mars colony – Techdirt (original) (raw)
Stories filed under: "mars colony"
DailyDirt: Planning For A Mars Colony
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
The Martian is inspiring some re-vitalized enthusiasm for manned missions to Mars. Along with the discovery of liquid water flowing on the surface of the red planet, science fiction combined with actual science is making space exploration sound cool again. However, there are still plenty of harsh realities for manned space exploration. Men have walked (and driven) on the moon, but beyond that, it’s unclear how much anyone really benefits from having people touch the surface of another moon or planet — without a plan to stay there and accomplish even more significant tasks. Becoming an interplanetary species sounds like a nice idea, but it’s not a pressing issue to actually do it — and we probably won’t be ready for it until we can actually set long term goals (ahem, and pass budgets on time).
- NASA has thought through the steps that could take people to Mars — and published its plan to try to give it a boost in Congress. The report gives a brief overview of how NASA plans to move from space stations that need to be constantly re-supplied to “Earth independent” stations that wouldn’t require a consistent supply line from terrestrial resources. [url]
- There’s a socio-economic argument that Martian “cities” are unlikely to exist simply because Mars is so remote and isolated, and cities require a network of trade and commerce. Essentially, there is a vast amount of infrastructure and resources to build up on Mars before it’s anything more than a scientific curiosity outpost. No unobtainium exists to make Mars a worthwhile location for anything (yet?). [url]
- Mars simulations have been performed on isolated camps, and NASA is also working with Navy submarine training facilities to get a better idea of how to deal with living in sealed environments for long periods of time. NASA wants to avoid situations that some reality TV shows (eg. Big Brother and Real World) encourage. (Even Mars One isn’t going to do a reality show anymore.) [url]
After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
Filed Under: interplanetary travel, manned missions, mars, mars colony, mars simulation, martian cities, navy, space exploration, submarine
Companies: mars one, nasa
DailyDirt: Flying Through Space With The Greatest Of Ease
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Space travel isn’t exactly a routine thing just yet. In the 70s, some people thought we’d have shuttles going up to space on a regular schedule, but that didn’t exactly happen. Rockets haven’t gotten all that much cheaper or more reliable, but presumably they will someday if we continue to build them and improve upon them. Or maybe we’ll figure out a completely different way to escape Earth’s gravity with a space elevator or rail-gun system to launch vehicles at extremely high speeds. Check out a few of the links below if you think human space exploration isn’t a complete waste of time.
- Thoth Technology has been granted a patent for an inflatable “space elevator” that’s (only) 12 miles tall. Disregarding the fact that this design wouldn’t actually reach space, it still seems pretty impractical barring an amazing advance in materials that allows such a tall structure to withstand all the forces it would need to in order to remain standing, much less support cargo and launch vehicles. However, this isn’t actually the first patent on a space elevator, and everyone should know by now that patents don’t actually need to correspond to actual functioning products. [url]
- If you haven’t been following the progress of space travel, this WaitButWhy article might be a good starting point. It’s a long, but good, read — and outlines why/how Elon Musk’s goal of creating a Mars colony is a good idea. [url]
- While Elon Musk might sound credible and non-crazy for talking about a mission to Mars, the CEO of Mars One doesn’t seem to be getting much benefit of the doubt when he says his company’s plan to go to Mars is “feasible” still. Bas Lansdorp’s company has identified lots of space fans literally willing to die to go to Mars, but the time table and plans behind that project make Mars One sound more and more like a outright suicide mission if it even gets off the ground. [url]
After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
Filed Under: bas lansdorp, elon musk, mars colony, mars one, space, space elevator, space exploration
Companies: thoth technology
DailyDirt: To Infinity Mars And Beyond!
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
The space race to get people to the moon and other destinations in our solar system has pretty much stalled. But a few billionaires and some really passionate hobbyists are trying to build rockets that will get people off our planet (with wildly varying success). Suborbital flights are difficult, but they’re not really enough to get some serious space exploration going again. Still, we gotta start somewhere, right? Here are just a few projects that could get people into outer space on the cheap.
- It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to build a spacecraft that can take a human passenger to an altitude of about 60 miles up. It takes two rocket scientists. Plus, a lot of crowdfunding and volunteers to get Copenhagen Suborbitals into a DIY space race on a shoestring budget. [url]
- Mars One may be a one-way suicide mission to Mars, but the project is still making an investment in getting its life support systems to work. Paragon Space Development Corp will design the life support systems, but Paragon’s previous experience includes Biosphere 2. Uh, maybe work out the bugs in a totally enclosed system on Earth before making the jump to Mars? [url]
- Elon Musk is aiming to get a Mars settlement going as an insurance policy for the human race. Musk also estimates that it would take at least a million settlers to make a viable Mars colony, and even with that many people, each person’s productivity would have to be incredibly high. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: biosphere2, crowdfunding, diy space, manned missions, mars, mars colony, mars one, space, space exploration
Companies: copenhagen suborbitals, paragon space development corp, spacex