Purdue student closer to a trip to Mars

Would you take a trip to Mars if it meant you could never return to Earth?

Thats a question one Purdue student has already answered yes to.

Max Fagin, a first year masters student in aerospace engineering, is one of 1,000 students in the running to join the Mars One mission to send humans to the red planet.

Mars One, a not-for-profit organization, plans on establishing the first human colony on Mars. Fagin was one of nearly 200,000 people from all over the world interested in the mission.

One of the biggest challenges in any space exploration endeavor is the total mass you have to launch to your destination, Fagin said. On Mars, you have to launch not just the crew, but the habitat, the vehicle that will get (the crew) there, the vehicle that will get them back and fuel for both of them. Its an incredibly difficult mission; thats why we havent done it yet.

The catch is the Mars One crew is unable to return to Earth upon arrival.

Michael Grant, an assistant professor of aeronautical and astronautical engineering and Fagins faculty adviser, said although Mars One may face some political ramifications, making the trip one-way simplifies and expedites the colonization process.

Theres a lot of research being done at NASA right now to figure out how to put people on Mars, which is a really hard problem because the atmosphere of Mars is extremely thin, Grant said. It would be like flying at 100,000 feet here and the normal jet airliners fly at about 35,000 feet.

It would be easier to send people near Mars without actually landing on the surface, but Grant said that would be like taking kids to Disney World and not letting them out of the car.

It would be pretty painful to get out there to see it and not be able to land on it, Grant said.

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Purdue student closer to a trip to Mars