Go to Mars in only 39 Days...
- Thread starter Mark Harris
- Start date
Nektonic
Veteran
Very nice. "Get your ass to Mars."
Of course, once these engines have been properly tested and the tech and mission planning is all there ready to go, I'm sure we'll have several big media personalities and some politicians who will do whatever it takes to kill any Mars or Moon missions.
rogar-Mad(DBG):
Of course, once these engines have been properly tested and the tech and mission planning is all there ready to go, I'm sure we'll have several big media personalities and some politicians who will do whatever it takes to kill any Mars or Moon missions.
rogar-Mad(DBG):John Morrison
Well-known member
It's not just the engines we need to bring up to speed (pardon the pun). The major problem has to do with shielding whatever spaceship is built, else we'd kill the astronauts - they'd probably be dead before they'd reached Mars. The International Space Station is protected by the radiation from Earth's magnetic field. A plasma shield may be able to provide a similar sheild for cosmic rays and solar winds, but there does need to be a lot more research into that.
Then, there's the problem of gravity. The human body requires it to function, and long duration missions without it causes more than just bone loss, as the ISS missions have shown.
Clearly, there are a few problems to think through.
Then, there's the problem of gravity. The human body requires it to function, and long duration missions without it causes more than just bone loss, as the ISS missions have shown.
Clearly, there are a few problems to think through.
Jon Starr
Veteran
True, but I think the main problem is radiation.
Gravity not so much as we have the technology/knowledge to simulate gravity in space, just we have to determine it's feasibility. I'm not certain of the engineering behind the feat to rotate the entire craft. I've also heard of small bed like machines where the person lays down and it rotates. I saw it on a mars special narrated by William Shatner.
As for radiation, I've heard that if you have a certain amount of water and/or organic material, you can use it to shield the radiation, no? I know in the book Red Mars they entered a special room with all of this water and organic material surrounding it. Or was it tanks of water? Even then they had a large dosage though. But it's just a book. However I heard the author spent years doing detailed research.
But if this engine becomes a reality, then it really would make things much easier. With a short mission now possible, it would cut down on costs significantly. So hopefully it'll become more of a reality, and sooner (rather than the date constantly being pushed back).
I think I remember 10 years ago they said they would travel to mars in 2011. Now it'll be 2020 to just go to the moon (which they say is a test for Mars). What happened to deciding to go to the moon and doing soon shortly after? Why wait 11 years?
Hopefully we'll reach mars... before I die...
John Morrison
Well-known member
ARES Build-out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOee5gAHckI
When I mentioned shielding, it was specifically to shield against the known forms of radiation. It's known that cosmic rays for instance, or more aptly, particles with sufficient energy traveling at sufficient velocity, cause DNA damage upon impact with organic matter. Water in sufficient quantities can act as a shield (assuming that the particles actually hit water molecules instead of passing through, creating hydrogen and oxygen, which needs to be recovered as well). Water though, is incredibly expensive to haul into orbit (it is actually the most expensive material to haul into orbit).
Shielding using water is a possibility, but only if it can be recovered and put back into the shielding system (else, you travel with empty tanks and no physical shield). Water's main uses in space though has higher priorities, creating breathable air, drinkable uncontaminated water, and fuel. Those are some of the primary reasons why we're looking for water in various places - besides the life-bearing potential.
The plasma shield has been found to actually divert higher energy particles around it, which would lesson the weight requirements of sending things into orbit, and make traveling longer distances safer. Think of it as the shields in Star Trek that the Enterprise uses, except that it's only able to divert high energy particles (and ions), instead of LASERs, missiles or solid projectiles.
The engine itself is reality, and I've seen it (I'd seen it when it was first developed and was in operation for the first 3 continuous days - I know a few folks on the project). In all honesty, it doesn't really look very impressive (nor does it have to), looking very similar to your average furnace pilot-light system, although with a few other wave-guide components tossed in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOee5gAHckI
When I mentioned shielding, it was specifically to shield against the known forms of radiation. It's known that cosmic rays for instance, or more aptly, particles with sufficient energy traveling at sufficient velocity, cause DNA damage upon impact with organic matter. Water in sufficient quantities can act as a shield (assuming that the particles actually hit water molecules instead of passing through, creating hydrogen and oxygen, which needs to be recovered as well). Water though, is incredibly expensive to haul into orbit (it is actually the most expensive material to haul into orbit).
Shielding using water is a possibility, but only if it can be recovered and put back into the shielding system (else, you travel with empty tanks and no physical shield). Water's main uses in space though has higher priorities, creating breathable air, drinkable uncontaminated water, and fuel. Those are some of the primary reasons why we're looking for water in various places - besides the life-bearing potential.
The plasma shield has been found to actually divert higher energy particles around it, which would lesson the weight requirements of sending things into orbit, and make traveling longer distances safer. Think of it as the shields in Star Trek that the Enterprise uses, except that it's only able to divert high energy particles (and ions), instead of LASERs, missiles or solid projectiles.
The engine itself is reality, and I've seen it (I'd seen it when it was first developed and was in operation for the first 3 continuous days - I know a few folks on the project). In all honesty, it doesn't really look very impressive (nor does it have to), looking very similar to your average furnace pilot-light system, although with a few other wave-guide components tossed in.