In mid-April, the Bay Area was treated to a rare lunar eclipse of a full moon. Those who stayed up late to view the red-hued moon also saw a smaller reddish orb in the same area of the sky. That was Mars, which had ventured to its closest position with earth for the past six years. Since America placed humans on the lunar surface 45 years ago, many citizens believe our next deep space journey should look beyond the moon… and focus on Mars.
Foremost among them is a person who is uniquely qualified to have his informed opinion heard. Buzz Aldrin, the Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 11 and one of the first two humans to set foot on the moon, is a major believer in aiming our next space-faring effort for Mars.
Last year he published a book called Mission to Mars. In it, Buzz details a vision of the steps needed to plant an American flag on the red soil of the 4th rock from the sun. Even with a well-funded, highly-focused program, he believes it will be a decade before we can get there.
NASA, however, doesn’t usually get all the funding it needs nor all the focus it wants. They believe a human landing mission will more likely take around 20 years of effort, with an “earliest date” of 2032.
Reaching Mars safely is far more difficult than putting a human on the moon. The moon is only 240 thousand miles away from earth, around which it orbits, so that distance remains constant. It can be reached in roughly three days using modern spacecraft technology. Lunar-based astronauts could be retrieved or resupplied relatively quickly if an illness or injury were to occur. Lunar explorers are also not subject to serious health risks that come with long-term solar radiation exposure.
However, the average “closest distance” Mars stays from the earth is around 48 million miles! Since it revolves around the sun, this only happens every 26 months, such as we saw this past April. For the rest of its 687 day cycle around the sun, the Mars elliptical orbit takes it as far as 250 million miles from earth. At a minimum, it would take a human-rated spacecraft six months just to reach the planet and, once there, the return journey would be difficult if not impossible to make until the next close approach.
Hence, a Mars exploration program will involve a 2-year journey to a hostile land rather than just a 1-week hop to our nearest heavenly neighbor. The logistics for a Mars landing are orders of magnitude more complex than the Apollo effort. A habitat of some sort will have to be erected; water, food and fuel will need to be carried with them (or have periodic resupply missions from earth), the atmosphere requires spacesuits to be worn at all times, and the temperature extremes must be dealt with.
In terms of our present day science and technology, how we enable a successful Mars expedition by 2032 is not completely clear. The Apollo program required an army of scientists, engineers and technicians, using slide rules, chalk boards and calculators, to work almost a decade to achieve their success. The Mars landing program will require a similar army of science-savvy people, although armed with sophisticated computers, data mines, neural networks and autonomous robots.
A major reason America won the 1960’s space race was the vast number of college graduates with degrees in science and engineering. The Apollo program, and the people involved, created a significant technological advantage for the U.S., generating political and economic power that has lasted for almost a half century.
The current U.S. work force has a deficit of this type of knowledge and skill (even in Silicon Valley). Hence, there is major national effort underway to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in high school and college. These are not only the key skills needed to build a successful Mars landing program, but the necessary foundation for continued economic prosperity in the U.S.
Danville’s own shuttle astronaut, Leroy Chiao, expressed his views at a recent Senate hearing, calling a Mars mission important not only for developing technologies beneficial to humans on Earth but for boosting national prestige and inspiration. “Human space flight has become woven into the very fabric of our identity, as a nation of explorers, innovators and entrepreneurs,” he said. “It was exactly the endeavors of the Apollo and prior programs that inspired me and my generation. We must do the same and more for our children and grandchildren, and to help maintain our position as the world leader.”
The USS Hornet Museum in Alameda has offered various types of STEM youth programs for many years. As part of this initiative, on July 26th, the museum is holding its 45th commemoration of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Called Splashdown 45, it will feature astronaut Buzz Aldrin and other space-exploration personalities. In addition to reviewing the Apollo effort, it will also explore some of the technologies and sciences needed to create a successful Mars landing program.
The first humans to walk on Mars have already been born and are quite likely in junior high school right now. The Hornet Museum hopes that one of them may have been inspired by attending this commemoration event, and be the featured speaker of Splashdown 70 in 2039, following their successful journey to the Red Planet!
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