Congress wants NASA to build a deep space habitat for astronauts, and finish it by 2018

originally posted by: Phage


NASA has no plans for a settlement or a long term colony on Mars. This project involves creating a habitat similar to the ISS, in Earth orbit, with the intent of further research into the requirements of a manned mission to and from Mars.

It sounds like it will be a deep space habitat, but since

Currently, NASA has yet to formally announce how exactly it plans on carrying out Congress’ wishes, with Scimemi pointing out that no specific planning has taken place. Acknowledging that the plan is still very much in its infancy, the agency has chosen to withhold even the smallest of details

I guess anything we are thinking so far is really just speculation.

a reply to: Vector99

Mars One, a Dutch outfit if I recall correctly, has indeed been running for five years. However, they have no rocket, they have no solid material resources of any kind yet, not to mention massive funding gaps in their budget which make the NASA budget look positively pristine and excessive by comparison. There is deep suspicion amongst some that the whole thing is some over complicated and glorified April fools joke, a vast prank, and amongst others still that no matter how honest their intentions may be, they will never get the project to the launch pad, let alone to Mars.

To be honest, I am inclined to believe the same thing. Their stated mission aims include sending people to live and die on the Red Planet, without any hope of back up or rescue in the event of a problem beyond their ability to solve, despite the fact that the crew has been drawn from a group of unqualified volunteers, again, if memory serves.

If this is the mission I am thinking of, I have absolutely no hope what so ever, that anything good will come of it.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Well, feelings of mars one aside, there is so little detail on this announcement it's just fun speculation at the moment.

Maybe when more details emerge about what congress is actually looking for in such a project we can better look at its feasibility. I couldn't find any details, and details are everything. How many people? How deep is deep space? Will the crew have renewable human necessities or is it take everything you need? What will be the propulsion system?

Currently a fast trip to Mars is 6 months one way, and 2 years until the same 6 month opportunity comes around again. Logistics of completing even a prototype for deep-space missions in 2 years is a nightmare, especially when only $27.5 million a year is allocated to it.

a reply to: EternalSolace

I just wish the world would have put as much into space exploration than it has into war...

I wish the world put as much money into space travel science as it does into science fiction on the same subject. We could do a Mars mission for the box office gross of this last year of science fiction movies.

The timeframe is impossible unless.....wait for it.......the conspiracy ......we already have this and this is just another pathway to disclosure. Not an expert, but the funds discussed wouldn't cover a project this large, but it WOULD cover funding for a project already existing.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Pooh-Pooh this all you want but it ties in. Some black projects eventually have to go white. It's worth pondering.

originally posted by: machineintelligence
a reply to: EternalSolace

I just wish the world would have put as much into space exploration than it has into war...

I wish the world put as much money into space travel science as it does into science fiction on the same subject. We could do a Mars mission for the box office gross of this last year of science fiction movies.

I wish politicians would keep their promises when it comes to the space program, space stations and putting people permanently on the moon and mars. Looking at the records, had politicians kept their words, we would already be at those places.


a reply to: machineintelligence

I am sure we already have the technology. Just not the political will to do anything about it.

a reply to: Xcathdra

Politicians are like the tide. They come and go.

Or like toilet paper, depending on your point of view.

a reply to: piney

orisn't there an asteroid named apophis due to hit in 2037or 2039?

a reply to: proteus33

Well we have to wait and see what it does in 2029 first, and see how it's trajectory is altered. But, even if it does hit, it's not very big.

I just hope and pray that no one puts the big red "NO" on the project.

I am not real big on government spending but in the case of the Space Program I am always willing to make an exception.

I don't think that the majority of people are aware at how much tech we have gotten thanks to the space program.
The better the space program the better standard of living we all get.

a reply to: Vector99
Um...2005? Really?

We have better data now.

The April 13, 2029, flyby of asteroid Apophis will be one for the record books. On that date, Apophis will become the closest flyby of an asteroid of its size when it comes no closer than 19, 400 miles (31,300 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Vector99
Um...2005? Really?

We have better data now.

The April 13, 2029, flyby of asteroid Apophis will be one for the record books. On that date, Apophis will become the closest flyby of an asteroid of its size when it comes no closer than 19, 400 miles (31,300 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

The link I gave demonstrated exactly that. I wasn't hinting it would get closer, just we have to wait and see for exact trajectory after gravitational influence.

a reply to: Vector99

The link I posted:

NASA Rules Out Earth Impact in 2036 for Asteroid Apophis

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

And to be more precise:
Minimum approach March 2026 0.228 au

ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Vector99

The link I posted:

NASA Rules Out Earth Impact in 2036 for Asteroid Apophis

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

And to be more precise:
Minimum approach March 2026 0.228 au

ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...

The asteroid was discovered late last year and initially scientists gave it a 1-in-300 chance of hitting the Earth on April 13, 2029. Subsequent analysis of new and archived pre-discovery images showed that Apophis won't collide with Earth that day, but that later in 2035, 2036 and 2037 there is a 1-in-6,250 chance that the asteroid could hit Earth

my link

I'm agreeing with you ffs

a reply to: Vector99
Ok. You agree that we don't have to wait until 2029. We know it will not hit us any time soon.

a reply to: Phage

100%

originally posted by: glend
I like it. Guessing part of the money will also go towards developing a superconducting magnetic shield to protect astronauts from suns radiation and cosmic rays,

I read a science article a while back that a habitat insulated with water can act as a shield from solar and cosmic radiation. All the while supplying the crew with a water source until they reach Mars.

a reply to: Kratos40
Water would work well. It's just very heavy. Getting heavy stuff into space is hard.
If material shielding is the goal, it would probably be some sort of plastic material.

a reply to: Phage

the one problem I actually was thinking about with water as a radiation absorbent, it would require it in liquid form, meaning it has gotta always be warmed. Liquid everything else is so easy, it's water that's so finicky.

I think maybe a closer interior living quarter core with a water based shield could work, but man, the complexities of it all are just, well tough, but fun to think about.

a reply to: Vector99

the one problem I actually was thinking about with water as a radiation absorbent, it would require it in liquid form, meaning it has gotta always be warmed.

Actually it wouldn't have to be liquid. Ice would work just as well. Water would make a good radiation shield because it is composed of light atoms. This reduces the secondary radiation which makes heavier shielding bad.