATION DOESN'T COUNT AS TRUE EXPLORATION; HUMANS ARE REQUIRED-Lamb '10 [Gregory; One-way ticket to Mars?; The Christian Science Monitor; 17 November 2010; http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/One-way-ticket-to-Mars; retrieved 30 June 2011] Yet for some in the space community, "robots don't really count" as true exploration, he says. Exploration of Mars will require "very subtle forms of perception and on-the-spot intuition," argues Robert Zubrin, founder and president of the Mars Society, in another article in the Journal of Cosmology. "All of these skills are far beyond the abilities of robotic rovers.... Drilling to reach subsurface hydrothermal environments where extant Martian life may yet thrive will clearly require human explorers as well. "Put simply," he says, "as far as the question of Martian life is concerned, if we don't go, we won't know."
[Zachary; Budgeteers bushwhack president's Mars plan; They say the U.S. can't afford new space ventures; San Francisco Chronicle; 14 January 2004; page A15] Many space enthusiasts, however, argue against an over-reliance on robotic probes, saying a human presence in space is an essential part of America's long history of flight and space exploration -- whether or not it pays off in future commercial benefits or scientific breakthroughs. "It's part of our national identity to pioneer new frontiers. It is a uniquely American thing, to boldly go where no one has gone before," said John Pike, a longtime space analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org. "To ask about the commercial or scientific benefits of human space flight is like asking about the scientific benefits of the Fourth of July." MOST OF MARS' MYSTERIES WILL STAY UNKNOWN UNTIL HUMANS ARE ABLE TO TRAVEL THERE-Zubrin '96 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; Mars on a shoestring; November/December 1996; page 20] Mars became an even more tantalizing destination in August 1996 when NASA scientists announced that an Antarctic meteorite--apparently from Mars--contained organic molecules and formations suggestive of microbes. If these are the remains of life, they may well be evidence of only the most modest representatives of an ancient Martian biosphere whose more interesting and complex manifestations are still preserved in fossil beds on the planet. To find them, though, will take more than robotic eyes and remote control. In fact, all that Mars holds will remain beyond our grasp until men and women--agile, autonomous, intuitive beings--walk upon its surface. MARS IS AN IMPORTANT HUMAN ASPIRATION-Geller ‘11 [Harold, Ph.D., From the Pale Blue Dot to the Red Planet: Why Choose to go to Mars?; The Journal of Cosmology, 2011, http://journalofcosmology.com/Mars151.html; retrieved 29 July 2011] Even after all this banter about the supposed waste of taxpayer money to go to Mars, while I know not what others may feel, but for me, if given the opportunity I would be willing to go to Mars, even if it meant never returning to Earth. Since Neil Armstrong took those first steps on the Moon, I had dreamed of someone, perhaps even me, stepping on the sands of Valles Marineris, collecting rock samples along the way. I realize that I am too old for even this one-way mission, but there are others who are not. To give one's final days in service to the pursuit of knowledge, to many, is a fine end to a life lived as well as one could. It reminds me of Wolfgang Vishniac, who died on the hills of Antarctica. Sagan wrote of Vishniac in his seminal book Cosmos. Regarding Vishniac's last moments alive, Sagan pondered "perhaps something had caught his eye, a likely habitat for microbes, say, or a patch of green where none should be. We will never know. In the small brown notebook he was carrying that day, the last entry reads, 'Station 202 retrieved. 10 December 1973. 2230 hours. Soil temperature, -10 degrees. Air temperature -16 degrees.' It had been a typical summer temperature for Mars" (Sagan, 1980). It was Sagan who noted that we stand on "the shores of the cosmic ocean." He continued by saying: "The ocean calls. Some part of our being knows that this is from where we came. We long to return. These aspirations are not, I think, irreverent" (Sagan, 1980). I agree. UNSTAFFED MISSIONS AREN'T THE SAME AS EXPERIENCING IT WITH HUMAN EXPLORERS-Scoblic '04 [Peter J.; Earth Diarist: Rational Exuberance; The New Republic; 2 February 2004; page 34] It is true that humans "explore" in many ways, and plenty of scientists examine the cosmos and the very nature of reality itself without taking their feet off the ground. But it is also true that information is not the same thing as experience. The very tactility of discovery, as opposed to simple knowledge, is part of what makes it vital. Last September, I drove to rural Virginia, where a group of amateur astronomers had gathered their telescopes to glimpse Mars during its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years. With the naked eye, the planet was only a dot in the sky, vaguely orange but scarcely different from your average star. But, viewed through a telescope, the planet assumed character. A blurry white covered one tip--the southern polar cap--and a dark splotch marred its upper left: a dust storm. Watching the weather on another planet live and in color, I was--there is no other word--awed. In a society where "searching" now all too often refers to a trip to Google.com, such awe is sorely lacking. If we abandon our search for it, we condemn ourselves to a future of seeing things we have already seen, touching things we have already touched, going places we have already been. A manned mission to the Red Planet, then, is nothing less than a mission to rescue our appreciation for novelty and all that it inspires. After all, whoever said there's nothing new under the sun had obviously never been to Mars. LOOKING FOR PRACTICAL REASONS FOR STAFFED MISSIONS TO MARS MAY MISS THE REAL, UNDERLYING JUSTIFICATION-Scoblic '04 [Peter J.; Earth Diarist: Rational Exuberance; The New Republic; 2 February 2004; page 34] Applebaum mistakenly assumes that the benefits of a manned trip to Mars must be tangible if they are to be "rational." But it doesn't take a historian to know that the benefits of exploration are often impossible to forecast, nor does it take a philosopher to understand that those benefits can be affective, as well as cognitive. Exploration is valuable precisely because it is a "quest" that evokes "awe," precious not only for its visceral thrill but for the perspective it proffers. It forces us to question the future of our race, the maturation of civilization, and the reason for human existence. Such questions may seem indulgent, even silly, when contrasted with the immediate, practical demands of daily life, but that does not make them less important. If we do not ask them, we lose the opportunity to transcend the current and the mundane and imagine what we want the future to hold. HUMANS MUST GO TO MARS TO DO WHAT THE ROBOTS CAN'T-Zubrin '99 [Robert; President of the Mars Society; Sending Humans to Mars; Scientific American Presents; 1999; page 46] In the summer of 1996, in one of the most exciting announcements in history, NASA scientists revealed a rock ejected from Mars by meteoric impact that showed evidence of life on the Red Planet in the distant past. If this discovery could be confirmed by finding actual fossils on the Martian surface, it would, by implication, suggest that our universe is filled with life and probably intelligence as well. From the point of view of humanity learning its true place in the universe, this would be the most important scientific enlightenment since Copernicus. Although unmanned rovers can conduct a certain amount of the search for life on Mars, the best fieldwork requires the ability to travel long distances across very rough terrain, climb steep slopes, and do both heavy lifting and delicate sorting, as well as exercise on-the-spot intuition. All these skills are far beyond the abilities of robotic rovers. Field paleontology requires human explorers, live rockhounds on the scene. HUMAN CREWS ON MARS COULD DO IN TWO YEARS WHAT ROBOTS WOULD TAKE UP TO 200 YEARS TO ACCOMPLISH-Portree '97 [David S.F.; The new Martian chronicles; Astronomy; August 1997; page 32] Duke is confident, however, that astronauts will win the day. "Humans will substantially accelerate the rate at which we can learn about Mars," he says. He cites the example of a robotic sample-return mission. Such a mission needs years to plan, build, and launch, followed by a six-month flight to the Red Planet, almost two years on the surface, and then a six-month return to Earth. After flight, the samples would still have to be analyzed. More years would pass before any follow-up missions could be mounted to explore any questions the first mission raised. A piloted expedition, on the other hand, might require more time to plan and build, but it would also perform more science on Mars before returning to Earth. If explorers dug up something interesting, they would collect follow-up samples the following day, not years later. "Humans could do the same science on Mars in one or two years as robots could do in 100 to 200 years," Duke says. ALTERNATIVE PLAN: ONE-WAY MARS TRIPS ELIMINATING THE RETURN TRIP WOULD DECREASE THE COST OF MARS MISSIONS BY 80%-Lamb '10 [Gregory; One-way ticket to Mars?; The Christian Science Monitor; 17 November 2010; http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/One-way-ticket-to-Mars; retrieved 30 June 2011] Humans could be walking on Mars within the next couple decades, for only a fraction of the cost the United States has already budgeted for space exploration. How? The answer is simple, say a pair of Mars researchers: Give the explorers a one-way ticket. The most costly and tricky part of any manned space mission is providing life-support for its human crew: food, oxygen, and protection from radiation and other hazards of space travel. On a human mission to Mars, most of the cost - some 80 percent of it - would involve returning the crew to Earth, say Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies in the October-November issue of the Journal of Cosmology. Rather than quintuple the cost, those funds could go toward building a permanent settlement, the two scientists argue.
[Gregory; One-way ticket to Mars?; The Christian Science Monitor; 17 November 2010; http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/One-way-ticket-to-Mars; retrieved 30 June 2011] Perhaps new options will present themselves. Robinson imagines a kind of "virtual" space exploration, where instruments send back data so complete and realistic that earthbound humans feel almost as though they've visited the Red Planet themselves. But for some, nothing will replace making their own boot tracks in the Martian dust. "I still have small kids I would like to see grow up, but otherwise, yes, I would go" on a one-way expedition to Mars, Schulze-Makuch says. "I would be one of the first people on another planet and would experience seeing those canyons, those huge mountains. That would be just thrilling.... There would be so many things on the positive side for me as a scientist. It would be incredible." Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 1.79 Mb. Share with your friends:
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