Mars One Says 80,000 Have Applied For One-Way Mission To Red Planet
” Almost 80,000 people have applied to take part in a one-way mission to Mars, each of them completing a rigorous application that stresses the need for a “Can Do!” attitude, asks individuals about their sense of humour and requires the submission of an application fee that can be as much as $75.
Mars One, the Dutch company behind the proposed mission, says it has received applications from more than 120 countries. It also says that the role of Mars explorer/guinea pig is “the most desired job in history”. More than 17,000 of the applicants are from the US – the most of any country so far.
“These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants,” said the founder of Mars One, Bas Lansdorp. “Mars One is a mission representing all humanity and its true spirit will be justified only if people from the entire world are represented. I’m proud that this is exactly what we see happening.” “
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Tag Archive: Mars
First Manned Mars Mission Draws Flood Of Applicants
” COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — They’ll be crammed into a space the size of an RV for more than a year, breathing recycled air, subsisting on dehydrated food and drinking their purified urine. If they die, they’ll be freeze-dried in a body bag. And if they survive, they’ll have to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at a screaming 8.8 miles (14.2 kilometers) per second.
But the applications are already rolling in for the first manned mission to Mars, the project team said Thursday (April 11).
Speaking at the National Space Symposium here, members of the Inspiration Mars Foundationdescribed the challenges inherent in launching two humans on a 501-day flyby journey to the Red Planet and back in January 2018, but remained optimistic that those challenges aren’t insurmountable.
“So far, we haven’t come up with any show-stoppers, so that’s exciting,” said Jane Poynter, president of the Paragon Space Development Corp., which has partnered with Inspiration Mars.
Millionaire Dennis Tito, who became the first space tourist in 2001, unveiled Inspiration Mars’ “Mission for America” in February.
The goal is to send two people (a man and a woman, possibly a married couple) on a 501-day there-and-back flyby around Mars in January 2018. The positions of Earth and Mars are then ideal for such a quick trip; the next such opportunity won’t come around until 2031.
The goal of the mission is to inspire the public — and Congress — to recommit to long-distance space travel, Tito said at the National Space Symposium.”
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Who Has the Right To Mine An Asteroid?
” As PopMech has relentlessly covered, the race is on to tap the mineral wealth tucked away in the asteroids. But are these big space rocks free for the taking, or will asteroid miners find themselves bogged down in outer space red tape? Instapundit blogger and resident contrarian Glenn Harlan Reynolds investigates.
Suddenly, the idea of asteroid mining is everywhere. As a recent feature here in Popular Mechanics noted, asteroid mining has gone from a “someday” idea to a business plan for more than one company. As a professor who’s been writing, teaching, and practicing space law since the 1980s, I say, why not? Asteroids are valuable, they’re out there, and they are free for the taking.
Or are they?
Asteroids are certainly available, and they’re valuable. More than 750,000 asteroids measure at least 1 kilometer across, and millions of smaller objects are scattered throughout the solar system, mostly in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Even a comparatively small asteroid is potentially quite valuable, both on Earth and in space.
A 79-foot-wide M-type (metallic) asteroid could hold 33,000 tons of extractable metals, including $50 million in platinum alone. A 23-foot-diameter C-type (carbonaceous) asteroid can hold 24,000 gallons of water, useful for generating fuel and oxygen. Even 1 gallon of water, at 8.33 pounds per, can cost tens of thousands of dollars to launch into Earth orbit. Prices will probably come down now that SpaceX and other private launch companies are in the game. But the numbers would need to improve a lot for water launched from Earth to compete with water that’s already floating in space. “
Related articles
- Asteroid Hunting (youviewed.com)
- Asteriod Prospecting by 2015 (storiesbywilliams.com)
- $195 billion in metal and fuel will just fly past the earth (mining.com)
- Space-miners to crush asteroids and 3D print satellites (seattle-gadgets.tumblr.com)
- Space miners say asteroid worth $195 billion (science.nbcnews.com)
- “Asteroids are nature’s way of saying, ‘how’s that space program… (tedx.com)
- Researchers Propose Giant Space Laser For Fending Off Future Asteroids (geekosystem.com)
- Another Near Miss From Space (youviewed.com)
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Watch NASA Crash Two Orbiters Into the Moon
” It wasn’t quite the jubilation we saw this summer when NASA landed the Curiosity Rover on Mars, but scientists behind the GRAIL mission congratulated each other on a job well done this afternoon after the two orbiters successfully smashed into the moon. Afterward, project head Maria Zuber said NASA plans to name the impact site after the late Sally Ride. Her sister, Karen “Bear” Ride, said now “there’s a little corner of the moon that’s named for Sally. As for GRAIL, Zuber says the orbiters Ebb and Flow “have removed the viel from the moon,” and their data will inform research into the history of our natural satellite for years to come. “
Related articles
- NASA names moon crash site in honor of Sally Ride (kfwbam.com)
- GRAIL Lunar Impact Site Named for Astronaut Sally Ride (spaceref.com)
- | NASA X-rays the Moon + gets a Theory of Life on Mars! (truthaholics.wordpress.com)
- Moon probes to be ‘blown apart’ in Monday mountain crash (lightyears.blogs.cnn.com)
- Nasa to crash two spacecraft into the moon (guardian.co.uk)
Curiosity Finds Simple Organics, But Big Questions
Remain
” The Curiosity rover has detected organic compounds on Mars, NASA scientists announced at a press conference today. But the source of these carbon-containing molecules, which are essential to sustaining life, is still up in the air. Using Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite of instruments, researchers found traces of water, sulfur, and small amounts of organics in the form chlorine-containing compounds, though the researchers were quick to point out that they’re still trying to determine the source of the organics—they could very well could be from residual earth contaminants, the scientists warned. “[SAM] has made this detection of simple, organic compounds; we just don’t know if they’re indigenous to Mars or not,” said project scientist John Grotzinger. “
Related articles
- Curiosity Rover Finds Organic Signal on Mars, But Not Definitive: NASA (space.com)
- Mars rover finds clues of organic compounds, but scientists caution that research is needed to link them to signs of life past or present (mercurynews.com)
- Mars Curiosity rover finds water, simple carbon compounds – but no organics (sott.net)
- Mars rover detects complex substances (guardian.co.uk)
- WATCH LIVE: NASA Reveals Mars Rover Finding (huffingtonpost.com)
Curiosity Makes Its Mark on the Red Planet
” Unlike the Apollo astronauts’ footprints on the moon, Curiosity’s trails will probably be wiped away by the planet’s frequent wind and sand storms. But there is still something so incredible about these little ephemeral marks we are making on another world. “
Related articles
- NASA scientists eyeing regional dust storm on Mars (thehindu.com)
- Large Mars Dust Storm is Brewing (news.discovery.com)
- Mars dust storm tracked by NASA (cbc.ca)
- Can Humans Live on Mars ? (universetoday.com)
- Mars might not cook humans in their skins (chron.com)
Speculation Centers on Organic Molecules
” Much of the internet isbuzzing over upcoming “big news” from NASA’s Curiosity rover, but the space agency’s scientists are keeping quiet about the details.
The report comes by way of the rover’s principal investigator, geologist John Grotzinger of Caltech, who said that Curiosity has uncovered exciting new results from a sample of Martian soil recently scooped up and placed in the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.
“This data is gonna be one for the history books. It’s looking really good,” Grotzinger told NPR in an segment published Nov. 20. Curiosity’s SAM instrument contains a vast array of tools that can vaporize soil and rocks to analyze them and measure the abundances of certain light elements such as carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen – chemicals typically associated with life. “
Related articles
- Has Curiosity Made an ‘Earth-Shaking’ Discovery? (universetoday.com)
- ‘Earthshaking’ news coming from NASA on Mars? (chron.com)
- Mars Mystery: Has Curiosity Rover Made Big Discovery? (space.com)
- Mars discovery ‘one for history books’ (msnbc.msn.com)
- NASA admits hiding ‘really good’ news from Martian soil (go.theregister.com)
With NASA’s budget being cut by 20% so Obama can by more votes the future of American space exploration is in doubt .
“Less than two weeks from now, the Mars Science Laboratory will reach the Red Planet. After scientists hold their breath through the sophisticated but terrifying landing procedure , the car-size Curiosity rover should be
in position to explore new regions of our neighboring world. “
