Daily Archives: April 30, 2017

Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson, who spent time aboard the International Space Station, told Trump this week: Were absolutely very ready to go to Mars. But she did not say when. Photograph: Reuters

Donald Trump would like to see Americans walk on Mars during his presidency within three to seven years, depending on the whims of the voting public. Nasa would love to get there that quickly, too. The reality of space travel is slightly more complicated.

On Monday, during a call with astronaut Peggy Whitson, who was aboard the International Space Station, Trump pressed her for a timeline on a crewed mission to Mars, one of Nasas longest standing and most daunting goals.

Tell me, Mars, he asked her from the Oval Office, what do you see a timing for actually sending humans to Mars? Is there a schedule and when would you see that happening?

Whitson answered by pointing out that Trump, by signing a Nasa funding bill last month, had already approved a timeline for a mission in the 2030s. She added that Nasa was building a new heavy-launch rocket, which would need testing. Unfortunately space flight takes a lot of time and money, she said. But it is so worthwhile doing.

Trump replied: Well, we want to try and do it during my first term or, at worst, during my second term, so well have to speed that up a little bit, OK?

It was not clear whether the president meant the remark as a quip or something more serious. Nasas current plan aims for a 2033 launch of a crewed mission to orbit Mars, with a later mission to land there just as the Apollo missions circled the moon before touching down. Even with private partnerships that Trump has encouraged, for instance with Elon Musks SpaceX, getting to Mars will take years.

With Nasas current budget it would be challenging to go to Mars without a massive increase, Phil Larson, a former senior adviser for space and innovation to Barack Obama, told the Guardian. Larson said that Nasa is far more prepared to go to Mars today than it was to go to the moon in the 1960s, but stressed: The devils in the detail and the devils in the funding.

In the bill last month, Trump and Congress kept most of the agencys funds intact, at about $19bn, but cut $200m for climate science, education programs and an asteroid mission that Nasa had hoped would be a stepping stone to Mars. Although 100 days into his presidency, Trump has not yet named anyone as Nasas administrator. Nasa has estimated that the total cost of missions to Mars would be hundreds of billions of dollars.

Larson wrote in an op-ed last month that at the rate set by Trumps budget request, sending humans to Mars in less than a decade is not just impossible, its laughable.

Depending on launch timing, it takes seven to nine months simply to reach Mars from Earth the Apollo missions to the moon took on average three days and Nasa has to overhaul its rockets and spacecraft for such a long mission.

The agency is currently building the most powerful rocket the agency has ever designed, called the Space Launch System (SLS). On Thursday, the agency pushed back its planned 2018 test flight to 2019, after a report by the Government Accountability Office cast doubt on the rocket systems readiness to fly.

The private spaceflight company SpaceX is also developing a new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, and has announced an ambitious plan to use it to take two private citizens around the moon in 2018. That rocket also remains untested in flight.

SpaceXs CEO Musk wants to reach Mars by 2024, but has acknowledged that his private company would probably need help and luck for that optimistic timeline. Any organization, public or private, needs to solve the challenges of fueling, radiation bombardment, and, if it wants to land, how to do so safely and with the ability to take off again from the surface of Mars. The planets atmosphere is about 100 times thinner than Earths, making descent faster and more perilous than when astronauts return home.

Deep space is full of hazards to life, and Nasa has said that a crewed mission to Mars and back could take as long as three years. The agency plans to send a crewed mission into deep space in the 2020s as a readiness gauge a test of whether it has technology for a long-term space habitat, protected against effects of radiation and microgravity, which over time weakens bones, muscles and eyesight. Lockheed Martin, Nasas partner for the project, is working toward a main base camp spacecraft for 2028.

Astronauts on a Mars mission will also face psychological tests of extreme isolation and close quarters whose only comparisons might be the journeys of 16th-century mariners, 19th-century whalers and the Arctic explorers in centuries past. Space agencies have had several teams do mock missions for as long as 500 days, and Nasa researchers have stressed that psychological tests and prep will be key for any crew.

Though the International Space Station has had humans on board for over a decade, it receives regular supplies and only a handful of people have logged more than 340 continuous days in space (Whitson holds the US record). A mission to Mars requires food, oxygen, water and fuel for as much as three times as long. Astronauts who land on the surface would not only need those resources, they would have to contend with uncertain terrain, high winds and even dust that could be toxic. And while the moon is sterile, Nasa also does not want to contaminate a planet where liquid water still flows nor have Mars contaminate the astronauts.

Were absolutely very ready to go to Mars, all of us would be very happy to go, Whitson told Trump on Monday. She did not say when.

Read more:

Trump has grand plan for mission to Mars but Nasa advises: cool your jets - The Guardian

In the halcyon days of yore, people put away money with the hopes of retiring somewhere warm, where they could argue about chicken salad with other curmudgeons until they expired. But very soon, the new retirement hotspot might be on Mars. While billionaires like Elon Musk have long touted human settlement of the Red Planet, at least a few ordinary folks are listeningand saving up money accordingly.

After SpaceXs most recent success with the launch and landing of a refurbished Falcon 9 rocket, everyone in (and out of) the aerospace community was buzzing about the next steps. The big benefit of reusable rockets is that theyll make space travel cheaper, and therefore more accessible, for the average personat least thats what Musk and his company claim.

Following that launch, automated investing serviceBetterment, which assists folks in planning for big-ticket life events like retirement, pulled some data on its customers. In a search of 250,000 accounts, the companys analysts found that among the usual account types (e.g. retirement, anniversary trip), there were 22 accounts set up for either Mars or Space. According to Betterment, some accounts are receiving $1,000 a month in deposits, and one, opened in January 2016, has a staggering $60,000 saved. Betterment told Gizmodo that the earliest space-related account was set up in March 2014.

I think theres a nice dovetail here with Elon [Musk] and SpaceX, who are looking far into the future of where humanity is going to be, and what we need to do to bootstrap ourselves into the stars, Dan Egan, Betterments VP of behavioral finance, told Gizmodo. The whole idea is that over time, the price of [space travel] will come down, and if our customers start saving, theyre going to be able to afford that.

Indeed, Elon Musk has already touted a relatively affordable $200,000 price tag for SpaceX-led trips to Mars. Egan said that by Betterments calculations, a customer would have to contribute $263 dollars a month in order to get to Mars in 30 years, assuming a 6 percent annual realized returnin English, that means how much you gained/lost over a year. So, the future is now-ish.

These are goals that are pretty serious, Egan added. Two of [the accounts] have about $1,000 going into them on a monthly basis, which is not an insignificant amount of money. According to Egan, the companys average clients tend to be individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and tech-enabled.

Sowho the hell are these financial unicorns who have enough money to comfortably afford food, rent, and space travel? We spoke with one of thema lawyer named Michael Cappo, who lives and works in the midwest. He opened a space tourism account with Betterment three years ago and has been socking away a few hundred dollars per month.

Cappo explained that space exploration has been a life-long fascination of his, in addition to traveling in general. Growing up, my dad was really into sci-fi and aliens, he explained. So Ive always had an interest in space, and combining that with really liking to travel...it would be a fun adventure.

While hes still mulling over whether or not hed like to end up on Mars, Cappo said hes very interested in checking out commercial space tourism opportunities, like those being created by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Blue Origins New Shepard capsule will send people on short stints into suborbital space, while SpaceX plans to carry two passengers around the Moon next year in its Dragon 2 spacecraft.

Id like to return home to Earth, but well see what happens, Cappo said. A lot of [space tourism technology] is developing pretty quickly, so maybe the answer will be different in 50 years.

Ideally, a sojourn in space would be the ultimate getaway. But although commercial entities continue to develop impressive tourism vehicles, the risks of sending untrained citizens off Earth remain very real. As for retiring on another planet, were still just learning how long-duration spaceflight and extended time in microgravity affect the human body, say nothing of psychological element that comes with being stuck on a barren planet. Needless to say, folks who are planning ahead ought to be sure theyre thinking about the potential medical bills.

Cappo added that hes aware of the risks of spaceflight but doesnt really have any reservations.

I feel pretty secure, he said. But hopefully by the time I would be in the position to go, some of the kinks will be worked out.

Obviously, weve got a long way to go until theres a Margaritaville on Mars. Itll definitely be interesting to see how popular the early bird special is there.

Read more:

People Are Already Opening Accounts to Save for Space - Gizmodo - Gizmodo