Category: Mars

Since the early 1970’s the mysterious Red Planet has been closely examined by rovers and space probes, which have sent back invaluable information. Mars at large is a unique and different place compared to Earth, with the thin atmosphere that conjures winds and storms many times stronger than what we experience and the signs of liquid water in the past sparks curiosity in many astronomers.

The exploration of Mars there has been many discussions within space exploration institutions to send a manned-mission to Mars. Although media may portray Mars as the ideal destination the trip to the Martian soil, assuming both planets are properly positioned it would take roughly six months with the current rocket technology at our disposal to span the 54.5 million kilometers which separates Earth from Mars. There are many proposed methods to reach Mars, however currently the most energy efficient is the Hohmann transfer orbit, which uses the spacecrafts own velocity to escape out of Earth’s gravity and then decelerates as it approaches Mars gravitational field.

Once in the larger orbit of Mars, the spacecraft will begin aerobraking which has been previously successful in other missions. Aerobraking is used when the spacecraft first enters the orbit of Mars in an elongated elliptical orbit when can be circularizes (achieves the desired orbit, i.e orbit trim) by passing through the upper atmosphere many times to slow down. Depending on the atmosphere, a single rotation may be enough to slow down the spacecraft to the desired speed.

However, the heat caused through friction would require more heat shielding in turn adding more weight, also unpredictable turbulence effects and atmospheric conditions could be very difficult to predict. To reach the final orbit for Mars would take hundreds of passes (6 months) and would require some adjustment via thrusters at the final pass to remain in a stable orbit.

With these methods trip to Mars takes on average 300 days and with the transfer window open every two year, this makes manned mission to Mars rather difficult as the astronauts must wait a period of time to return back to Earth. However there are private companies that are researching better and more effective methods of rockets. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is a type of fuel which uses low enriched uranium which could theoretically half the journey time and could make it possible to execute mission even when the two planets are not aligned.

A faster Mars mission that takes 250 days for a return trip can be achieved with on-orbit staging (OOS). OOS is the combination of pre-positioning fuel supplies that are strategically placed in low-earth orbit (LEO) prior to the actual launch. This concept can be applied with many different types of rockets if not all, as the only variables are the number of assets in LEO. It is possible with modern technology to enable these methods, and with the combination with proposed NTP as the fuel source; the journey to Mars may not seem as difficult as once perceived.

Aerocapture, is similar to aerobraking but only undergoes one rotation. The drag generated would slow down the craft and would require a very small amount of fuel to decelerate, this would allow a noticeable increase in the overall payload for future missions; a economical gain nevertheless. With better thermal protection, aerocapture can allow faster deceleration to other planets and moons.

These new techniques in space exploration can be utilised and perfected through shorter trips to the moon, as it would be far more economically viable. Also the establishment of a moon base could potentially assist future missions to Mars, as the gravity is significantly lower compared to Earth.

Benefits

Greater scientific findings

With only our remotely controlled robots exploring the Martian soil, there has been a ever growing fascination on humans to step foot on the red planet and the heightened competition between private institutions and government space programs, it is estimated humans may reach Mars as early as 2030. These human explorers can conduct a wider range of scientific experiments that is impossible for robots to do. We know that Mars was once a planet which had a warm climate and liquid water on its surface for over a billion years, Earth only had one fifth of the time to develop with liquid water. So if we consider this, life could have possibly appeared on Mars at some time in the past, and if we humans can find fossils of past life on Mars it would be a unfathomable scientific discovery. Contrasting to this, if we do not find any signs of past life, it is reasonable to conclude that the formation of life is near impossible.

Inspiration

As humans we grow and can expand our knowledge when we are given a challenge, as humans have already been to the Moon, there would not be a need for innovation for space exploration. However, if challenging task such as Mars is the goal there would be a major advancement in the current technology we have access to today.

Space exploration is perhaps the most inspiring for us, as it encapsulates the efforts of the great minds of engineers and scientists for a greater cause. It would motivate millions to pursue a STEM related career and the intellectual gains from all nations would greatly benefit mankind, outweighing the overall cost of the space program. Additionally, Mars is the first step towards a multi planet species, by utilising newer rocket technologies, interplanetary travel could become very common in the near future.

Resources

Mars contains many different elements and raw materials that are useful for the expansion of Mars colonise. These materials can be gathered to construct vehicles, buildings, and rockets, without needing to rely on Earth to send supplies. Metals that are both rare and valuable on Earth are abundant on Mars, Deuterium is five times more abundant which is the fuel used for nuclear fusion. This would easily spark commercial interest to manufacture and mine these minerals on Mars. Also, with the gravity on Mars being 2.4 times less than on Earth, the rockets would be able to carry a greater supply when exporting to Earth.

Sending people to Mars is one of humanity’s greatest ambitions this century. We are not just going there, but we plan live there as well. With the climate of Earth heading toward a dire state human might need to leave Earth indefinitely one day. However, sending people to Mars is no easy task and the challenges that lie ahead for humans are monumental. Firstly, what environmental challenges does Mars pose to humans and how can we combat them? Secondly, what would the biological and psychological effects on humans if we move to Mars? Lastly, should we go to Mars at all? Sending people to Mars is the next step in space exploration and pushes humanity to new goals heights to face the monumental challenges ahead, however, we must ask if we have the right to colonize Mars.

Mars is the closest planet to Earth naturally making it the most likely to be habitable. However, the contrast in environments between the two planets is still massive. Humans plan to go to Mars as early as the 2030’s to set up small settlements, but there are seven main environmental issues to face when going to Mars. These challenges include cosmic ionizing radiation, increased radiation dose from solar particle events, solar UV radiation, reduced gravity, dust storms, a thin atmosphere, and freezing temperatures.

Radiation poses the obvious danger of cancer to humans. Radiation is such a big issue on Mars because the planet lacks the magnetic field and dense atmosphere Earth has. The most dangerous form of radiation are galactic cosmic rays. These rays have a high enough energy level to pass through the metal of a spaceship and pass through human tissue as well. These rays halt cellular repair process and the recovery of irradiated tissues. Attempting to plant anything in the soil would fail due to galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles that poison the ground. Further tests by NASA on rodents found the galactic cosmic rays are damaging to cognitive health. The rodents also showed no signs of recovery from the harmful rays. Another issue that can cause physical problems for humans is low gravity.

The reduced gravity on Mars would cause physical problems such as muscle weakness and bone decay (NASA). This means humans living on Mars must exercise daily and intensely (NASA). On Earth, gravity pulls fluids down and affects pressure within the body. When gravity is reduced the intracranial pressure is changed causing headaches and impaired vision. The change in pressure can physically flatten the, “globe of the eye and dilatation of the optic nerve sheath” according to the article ‘Effect of gravity and microgravity on intracranial pressure’. Radiation and low gravity are the two main physical problems facing humans. The main environmental challenges are dust storms, freezing temperatures, and the atmosphere.

Dust storms on Mars can be massive. They can be kilometers wide and last for weeks or even months. The largest storms called “global” storms can stand forty kilometers tall and usually occur in the Martian spring and summer. The settlements will need to compensate for this and be extremely durable. In contrast to the extreme force and thickness of the dust storms, the atmosphere is very thin.

The atmosphere is so thin the entire pressure is only about six-hundred pascal. Compared to Earth’s atmospheric pressure of one-hundred-thousand pascal. In addition, Mars’ atmosphere is ninety-five percent carbon dioxide and less than one percent of oxygen. Temperatures on Mars can get as low as negative one-hundred-thirty degrees Fahrenheit. Humans will always have to wear a spacesuit if they are not in closed and secure environments. If humans on Mars are restricted to only small contained shelters, they are bound to face not only environmental challenges but humanistic and psychological challenges as well.

The first humans on Mars will be almost completely alone with only a handful of other people with them. Psychologically it will be immensely difficult to process. While traveling to another planet is exciting and thrilling there will be times of potential boredom, fatigue, and depression. Near complete isolation for an extended period increases the risk of psychiatric disorders. The humans on Mars won’t have access to fresh food either which could lead to malnourishment. The way Mars moves within the Solar System will be a challenge as well.

Humans will be almost completely cut off from Earth with communications between the two planets taking about twenty minutes. Days on Mars are thirty-eight minutes longer. That does not seem like much, but over time thirty-eight minutes will add up and potentially lead to sleep disorder due to the unbalance of the human circadian rhythm. Mars has four seasons but, a Martian year is 686.98 Earth days. An entire new calendar would need to be made due to all these factors.

There is one challenge we cannot do anything about. The trajectories of Earth and Mars. They do not follow each other or orbit at an optimal position all the time. Humans then, would only be able to send ships to Mars every two years. If humans on Mars needed help or supplies, they would have to wait and complete the two-year cycle before sending a spacecraft. Then humans would still have to wait the inevitable seven-month travel time from Earth to Mars. However, maybe these are problems that should be discarded and not worried about. Perhaps, humans should not go to Mars to prevent forward contamination and ethical values.

The argument humans should not go to Mars is a valid one. Humans are unorganized and mess things up which is reflected in the current state of Earth. Martian microbes may exist that we have yet to discover. Currently there are protocols in place by COSPAR for vehicles travelling to Mars. The vehicles are required to be assembled in a clean room to reduce the chance of forward contamination. However, for humans going to Mars forward contamination is greatly increased. Humans carry large amounts of different microbes that can contaminate Mars. Despite the harsh environment there may be life on Mars we may know about due to forward contamination. Colonizing Mars could be considered an invading process of the natural environment.

Sending people to Mars is the next step in space exploration and pushes humanity to new goals heights to face the monumental challenges ahead, however, is it right to go to Mars? Reflecting on all the challenges and asking the ethical questions that put doubt into the decision it might not seem worth it. However, I would argue for colonizing Mars. Going to Mars is human’s greatest ambition currently. Once completed there will always be a next step. Eventually goals will be of interstellar travel, harvesting the power of the Sun through a Dyson Sphere for unlimited renewable energy, and finding out more about the universe from these advances. No matter how impossible those concepts seem humans always take steps to one day reach them.

In the past, The human who dreamt of becoming an astronaut can not achieve his dream, because there are no missiles or machines. Nowadays, with advanced technology, this dream is achievable. His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that the goal of the UAE is a great goal. Which is that the UAE will enter the space industry sector and benefit from space technology. The UAE is among the major countries in the field of space science. The UAE has also participated in the new probe which will be launched with an Emirati team. With all these achievement Should the UAE invest in space exploration and colonization?

The Space Regulatory Authority UAE has and investment plan that gives priority to building local expertise also launched a national strategy , space exploration missions and space tourism . This strategy aims to support the realization of the UAE vision in the space sector but this investment plan seeks to increase the sector’s contribution to the UAE economy according to (AS , MAY 31.2017).The UAE’s first satellite was launched in 1998, and the UAE has invested more than 20 billion dirhams in the sector. It now has in orbit 10 satellites. The UAE will launch another satellite by the end of 2019 on the mezn sat channel, developed by students of the American University of Ras Al Khaimah and Khalifa University.

The UAE have allot achievements in space fields one of these achievements is UAESA .The United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) is an agency of the United Arab Emirates government responsible for the growth of the country’s space industry. It was created in 2014 and is responsible for developing, fostering also regulating a sustainable and world-class space sector in the UAE according to ( SZ,SR).In addition to that the agency is charged with the growth of the sector through partnerships, academic programs and investments in R&D, commercial initiatives, also driving space science research and exploration.

The agency has many purpose that were announced in may 2015 and they include improve and guide a world-class national space sector that supports sustainable advancement, engage and support young Emiratis to become space scientists also technology pioneers, Build and enhance Promote scientific research and innovation to support progress in space sciences and technologies, and international co-operation and partnership to provide administrative services with high quality standards and transept.

This agency has many action for example, Agency is involved in directing, exploit in, and promoting a number of initiatives. The UAE has launched before to the presence of the Agency commercial satellites constructed by EADS (YahSat 1A and 1B), Boeing (Thuraya 1, 2 and 3) and MBRSC DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, developed as part of a technology transfer program with South Korea’s Satrec Initiative, resulting in an existing space sector investment of some $5.5 billion.

The Hope Mars Mission it have another name for it which is called Emirates Mars Mission, is a space exploration probe mission to Mars funded by the United Arab Emirates and structure by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, the University of Colorado, and Arizona State University and set for launch in 2020. onto launch, it will become the first mission to Mars by any Western Asian, Arab or Muslim majority country. The realization will study the climate every day and through seasonal cycles, the weather events in the depress atmosphere such as dust storms, as well as the weather different geographic areas. The probe will attempt to response the scientific community query of why Mars atmosphere is losing hydrogen and oxygen into space and the reason behind Mars drastic climate changes.

The assignment is being carried out by a team of Emirati engineers in collaboration with foreign research foundations, and is a contribution across a knowledge-based economy in the UAE. The probe has been named Hope or Al-Amal and it is scheduled to reach Mars in 2021, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates’ formation.

The scientific objectives for the Hope Mars Mission, as agreed upon by the global Mars science community, are aimed at providing a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere. The probe will study the climate every day and through seasonal cycles, the weather events in the depress atmosphere such as dust storms, as well as the weather on Mars different geographic areas. According to the Hope Mars Mission team, the probe will be Mars ‘first true weather satellite’ according to ( KA) .The Hope probe will also study the atmospheric layers of Mars in detail and will provide data to study: the reason for a drastic climatic change in the Martian atmosphere from the time it could sustain liquid water to today, when the atmosphere is so thin that water can only exist as ice or vapor, to help understand how and why Mars is losing its hydrogen and oxygen into space, and the connection between the upper and lower levels of the Martian atmosphere. Data from the Hope probe will also help to model the Earth’s atmosphere and study its evolution over millions of years. All data gained from the mission will be made available to 200 universities and research institutes across the globe for the purpose of knowledge sharing according to ( KA). Now we will talk about another achievement of UAE. The UAE turned a new chapter in its history on Wednesday, with the sending of its first astronaut into space. The groundbreaking achievement marks a milestone in the country’s pursuit of space exploration and future making. This red-letter day comes just two years after the launch of the UAE’s first Astronaut program, dedicated to selecting and training four Emirati Astronauts on various space missions heading to the International Space Station within the next five years.

The plan aims to improve a national team of astronauts that can achieve the country’s aspirations in taking part in scientific and manned space exploration missions.In 2014, the UAE launched the Hope Mars Mission, a space exploration probe mission to Mars, and is set for launch in 2020. Built by the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre.On the day of declaration, Sheikh Mohammed said, ‘On this day, a new chapter in our history begins with the launch of the first UAE Astronaut Program, dedicated to training and sending four Emirati Astronauts into space according to (J,R) . The people of the UAE will break barriers, there is no power strong enough to stand in the way of those who approve nothing is not possible.

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed said that “I proudly watched as Hazza Al Mansouri lifted off into space. This event strengthens our confidence in our youth who will take our nation to new heights and reinforces our ambitions for the future according to (J,R). We pray for Hazza’s success and his safe return home,” His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, tweeted.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, who witnessed the launch live from MBRSC, dedicated this historic achievement to His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces according to (J,S) 26 march 2019 . He said the achievement is a reminder of the historical contributions of Arabs to world knowledge and science, which are still being taught today in the world’s largest universities and science institutes.

In conclusion , I think that the UAE has a great goal which will enter the space industry through the perseverance and support of other sectors and employees who are characterized by creative thinking.

I chose this topic because we had watched a video in class by Elon Musk on colonizing mars and I took an interest to it since.By the end of this you will have an idea if you think we should or should not colonize Mars. Colonizing Mars would make sure that our species survive,the only home we’ve ever had is Earth.But history shows that surviving as a species on this tiny blue planet is not guaranteed to last forever because of things like global warming etc.The CEO of The Planetary Society ‘Nye’ said that humanity should focus on sending humans to mars instead of robots because they can make discoveries 10,000 times faster than robots.It has been said that there is water on Mars so that would be a pull factor here.

If you are for colonizing Mars then you would have a pretty strong argument to persuade some people.Mars does have an atmosphere,not a great one but there is one.Evidence suggests that there is water on Mars.Ready access to water would be important not only for our ability to stay hydrated and grow things, but because we would be able to use it to create oxygen to breathe.There is also gravity in Mars,infact the gravity on Mars Is stronger than it is on the moon.If you were to weigh to 200 pounds on Earth you would way 75 pounds on Mars.[image: ]

While there are many advantages to colonizing Mars there are also a lot of disadvantages.Mars is very very cold,it is actually colder than the Antarctica,The usual temperature at night is -70⁰ and can drop to -100⁰!It does get warm at midday and reacher 0⁰ and has huge temperature swings that can reach up to 70⁰!.Every summer roughly 2 earth years theres a big chance of dust storms,they can last for weeks and drop the suns light by 99%

Another disadvantage is that humans would eventually destroy Mars the way we did with Earth unless we change our ways but it could be too late. If you disagreed with colonizing Mars you would also have a strong argument making a pretty good debate!It is a very cold planet and we would have to adapt to the living conditions over there.Theres a lot of sand storms and they completely remove light from the planet.And lastly we have quite a big chance of destroying the planet which would mean we would again have to look for a third planet and then probably destroy that one too.

So we’re coming towards the end now,I hope that you have a better idea of what would have to happen in order to move humanity to Mars.Personally I think it is a very good idea but will take a long time and will cost a lot of money.

References

1. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/5-undeniable-reasons-why-humans-should-go-to-mars-2015-4 -used this website for my advantages and argument for colonizing Mars
2. https://www.science20.com/robert_inventor/blog/ten_reasons_not_to_live_on_mars_great_place_to_explore-118531 -used this website for my disadvantages and my argument against colonizing Mars

Going to Mars is a SERIOUS topic. Space experts throughout the world are debating whether or not we humans should go to Mars. We think it’s a bad idea to go to Mars. It’s very dangerous, for example, and it’s a waste of money. So, people aren’t willing to go to Mars.

To start, it’s a very dangerous task to travel to Mars. Mars is very far from Earth, and it would be dangerous on the way there. Mars has dangerous living conditions such as storms of dust and meteor activity due to the thin atmosphere of Mars, which can be very hazardous. In reality, in David Shiga’s article ‘Stephen Hawking calls for colonies on Moon and Mars,’ Hawking claimed that long flights in microgravity might lead to health problems including bone loss. These are just a few of the risks in Earth.

The whole Mars mission is also a waste of money. The Mars mission costs $6 billion! By using our advanced technology to travel to Mars, this money can be better invested. With the technology we have, we will reach the entire solar system. It’s much easier to use this process. Even, the Mars mission could crash. The dangerous environments on Mars may not even be possible for humans to survive. Therefore, going to Mars requires a great risk that can result in money wasting. Therefore, we should spend our money in flying to a world like Earth instead of going to Mars. So, the mission to Mars is definitely a waste of money.

Although we feel it’s a bad idea to send people to colonize Mars, from the other side we see some good points. It would pave the way for future exploration, for example. If we can colonize Mars, who knows what else we can achieve! Even if we humans are unable to explore Mars, we could send robots to do that for us just as Stephen Hawking said in the article, ‘Stephen Hawking calls for colonies of Moon and Mars.’ The robots have been able to record information for us to observe here on Earth and it is much safer as well. Although it’s all real, it’s not the brightest idea yet. Although it may be possible to do the exploration for us by sending robots to Mars, it is not the same as humans. People would be able to do exactly what they were planning to do, and to observe exactly what they are looking for.

In short, we think it’s a bad idea to go to Mars. It’s very dangerous, for example, and it’s a total waste of money. Going to Mars is a big risk, and we can’t just take the opportunity. There are many hurdles and difficult challenges to the Mars mission. Therefore, people are not supposed to go to Mars.

Abstract

This paper addresses the possible causations and engineering failures that led to the demise of NASA’s mars climate orbiter mission in 1998 by summarising and analysing the technical and human factors leading to the incident. The primary fault at hand was the failure to programme and operate the trajectory of the spacecraft in the required manor, causing the space probe to enter a trajectory that took the spacecraft within the minimum altitude at which the spacecraft could survive and operate effectively. Furthermore, any underlying issues or ethical malpractices that could have led to failures in the Mars climate orbiter’s mission will be brought to attention as well as if any regulatory actions were ignored or not followed correctly, which if were followed correctly, may have prevented the engineering failures associated with this disaster. This report also identifies the post disaster action taken to prevent similar engineering and human communication failures in future projects.

Introduction

The Mars climate orbiter (MCO) was launched on December 11, 1998 and was lost on September 23, 1999. The MCO had unintentionally been projected into a path that took it to an altitude too close to Mars’ surface. [1] Ultimately, the MCO had not been engineered with a structure or with the expensive materials required for it to survive within the planet under investigation’s atmosphere, despite the probe costing $327.6 million to research and produce. [2] This meant that the spacecraft either disintegrated in Mars’ atmosphere or deflected and re-entered heliocentric space.

The primary cause for the disappearance of the MCO spacecraft was the failure of NASA’s ground teams to use metric units when coding its trajectory paths. English imperial units were implemented into the coding programme used for the MCO’s computers as these were developed by Lockheed Martin Astronautics, who designed and built the spacecraft, provided data in imperial units. [3] Ultimately, this meant the trajectory data was entirely incorrect and post-failure calculations showed that the spacecraft was on a path that would have taken the MCO to within 57 kilometres of the surface of Mars. Previous calculations showed that the MCO was only capable of surviving in altitudes higher than 80 kilometres.[1]

These failures were fatal and should have been a key consideration for NASA before launching the MCO as one of the key objectives of the MCO mission was to Map the thermal structure of the atmosphere from the surface to 80 km altitude, therefore altitude trajectory should have been a key issue when testing its programming, as the MCO needed to be placed at very specific altitudes in order to successfully complete this objective.

Analysis of disaster

The first and arguably most significant technical fault that led to this disaster was the fact that the MCO’s programming system incorporated the wrong numerical units for NASA’s use of the product. Also, the fact that there were no conversion algorithms incorporated in the MCO’s computers or displays of which numerical unit system was in use meant that the MCO was bound to be projected into an undesired trajectory with NASA’s American teams controlling the space probe in metric units.[3] The effect of these faults coupled together ultimately caused the space probe to enter an altitude at which it could not operate and would be destroyed or lost in space.

Secondly, another key technical fault was in play leading to this disaster as errors went undetected within NASA’s computer models of how thruster firings on the spacecraft were predicted and then carried out on the spacecraft during its mission. These computational models were also programmed in metric units so when it was discovered that the MCO was headed on the wrong trajectory during the mission, the calculations produced in an attempt to salvage the mission were incorrect. [4] The teams working on the trajectory path of the MCO requested calculations of how long to fire the MCO’s small thrusters to deflect the path of the MCO away from Mars’ atmosphere. The results of these calculations were given in pound-force seconds rather than Newton seconds, which the software of the probe’s computers incorporated. Ultimately, this meant that when the small thrusters were used, there was not enough force programmed into its software to manoeuvre the MCO away from the atmosphere of Mars, meaning it remained on its incorrect trajectory that led to it being lost in Mars’ atmosphere. [5]

The key human errors involved in the failure of the MCO mission was the failure of the engineering design, manufacturing, project management and testing teams working on the MCO to communicate effectively and carry out sufficient, thorough testing in the pre-launch phase. Important information failed to be passed on to those who needed it on multiple occasions, either due to communications being too informal, or, key information simply not being highlighted to selective teams working on the project, where this information would have been significant. For example, the failure of NASA’s ground teams to identify that the English computing software may be in English units was exemplified by the fact that nobody had queried the English production teams.[6] Furthermore, the testing teams failed to highlight that the software was in fact not in metric units and simply assumed the operating teams would be aware of this, meant that they did not communicate this key finding during their testing of the product and ultimately this fault in the software was the basis of the missions failure.[7]

Also, there were further miscommunications and a lack of communication between engineering teams and operating teams during the post launch phase of the mission. In effect with this, operating teams failed to produce enough detailed calculations so that the trajectory of the MCO was not controlled effectively. During the mission, days after the MCO was projected towards the surface atmosphere of Mars, navigation teams identified that the MCO seemed to be at an altitude much lower than it was programmed to be.[1] This navigation team produced these calculations and passed on this information to the correct operating unit far too late, therefore, the MCO was heading towards mars at a rate too quickly for the control teams to abandon the initial trajectory programming. Ultimately, this meant that they had practically abandoned the entire mission as it was too late to recover the MCO and shortly after, it lost signal with NASA’s ground teams.[4]

Combining these two key human errors and miscommunications, it is evident that NASA’s ground staff and teams working on this project may have had a lack of training and professional guidance. The fact that communications were too informal or key information was overlooked and, in some cases, even failed to be passed on within a suitable timeframe is evidence that the selected teams working on the MCO mission had a lack of experience working with each another. Furthermore, the fact that during the testing process key technical faults, i.e. the wrong programming units were being used, were not identified shows that these testing teams were not up to the standard required to collaborate with the other teams working on such a high profile project.[6]

Discussion

When analysing this particular incident, there is a recurring theme appearing that led to the demise of the MCO’s mission. Each key technical fault or human error involved here relates to the fact that the MCO software was programmed in imperial units and NASA’s ground teams at the time used metric units. This, therefore, is the primary factor that led to the failure of NASA’s MCO mission. This is because it was fatal in that it caused navigation teams to project the MCO into an altitude where it lost signal and would be destroyed in Mars’ atmosphere or deflected into heliocentric space. Whether NASA themselves were to blame or whether Lockheed Martin Astronautics were at fault, due to designing and manufacturing a product not entirely suited for their client’s intended use, is questionable.

However, as previously analysed, there were many other factors and key players involved in the failure of this mission, not simply the failure to collaborate and convert to a set of universal programming units. NASA must take responsibility for the failure of the mission since they had numerous opportunities to identify this key fault in their spacecraft and had failed to identify and rectify their mistakes in a timely manner.[8]

The technical faults of the product itself were clearly significant, however, the failure of NASA to specify that they needed their product’s software to be programmed in metric units was the key reason for this. Furthermore, NASA’s project management during this mission was poor and led to complacencies within the teams designated to run the project. The lack of effective communication between teams and external stakeholders involved with the mission was the underlying key factor leading to the mission failure. Communication of vital information between NASA’s ground teams was not monitored sufficiently, leading to informal discussions between teams, leading to vital information not being passed on to those who needed it. For example, the navigation unit failed to inform the operating teams that the MCO seemed to be at a location where it was not intended to be until the MCO had already passed an altitude where it was bound to lose signal at any moment. The key reason for this was that the navigation team were not carrying out regular calculations on the MCO’s trajectory and documenting them to the correct standard.

A key professional ethical concern is considered here as the discrepancy between calculated and measured position, had been noticed earlier by navigators, whose concerns were rejected by management teams because they ‘did not follow the rules about filling out the form to document their concerns’.[7] The fact that management teams did not even consider that the entire mission was at risk here due to ground staff not following company policy correctly seems unprofessional in itself. However, the fact that such a significant observation was not documented or communicated professionally by the navigation team is further evidence of a lack of personal engineering ethical behaviour as the individuals failed to follow professional standards when dealing with extremely vital information.

In the aftermath of the MCO’s mission failure, before the introduction of NASA’s Mars polar orbiter project in 2001, NASA began to conform to the US government public law 94-168 where international SI units should be incorporated in US scientific projects.[9] NASA recently updated their mandatory engineering project management policy that now incorporates the use of SI units unless otherwise specified. When SI units are not used, the particular units that will be used must be listed and passed on to any and every party involved in the engineering of each individual product to be used in the project.[10] These particular standards have been in place since 2001.

Being the second smallest planet in the solarsystem and named after the Roman god of war, Mars is considered to be a desolate, frigidand inhospitable rock whose colonization is one of the biggest challenges in our century. Curious to know why it is so hard to colonizeMars? Keep Watching!! Mars exploration and colonization have beena fantasy and a really hard challenge for Humans in the current century. However, we are working to make this dreama reality where NASA is planning to put humans on Mars by the end of 2030.

One of the biggest challenges is transportingastronauts and payload across the 34 million miles of space that exists between Mars andEarth, however, upon their arrival; humans will have to face many other challenges duringthe course of their mission. For instance, they will have to find solutionsfor life threatening problems such as the lack of water, thin atmosphere, the high levelsof radiation, toxic soil, cold temperatures and low gravity. In this video, we’ll talk about each factorof these serious problems in detail. 1- Lack of Water, As we all know, water isthe most important and essential factor when it comes to the lives of humans and theirsurvival. However, Mars does not contain water or atleast it does not contain water in a form suitable for human usage. There were signs of water on the red planetillustrated in some images sent by The Mariner 9 and Viking space probes back to the 1970s. Moreover, in 2018, a study was published inthe science journal reporting that an approximately 12 miles in width lack; had been found andit’s located about a mile below the south pole of Mars. Additionally, scientists had found eight regionson Mars where soil erosion had uncovered huge areas of ice deposits below the Martian surface. In 2019, the American Geophysical Union reportedthat they located layers of ice and sand buried a mile beneath Mars’s north pole.

All of this information demonstrates thatMars does contain water on its surface, however, the technology required to extract this embeddedwater is not available to us, Yet. NASA is working on this problem through formingpartnerships in order to advance their mining technologies for use in space exploration. The results of these partnerships are verypromising where in July 2019, along with Honeybee Robotics and the University of Central Florida,NASA showed off a prototype spacecraft that is called “The World Is Not Enough” orWINE, for short, it is a prototype of the size of a microwave oven specifically designedto mine soil on asteroids, extract water from this soil and then use it to generate steamin order to propel itself to its next mining destination. It’s a truly promising technology but itcan be adapted to harvest water for Mars exploration. 2- Thin Atmosphere, an atmosphere is one ofthe most important factors that a planet must acquire in order to support human life andsurvival. However, Mars’s atmosphere is very thinand it’s made up of all the wrong combinations of gases.

For example, it’s mostly composed of carbondioxide, approximately 95.3% of Mars’s atmosphere is carbon dioxide which is a very high ratiocompared to less than 1% on Earth. Moreover, Mars’s atmosphere has barely anyoxygen, around 0.13% compared to 21% on Earth, which is very unfortunate due to the factthat humans need oxygen to breath. In addition to this, Mars’s atmosphere containsa very small ratio of nitrogen, around 2.7% compared to 78% on Earth which is also veryunfortunate due to the fact that plants need nitrogen to survive. Besides the wrong combinations of gases inMars’s atmosphere, the atmospheric pressure is unfortunately quite low , around 6.1 millibarscompared to 1,013.25 millibars on Earth. In order to fully grasp this, the atmosphericpressure is crucial to the survival of humans and without it, the trapped air pockets insidethe human body would expand, the eardrums would rapture and the water ratio in the bodywould boil. All of these life threatening obstacles willface any crew members during their mission on Mars due to the extremely low pressureof its atmosphere.

Therefore, in general, astronauts must wearpressurized suits to survive in space and they have to wear them all the time on Marsas well or even live in pressurized habitats. This will limit their freedom of moving aroundto collect data or samples and transporting the equipment necessary for performing theirexperiments specific to their mission. Having a thin atmosphere leads to many catastrophicconsequences as well, for example, the martian thin atmosphere allows the heat provided fromthe sun to escape into outer space; which makes the martian nights very cold with temperaturesreaching minus 285 degrees fahrenheit or even below. Although numerous solutions regarding engineeringan atmosphere on Mars have been proposed, None of them can possibly work unfortunately. To elaborate, these proposed solutions suggestengineering an artificial atmosphere on Mars which would produce the necessary gases andworm the planet. Moreover, they suggest stimulating the greenhousegases that include carbon dioxide and water vapor which already exist on the planet torise into the air and create a thick atmosphere. However, according to a study published inNature Astronomy in 2018, Mars does not have enough of these elements on its surface inorder to create such an atmosphere necessary to sustain human life. Thereby, the optimum solution is that; astronautstravelling to Mars will need to bring all of the life-support systems with them. 3- High Levels Of Radiation, we all know thatthe Sun, like any other star, is a fusion reactor that emits enormous amounts of electromagneticenergy with all different types of spectrum including X-rays, Gamma rays and ultravioletradiation.

Moreover, the sun also emits high energy protons,atomic nuclei and many other subatomic particles which have significant risk on the human body. For example, it can affect the central nervoussystem, increase the lifetime risk for cancer, cause sickness and degenerative diseases. Fortunately, Earth’s strong magnetic fieldforms an invisible barrier against most of the incident radiation and diverts the electricallycharged particles back into space, additionally, the remnants of the radiation are absorbedby the thick atmosphere of our planet. Thereby, astronauts outside our protectiveatmosphere are at risk due to the fact that they are directly exposed to high levels ofradiation. Moreover, according to the European SpaceAgency “ESA”, the martian thin atmosphere absorbs radiation doses up to 700 times higherthan on Earth. However, the ESA agency is collaborating withsome particle accelerator labs to develop new technologies that can help mitigate theexposure. In particular, they try to recreate rays ofthe cosmic radiation and then build shields that can protect astronauts against it.

Moreover, in order to track the radiationexposure outside the Earth orbit, the ESA agency has collaborated with NASA to sendradiation sensors on the upcoming Orion test launch during their mission to the Moon. Fortunately, an experiment has been conducted,recently, onboard the international space station, the results of this experiment haveshown that astronauts are actually able to mix cement in microgravity conditions. These results can be extended in the favorof Mars colonization; more specifically, concrete is a protective and sturdy material whichis already used on Earth at nuclear facilities to help protect people from being directlyexposed to the nuclear radiation. Thereby, It’s possible that people colonizingMars can use the Martian soil to make concrete that would help them construct habitable structureswhich would help protect them against the high levels of radiation as well. Before moving on, be sure to like or dislikethe video so that we can continue to improve our content and make these videos better foryou. Plus, be sure to subscribe to the channeland don’t forget to hit the bell button so that you don’t miss any of our weeklyvideos. 4- Toxic Soil, It’s highly likely that themartian soil is toxic to the living cells which implies that we would not be able togrow food on Mars. According to scientists at the universityof Edinburgh; the martian surface is less inhabitable than we had previously thought.

This means that they need to develop new methodologiesin order to be able to grow food on Mars before the human colonization on Mars becomes a reality. Their findings were based on a study and anexperiment conducted on a soil that contains perchlorates which is believed to exist inthe martian soil. When perchlorates are exposed to UV light,they form a toxic cocktail of by-products. Recall that there are high levels of radiationon Mars and the short-wave ultraviolet radiation is one of them and this exactly the type ofradiation used in the experiment. Moreover, there are additional chemical materialsthat interact with perchlorates which further increases the soil toxicity. Scientists believe that these chemical materialsare iron oxides and hydrogen peroxide. According to Simon George, who is a professorof organic geochemistry at Macquarie University, “ There’s no Ozone layer on Mars, so UVrays penetrate down to the surface and they are very toxic, they give you really bad sunburnif you’re on the surface. But what happens is this UV radiation interactswith perchlorates and produces side products, Probably chlorite and others, which are thethings that are really toxic to life”. Although these findings seem to be pessimistic,there’s still a possibility that we will find life on Mars but we need to search deeperand if NASA is going to send a human mission to Mars by 2030, then they must must knowwhether Mars is a suitable home for microbial life and if it’s going to be safe for humans. Astrobiologists are working on new methodsand technologies via which there’s a possibility to treat the Martian soil with enzymes inorder to put the perchlorates to good use and release considerable amounts of oxygen. 5- Cold Temperatures, due to the fact thatMars has an extremely thin atmosphere that is around 100 times thinner than Earth’satmosphere, there’s no thermal blanket that can help retain any thermal energy on thesurface. The average temperatures on the martian surfacecan reach about minus 60 degrees celsius. Now you may wonder why temperatures on Marsare cold despite the fact that its atmosphere is mostly made up of carbon dioxide?! And in order to understand the answer to thisquestion, you need to know that there are four major factors that control the temperatureof any planet’s surface; these factors are atmospheric composition, atmospheric density,water content and the distance from the sun.

What makes Earth a habitable planet is thebalance between these four factors and any disturbances or changes in this balance leadto significant effects on the climate on a planetary scale. The greenhouse effect is one example of theseplanetary scale effects. Where the gradual increase of the planet’ssurface temperature is because of the increased concentrations of the greenhouse gases suchas carbon dioxide, methane, sulphur dioxide, sulphur hexafluoride and many other gases. Surprisingly, we have raised carbon dioxidelevels in our atmosphere by a very small fraction of a percent since the 1950s and it has alreadybeen causing several changes in our climate. Moreover, water plays a crucial role in thesurface temperature of any planet, it helps make heat currents move slowly which helpsretain the thermal energy inside the atmosphere. When it comes to Mars, it has a very thinatmosphere that is about 96% carbon dioxide, moreover, it’s also extremely dry becauseit lacks any water content and it’s located further away from the sun.

All of these factors cause Mars to be an extremelycold and harsh world which would make it harder for us to colonize it one day. 6- Low Gravity, Martian gravity is approximately40 percent of that on Earth which means that humans exposed to this partial gravity arevery likely to experience muscle atrophy which will not be a good thing especially if theyare going to stay for long periods of time on Mars. To sum it up, Any crew mission on Mars willexperience many harsh and life threatening conditions from the lack of oxygen and water,the deadly radiation, the low gravity, toxic soil and the extremely cold surface temperatures. This means that if we really want to senda mission to the red planet by 2030, then we have to find solutions and develop newtechnologies to help make human colonization on Mars viable. Thanks For Watching Everyone!! Did you learn anything new in this video? Do you think that we can actually colonizeMars one day? Let me know in the comments below, be sureto subscribe, and I’ll see you next time on the channel!

‘Can I get two tickets to Mars?’ This might sound ridiculous right now, but it might be our reality in the near future. Whether humans should or should not colonize Mars is a big debate, and we should care about it because we all live on this Earth, and colonizing Mars would be a big step for all of mankind, and will change the lives of many people on Earth. However, I believe that we should not colonize Mars becauses we are the problem, we are being too optimistic, and it’s a waste of money.

We Are The Problem

One of the reasons that may push us to colonize Mars is to run away from the many problems we are facing in our own planet. However, the whole reason we are having these problems in the first place is us. Replying to a quote from Elon Musk, Lori Marino (2009) writes in her article “Humanity is not Prepared to Colonize Mars,” ‘Musk’s reason for wanting to colonize Mars is to save ourselves from ourselves and it is self-evident that this alone recommends we should not be going anywhere'(p.3). This means that wherever we go, we’ll be there, and we’ll bring our problems with us. Overpopulation, for example, is one of the problems we are facing on Earth. The number of creatures is not the only cause of overpopulation, but also the efficiency of using our environment and resources. There are many other problems on Earth, such as: climate change, pollution, species extinction, and many more. Instead of wasting our resources and time trying to fulfill this fantasy of going to Mars, humans should focus on fixing these problem from their roots by fixing themselves first, after doing that, then we should rethink colonizing Mars.

We Are Being Too Optimistic

The second reason why we should not colonize Mars is that we are being too optimistic. In the article “Humanity is not prepared to colonize Mars” Marino (2019) described our species is ‘fatally hubristic’, which means too self-confident (p. 11). Being excessively optimistic and self confident is not necessarily good, because of these two factors people are building unsupported assumptions. Some of the Mars colonizing

supporters are assuming that we learned our lesson on Earth, and the people going to Mars will know better, and we can just leave the Earth and have a fresh start. Why these assumptions are most likely false is: humans don’t change. Unless we can prove that we can change and fix the problems we are already facing, we should not colonize Mars.

It Is a Waste Of Money

Another reason we should not go to Mars is because it is too expensive. As Christopher Mari (2011) mentioned in his book U.S. National Debate Topic 2011-2012: American Space Exploration and Development , NASA estimated that a program for sending people to Mars would cost about 600 billion dollars, which is a colossal amount of money. All of this money could be invested in better ways, solving world hunger or developing renewable energy sources for example, which are problems we are facing in our mother planet. Personally, I believe that saving our own planet should be prioritized over going to a new planet which we know relatively little about.

Counterargument

Some might say that Earth won’t last forever, and we need to colonize Mars as a backup planet, just in case something happens to Earth. Ian Stoner (2017) replied in his article ‘Humans Should Not Colonize Mars’ with a good reason why that is not true. The first scenario, what is threatening Earth is a large scale threat, such as a nearby supernova. In that case Mars would also be affected, and both planets will face their ends. Second case, the threat we are facing will only affect Earth on a large scale, an asteroid for example. If such event occurred, living on Earth after being hit by an asteroid is going to be easier than building a colony on a planet with barely any oxygen in its atmosphere.

Conclusion

At the end, we should not colonize Mars because if we went without fixing our mistakes on Earth, we will simply go through the same cycle we went through on Earth, but this time on a different planet. Also, we should have solid proof that we can fix our problems on Earth instead of being too optimistic and assuming that we just need a fresh start. Furthermore, 600 billion dollars is too much money, and it could be invested in many other ways. Earth is our responsibility, and we should all work on saving this one planet instead of destroying two different planets.

Introduction

The aim of this comprehensive and compiled document is to firstly, fulfill the requirements of the given brief as well as to go above and beyond. Secondly, the aim is to inform and educate individuals on surrounding matters regarding the space race in the past and the one occurring presently in a non-biased, well-researched manner.

The first space race lasted between 1955 and 1975 consisting of the main political superpowers of the time, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The ignition of a possible second space race already began in 2015 when Blue Origin and SpaceX collided with ideas on Twitter. With a growing number of countries interested in Anti-Satellite technology, private space companies rapidly entering the orbit that we call the market, and political tensions higher than ever in this modern day. The research will revolve around a second “space race” and the progression of technology that ultimately leads to a conflict of ideas and a rise in competition to assert one’s political dominance. There are a plethora of similarities to pick from in the past and present that align the thesis of “History repeats itself”. In the following pages, the researched conducted presents a clear argument that is informative and brings to light clear events in history that have unfolded before which pays tribute to supporting the overall argument.

Cognizance of the first Space Race

A byproduct of two superpowers using a proxy war to enforce political ideologies on opposition sides. The Space Race was bound to happen as technology raced forward astronomically in the 1940s onwards. It was only a matter of time before it was announced that technological feat so grand would be attempted by American scientists and astronomers alike to gain superiority over the Soviet communist agenda. It was a symbol of power and dominance and it was imperative for both sides to take the bait and achieve the impossible – use space as a frontier for human evolution. Admittedly, the Soviets won almost all of the small milestones given by the Americans. Unfortunately, when Kennedy used the Space Race as a forefront to get re-elected there was nothing that could stop him from funding Apollo 11 and all its prior projects. This lead to the heroic story of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon, it was a symbol of a technological feat humans could achieve. It not only served as a statement that communist propaganda and ideology would not be accepted by the American people, but that a collective unit of people of all colors could work together to achieve a rocket so powerful that it transported three individuals to the moon. This progression of technology, politics and social dynamics often repeats itself throughout history as time progresses. In this context, it’s early events are aligning with modern day politics, social dynamics and technological feats.

Cognizance of a possible second Space Race

Although not as eventful as the first, history remains to be seen as time unfolds. Blue Origin, SpaceX and Orbital are but just three space companies that have risen up in the last 10 years. There is growing evidence to suggest the bubbling competition emanating from the global market to gain money. Political gain might not be the motivator this time, but money is. American Congress has expressed concern for the growing number of non-traditional entrants on the rocket market. “The U.S. has used Russian rocket engines for government and commercial launches since 2000.” but is rapidly turning away in 2019 as a result of new job opportunities and the annexation of Crimea by Russia. Anti-Satellite technology is on the rise as currently there are no regulations or political policies surrounding them. The evidence presented suggests the world is entering a new era with plenty of space for a company or country to form ideas around how they wish to proceed. There is a growing tension in and amongst political powerhouses due to the fear of satellite debris, loss of funds due to private enterprises, and the uncertainty for the future. This immense competition amongst American private corporations has incited the U.S. government to take extreme measures to ensuring they have grasp over the future of space travel. This is only the beginning, but aligns with the first stages of when the main goal of the first ‘Space Race’ was to launch a man into orbit. The nation addresses made by John F. Kennedy focused primarily on that topic to initiate conflict with the Soviets. This same concept is beginning to occur with Donald Trump.

Technological Similarities

The original Apollo designs were constructed by Wernher Von Braun and Arthur Rudolph. These Apollo rocket designs required many intelligent scientists to cooperate and work together to complete milestones of unimaginable proportions. Lunar landing and Orbit rendezvous proposed by John Houbolt was a monumental step towards the ambition to put a man on the Moon. It is similar to Elon Musk’s ambition at SpaceX to put several individuals on the Falcon 9 and settle on Mars.

Both needed and need a breakthrough of technological feats to advance. Tom Mueller at SpaceX designed the Merlin Rocket engines and Dragon Propulsion system which was imperative to create reusable rockets, reduce the cost of space travel and these are milestones towards landing on Mars. Similarly to Sputnik and America’s satellite which were small stepping stones to the grand scheme of landing Apollo 11.

The water filter, joystick, cordless tools, and computer microchip were all created to achieve the dream and ambition of putting a man on the Moon. They pioneered important first steps to ensuring survival within space. Something that at the time, was merely a theory with no practical or physical knowledge surrounding the matter. Similarly, SpaceX, BlueOrigin, Orbital and Virgin Galactic have to invest in 3D printing foods, blow up housing, and other items you’d expect in colonizing Mars and sustainably putting individuals on Mars. Both, technologically have various similarities as summarized here, clearly indicating in the technological department that there was a similar ambition to put a man on the Moon, and now to put a man on Mars.

Political Similarities

The Space Race as aforementioned was a product of two nations wanting to best the other in order to forefront their own political ideology. John F. Kennedy issued a challenge so that he could keep it’s presidency in his re-election if Apollo did turn out successful which it did. This evidently means that a Space Race, the ambition to put a man on the Moon can politically be used to advantage one’s political gain. It’s been done before to rebuke communist agenda and extend a president’s reign.

There are most definitely similarities to suggest that this claim is shared by presidents of today. For example, Donald Trump asserted that in his first term, ambitions would be made to put a man on Mars but forgot all about it down the line as his presidency has dictated. Donald alike to many other individuals knows that Space has not lost all interest and can be used to pry into the hearts of voters. Donald Trump recently addressed the nation about creating a sixth branch of the military called the ‘Space Force’, in his speech he mentioned profusely how important it is to have militaristic dominance in space ‘as well’. Donald Trump’s patriotism is a very risky characteristic, and one that spurred John F. Kennedy to begin the Space Race in the first place. The fruitfulness of the matter is that two American presidents have used the ambition and idea of reaching a galactic destination to further their own political agenda alike to how John F. Kennedy extended his political term by spearheading the Space Race as his mark in history.

Although, slightly off course, it does carry some relevant water. ASAT technology or anti-satellite technology is on the horizon and reports show that China, Russia, and the United States are going head to head on who may control what and what kind of regulations are pertinent to space.This is important as the destruction of any objects in space creates debris and these are firmly monitored as you cannot launch rockets into an orbit filled with collision fidelity. “India became the latest country to carry out an anti-satellite (ASAT) test resulting in debris. India sought to frame the test as a sign of its prowess in space, but on a global level, the event serves as an important wake-up call about the risks of ASAT-related technology.”

This political hole is only a beginning as it is fueling diplomatic relations regarding Space and as time progresses so will the focus and when the focus moves towards Elon Musk’s and many other private space corporations ambitions to reach Mars, the political atmosphere will be tense.

This build-up is very similar to the ideas that brought about the domineering attitude that America had in crushing the communist agenda through a Space Race.

Social Similarities

The Space Race and the ambition to put a man on the Moon evidently brought families together, scientists, and cultures. Three African American women, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were heroically responsible for solving the mathematical and astronomical equations required to launch John Glenn into orbit. At the time, not only was racism a major factor within NASA and general politics but being a woman and being given the chance to achieve one of the greatest feats in human history was unheard of.

Similarly, humanity lives in a society more open to different people, races, genders, and cultures than ever before. There is an opportunity to join people who have never had the chance to work together to achieve something great. There are no boundaries to hiring or opportunities when it comes to social aspects anymore. Gwynne Shotwell is the COO of SpaceX and she is a woman. The Brooke Owens project is dedicated to allocating women into the Aerospace industry and providing for them in Blue Origin, SpaceX, NASA, and Virgin Galactic. The ambition to put a man on the Moon was not just a political goal or an ambition. It was a dream that collectively allowed untraditional individuals to prove itself as modern-day Aerospace is as well. Both ambitions have generated the opportunity and interest in the Aerospace field for people of all color, race, sexuality, and gender.

Alike to how the first ‘Space Race’ opened the floodgates to allowing individuals with profound talents to conquering a patriotic goal – Katherine Johnson, Dorothy and Mary – there are systems in place to represent the LGBT, and POC in space corporations. Especially within Blue Origin as Jeff Bezos has expressed in lengths how important it is to create ‘buy-in’ by including all of humanity to achieve a humanity based goal.

It is no longer ‘The ambition to put a man on Mars’ or ‘The ambition to put a man on the moon’, it is now ‘The ambition to put an individual on Mars’ or ‘The ambition to put an individual on the Moon.’

Summation of points

In conclusion, politically, socially and technologically there are clearly defined similarities that evidently constituents the logical conclusion that history does indeed repeat itself. In this context, the ambition to put a man on the Moon parallel to putting a man on Mars as well as political ambition, ASATs and fundamental private corporations there are a variety of similarities through these two space races to pick from presented in this document. The leaders that are in play may not be presidents but they do indeed have the horsepower of the global market and plenty of money on their hands. There is plenty of motivation for nations as mentioned, such as China to go forward in sponsoring a private corporation to ensure political domination within space. History does indeed repeat itself, it just disguises itself so well it takes a while to recognize the similarities until an argument is well constructed within a research task.

Introduction to the NASA Mars Mission

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 under section 435 mandated NASA with partnering with an independent body in preparation for a manned mission to Mars. The duty is to assess the kind of technology required for the mission, the duration that the exploration will rake, the cost of the project, and the budget profiles that would be involved in the mission to Mars. The mission is estimated to launch in 2033 according to the initial plan and hence intense preparations have to be made through partnering with the independent body to facilitate the mission (IDA, 2019). The entity identified and requested by NASA was the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI). The entity is to make an evaluation by using the current plans that NASA has regarding the mission to Mars. Mars has been discovered to have a geological evolution and climate cycles that are closely if not completely related to earth. At one point the conditions on Mars are believed to support human life and as a result, NASA is taking the step towards pioneering the rest of the world on a journey to the beyond low Earth orbit red planet. Through successful partnerships and very advanced technologies, the mission is believed to identify Mars as habitable to human beings and hence people will have an opportunity to choose to live on the planet.

Execution of the Project

NASA has been on the exploration journey for more than four decades where the initial moves took the effort of science and technology research through the use of the ISS which stand for the International Space Station. The move was in collaboration with scientific laboratories based on earth. Over a period of time, NASA has been developing the Space Launch System as well as the Orion crewed spacecraft with the aim of finding better methods to minimize the logistics involved and for sufficient preparation of the human missions into the cislunar space. NASA is very optimistic that the challenges the mission to Mars may encounter along the way are under all mean solvable. High-end technology, for example, has to be developed and will require various conceptualization, development and testing stages before being launched.

The main goal of the mission to mars by NASA is to extend the capacity of human beings to live, work, learn, and operate normally in a sustainable environment beyond the surface of the earth (NASA, 2015). NASA seeks the hand of both international and commercial partners who will help to facilitate the mission and help in the realization of economic benefits of the mission as well as strengthening the leadership abilities of America on planet Earth and in space.

NASA has made proposals regarding its plans for human spaceflight set to take place before 2030. There are plans to set-up a human-tended station named as the Gateway, around the moon between 2023 and 2026. The Gateway will be a source of learning for scholars wishing to learn more about the lunar environment, to gather a more informed operational experience, and to carry out missions to the Moon and Mars. The space launch system (SLS) and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle are the designated service providers set to facilitate human missions to the Gateway.

Technological Assessment and Challenges

There are low-risk levels of technological challenges that are associated with both the Orion and the SLS as tools for the manned mission to Mars. Deep Space Transport is set to be in use in the mission for further exploration of the Mars orbit. The DST requires heavy technological investment and consequently, it estimated to have some medium level to high risks. Preparations for an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) are already at the low technology readiness level (TRL). The aim of the ECLSS is to ensure that the DST is reliable and that it meets the performance level that it is expected to achieve. It is not until the year 2022 that NASA plans to test the reliability of the ECLSS by making use of high oxygen reclamation rates on the international space station. It is therefore quite necessary that NASA together with the identified partners who among them include scholars pay close attention to detail when it comes to the technological use in the systems and devices that are going to be used in the mission.

There will be two types of Landers that will be required for both the Mars Cargo and the crew where the entry needs for the two of them will be different (Percy et al., 2015). The lander with the cargo is expected to arrive two years earlier that the lander with the astronauts for verification and system emplacement. The use of two different landers is an approach aimed at minimizing the risk that the crew may face in the new environment. However, a high level of technology will be required in the landing since the team will need to make a very close to surface landing to facilitate the establishment of the surface systems. The Mars habitat together with the life support facilities such as power, thermal management systems, mobility equipment, and consumables such as air food, and water constitute the surface systems. Appropriate space suits known as EVA must also be made available in the systems. At the end of the mission, the crew would need to make use of Mars Ascent Vehicles to take them back to the DST that will be marking orbits since it will be nearly impossible for it to stay still.

Time Schedule Assessment and Challenges

NASA estimates that the most likely period that the space exploration will be ready to set off will be after 2037. However, the estimated period comes without the inclusion of massive technological developments, delays in the schedule, as well as budget hitches. If aspects of budget delays and technological advancement are to be included, the mission to Mars should take place after 2039. Some of the aspects that contribute to the expected delays in the mission as opposed to the initial date of 2033 are based on the fact that NASA has to combine four complex elements and develop them to full effect in preparation for the launch. The SLS, the Orion, Gateway, and the DTS together create a huge task ahead for NASA for they have to be aligned to function perfectly before any launching is made and hence contributing to scheduling delays. Human factors are to be considered as well because NASA has to have a well-prepared lot of human astronauts equipped with vast knowledge and skills on the mission and therefore it may take a while to get the team ready for the mission. It is quite clear then that human, financial, and technological aspects will in a large way contribute to the delay in the launching of the manned mission to Mars. Some of the other reasons that may contribute to the delay in the execution of the project Mars include the fact that there will be an annual human mission to the Gateway after the initial launch. The teams will be sent to work on the Gateway, to operate the Deep Space Transport, and to make a transfer to the surface of the moon. It means that NASA has to take extra time to prepare for these activities as it will require the shift from focusing on landing on the moon to focusing on the set mission which is to prepare the DST for the Mars mission.

Cost Estimation

The exploration period to Mars between the Fiscal year 2019 and 2037 is estimated to cost about 83 U.S billion dollars. It is quite clear that is going to be quite a costly mission given that the figure is only an estimate and may rise depending on other factors consisting of extended duration of the mission. As per the fiscal year 2017, there is an estimated additional cost of 45 U.S billion dollars for NASA investment in the Gateway, the Orion, and the SLS without the mission to mass being included in the budget. The additional cost will be inclusive of the Orion capsules, the DST and its supplies, the ground support of the DST on Earth while it will be on mission and the cost of the SLS launches. If the share of the NASA budget that has been set for the manned mission to space is constant for the 19-year period between 2019 and 2037, then the cost of the mission would be at 233.8 U. S dollars.

The Risk to Human health

The mission may be for the better of the future of humanity. However, it will come at the cost of the big risk in term of the health of the astronauts. The orbital mission is set to 1,100 days where human beings will be in the beyond Earth orbit with unknown risk to their health. The DST I expected to make a one-year shakedown cruise and making any changes in the already existing plan with the attempts to reduce human health risk would mean that the schedule would be negatively affected as well as the cost of the mission (IDA, 2019). The challenge that NASA currently faces is the lack of sufficient study regarding the health risk of the mission. The Human Research Program Integrated Research Plan designated to carry out the study, given the long-duration to be taken in the deep space spaceflight does not have enough and satisfactory information in terms of evidence and strategy needed to come up with mitigation measures. There lacks a unified plan regarding how NASA is going to handle the effects of the radiation and low gravity present on the Mars orbit as it may have negative effects on the health of the astronauts. It may also expose them to physical harm and injuries by the equipment they will be operating. The astronauts will be separated from their families and friends for quite a long time in an alien place where communication may be limited. The isolation may cause some deep emotional and psychological effects on the team which basically means that they will not be fully functional beings given the circumstances.

Comparison to Previous and Future Missions

In 1971, Mars 2 and 3 Soviet orbiters made a successful landing on Mars which were later followed by NASA 5 years later with their Viking 1 and 2 (Guedim, 2019). These two landings were however not as informative as expected as they failed to reveal any signs of the probability of the existence of life on the Red Planet. The current mission by NASA will be different in that the aim is to evaluate the sustainability of human life on Mars. Unlike the previous missions that were heavily criticized for their estimated cost, partners and stakeholder have been willing to support the current mission. It is arguably correct to argue that humanity is in search of existence beyond planet Earth. Probably due to the fear of overpopulation or the need to explore new spaces and having the technological know-how to carry out the explorations are among the reasons as to why many look forward to the mission. Elon Musk is also planning a similar mission to Mars with his SpaceX predicted to Launch in 2024. As opposed to NASA, SpaceX has a strict timeline and plans to launch the first cargo mission to the Red Planet in the year 2022 followed by a crew mission in 2024 (NASA, 2015). The SpaceX mission is more of a privately-owned mission and seems more financially set, unlike NASA. However, if all the budgetary needs are met, NASA will have a more in-depth exploration compared to SpaceX given the amount of groundwork being done in preparation for the launch.

Conclusion

Mars may be the next place to call home for humanity, but until then, it is up to the manned missions to provide information on how sustainable the planet will be. It is not guaranteed that Mars is fully hospitable to human life and can sustain it and hence the cause for the exploration mission which may come at the cost of the health of the astronauts. NASA has to ensure that human, technological, and financial aspects are well considered before launching the mission for efficiency in the mission and in the results.