Rejuvenated space program puts Mars within reach – Washington Examiner

Mars is within reach of Americas manned space program, thanks in no small part to the public-private partnership between NASA and SpaceX that was on display this weekend.

In fact, the founder and president of a nonprofit group devoted to the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet is convinced that a manned mission could take place much sooner than is commonly thought.

An aerospace engineer by trade, Robert Zubrin has gained notoriety by urging mission planners to embrace a vision for interplanetary travel that makes it possible for NASA to lighten the load through space by exploiting the natural resources available on Mars. Zubrin founded the Colorado-based Mars Society in 1998 for the purpose of galvanizing public interest in establishing a permanent human presence on the planet.

The successful launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule from the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, and its subsequent docking with the International Space Station about 19 hours later, marks a critical turning point in the American space program for sure. (The video for the SpaceX docking with the space station is available here.)

As Zubrin makes clear in his latest book, recent breakthroughs in rocket technology are opening up new avenues for the commercialization of space and for manned missions to the moon and Mars in the not-too-distant future.

The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility is, in some respects, as much about economics as it is about space. Zubrin credits Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, for the role he has played in engineering reusable rockets that can open the way to affordable, routine access to space. In his book, Zubrin describes SpaceX as the most remarkable aerospace company ever. He also discusses the technological and bureaucratic impediments that have prevented space launches from becoming more economical up until now.

The central institutional impediment to space progress is the system of cost-plus contracting the government has put into place in the very foolish belief that the price of hardware could best be kept under control by regulating contractors to charge their documented costs plus a modest set profit rate, Zubrin said. The private sector is needed, he argues, to create the right set of incentives. In the free enterprise world, manufacturers increase profit by cutting costs, he tells readers. In the cost-plus contractor world, manufacturers increase profit by increasing costs.

With the United States now back in the launch business, there is ample room for private entrepreneurs to step in with more advanced reusable space vehicles that will continue to lower the cost of entering space.

So, what about the future?

Zubrin is a proponent of what he calls a Mars Direct strategy for space travel he first outlined in 1989 that relies on relatively small spacecraft that can be launched directly from Earth to Mars. His plan has become even more feasible in recent years with the development of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy booster and the discovery of large quantities of water on Mars.

Instead of lugging fuel supplies through space in large, cumbersome vehicles, Zubrin would make use of the carbon dioxide, water, and other key ingredients already available in substantial supplies in the Martian atmosphere and environment to create the fuel needed for the return voyage. Thats the short version of how such a strategy would be executed.

Zubrin goes into detail about what kind of payload would be included in the Earth return vehicle and how the chemical process creating the fuel would work. He anticipates that the astronauts would explore the surface for 1.5 years before returning home. But the ultimate goal is to colonize Mars permanently. The raw materials available on the planet suggest this is an achievable goal. Zubrin points to experiments that show plants can grow in greenhouses with CO2 at Martian pressures to suggest that enough food could be produced to sustain human populations.

Mars is endowed with all the resources needed to support not only life but the development of a technological civilization, Zubrin writes. "Mars can be settled. For our generation and many that will follow, Mars is the New World.

Back on the space station, NASA officials view extended stays as a primer for missions to Mars. How long astronauts must remain in space depends on where Earth and Mars are in orbit when a mission is launched and on the power of the propulsion system. NASA documents estimate the trip could take as long as nine months.

But with SpaceX in mind, Zubrin entertains scenarios where the trip could be shorter.

Exploring Mars requires no miraculous new technologies, no orbiting spaceports and no gigantic interplanetary space cruisers, he writes. We can establish our first small outpost on Mars within a decade.

Thats optimistic, but the past few days demonstrate that the case for space has suddenly become more compelling, exciting, and believable than it has been at any other time since the Apollo program. That was a while ago.

Kevin Mooney (@KevinMooneyDC) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is an investigative reporter in Washington, D.C., who writes for several national publications.

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Rejuvenated space program puts Mars within reach - Washington Examiner