Mars-One

A friend of mine posted an article on Facebook from FOX News, entitled, “Mars-One Plans Suicide Mission to Red Planet for 2023”.  The headline is a bit deceiving since there is a difference between planetary expatriation and 'suicide'.  Death is an eventuality whether you are exploring Mars on a one-way voyage or just sitting at home here on earth watching FOX News.  The article had a link to the Mars-One website which can be found right here: http://mars-one.com/en/.  I encourage you to check it out for yourself, to click around, and to consider the possibilities.  It turns out, “Mars-One” is a Dutch project to actually go to Barsoom (shout out to you John Carter fans) and establish the first station on another world.  “Fantastic”, you say?  The fact of the matter is, right now, with the use of existing technologies humanity could reach the planet Mars in 11 years. 

That’s big. 

Earth shaking big. 

To paraphrase Norbert Kraft, “History is what happens when the impossible is made possible.”  I have said it several times on the pages of this electric soapbox of a blog of mine; there is no such thing as science fiction.   

The obstacles that immediately come to mind are, “who goes?” & “how do you pay for it?”  Mars-One has come up with some unique strategies.  If one considers the seven month voyage it will take to get to Mars, the mind-bending isolation, the crushing claustrophobia that the first few generations settlers would have to endure, the harsh environment of an unknown world that has 40% the gravity of Earth and the fact that there is, at this stage in the game, no possibility of a return trip to the planet of your birth it becomes quite obvious that the selection process for the astronaut settlers will have to be rigorous with extra care taken concerning their psychological condition.  They will have a pool of 40 screened and trained people to choose from for the first generation of settlers.  I assume that the process would be the same for the next generation of settlers who would arrive two years later.

So how does one fund a trip to the fourth planet of our solar system?  Mars-One has come up with a unique way of making this happen.  Everything will be displayed for the world to behold via making it a global “reality TV” event.  Yes, the revolution will be televised.  By doing so Mars-One grantees two things that give me hope for success of this ambitious project; first, no tax dollars will be spent and second no politics.  Mars does not care where you come from or what your political ideology may be.  This is the liberation that free enterprise and brilliant minds brings to the table.  We have seen this evolve even before the Space Shuttle program was deemed too expensive to continue.  The X-Prize’s Space Ship One, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX, all examples of how the future will be shaped by free enterprise and brilliant minds.  One does not simply look to governmental structure for technological progress – you look to a freethinking populous for that.  Thank God for free enterprise and brilliant minds. 

You may have more questions than this humble blog can provide so here is the Mars-One FAQ page: http://mars-one.com/en/faq-en.  The only way any progression forward happens is when people take risks.  No doubt this is risky business but it also means that mankind, in my lifetime (he said selfishly) may have an established colony on Mars.

That’s big.

Earth shaking big.

I have but one modest request for their program; when the time comes to name the first town established on Mars please consider the name, “Bradbury”. 

It has a nice ring to it. 

No Return to the Moon (at least by the United States)

I was only an infant when man first set foot on the moon. I have no memories of that moment in history when everything became possible and science fiction became science. I have taught about that moment in history and how it inspired the world to reach for bigger and better things. How many different advances were made and how many jobs and careers had been launched right along with those Apollo missions. I remember telling my class that there were plans afoot to return to the moon and that they could expect to see this happen within the next 8 – 10 years baring any drastic cuts to NASA.

Well, here are the drastic cuts: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9150040/White_House_killing_NASA_s_moon_mission_reports_say. That nixes the moon and the Space Shuttle. As for Mars – who knows?

I did pass along my excitement at the notion that private companies would now become major players in space travel. I discussed the X-Prize and Space Ship One and Virgin Galactic and Sir Richard Branson and the VSS Enterprise and how a real and true revolution was going to be taking place in their lifetime. I just didn’t know that the revolution would be happening as quickly as it will be. When the Space Shuttle is done and over and mothballed our government expects private enterprise to take up the slack. This is, at once, a good thing (mostly) and a bad thing. Private industry will open up the market much wider than NASA ever could hope to. Need a satellite placed in orbit? Virgin Galactic could do that in between passenger trips. How about repairs to the Hubble telescope? Sir Richard could probably put those repairmen just where they need to be. I wonder, however, what corporate entity is going to represent the United States on the International Space Station? The hatch opens and the contingent from the United States are all wearing Red Bull or Monster Energy Drinks or Viagra tee shirts and hats. As they say in some circles, “That’s the weak sauce.” And, Gentle Reader, THAT is the weak sauce.

If I could go back in time I would have told my class that Wall Street investment bankers, American car manufacturers and credit card company bailouts would prove to be more important than their futures. I would have told them that they should really consider learning Japanese or Chinese if they wanted to be in on the lion’s share of technological advancement in air and space technologies. Oh sure, I would have encouraged them in math and science and foster an interest in the possibilities; I would have just recalculated their aspirations. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams.” I would have set those dreams a little lower. Really, where do I think I am, Tokyo – Hong Kong?

Oh, if I could but turn back the clock.

Look, I understand. It is just not that important to us here in the States. Why would it be? We have it all. We have been there and done that. Exploration, advancement, and goals for the future - our overtaxed attention spans just can’t handle that amount of pressure. Our standards in education have sealed the deal. We are a service society. We do not produce. Those days are gone. Production is now in the hands of those who have put it at a premium, those who invested in their futures by training the next generation to actually want to be engineers. Humanity will return to the moon. It is as sure as the tides. Here in the United States of America - well, we’ll be able to watch it happen on our flat screens. I just hope that they don’t have to preempt “American Idol” to do so. Our sensibilities just couldn’t take it.

Note from the author… While writing this blog I encountered another little article from BBC. It is about how some states (currently California) are attempting to protect the Apollo 11 landing site from other countries that have active plans to go to the moon… unlike us: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8488783.stm.

How Free Enterprise Will Save the Future of Space Exploration

We were going back to the moon in 2020. I taught a summer camp class on “Star Trek” this past summer at my local Community College. The meat and potatoes of my class was not only Star Trek, but also a history of space exploration, where we are and where we, humanity, may be heading in the next handful of years. I told my class about the Ares and Orion programs from NASA where were going to be replacing the Space Shuttle and that, if the funding was there, humanity would be returning to the moon. Well, funding will be going to other places for now. Chances are NASA will not be able to afford the trip.

Abstract ideals such as exploration are not enough for your Average Joe to hang his hat on and get behind. No. Exploration has to have purpose, has to be a means to an end; it has to turn a profit. Historically, this has always been the case. It is, therefore, not proper for me to throw too many stones towards the bureaucrats.

So just how does one make exploration a profitable venture? Well, you’ve got to give ‘em the old razzle-dazzle. You have to captivate the senses of said Average Joe and you have to show a profit at the end of the day; a reason for reason, so to speak. Before he died, Arthur C. Clarke postulated that orbital platforms could be tethered to the earth like great swinging stones. Why? These tethered orbital platforms would have access for experimentation and tourist dollars but the best benefits would be to communication and to energy production since as this orbital platform is cutting its way through the ionosphere it is producing electricity which, in turn, would be completely green and, as long as the orbital platform remains tethered to the earth, inexhaustible. Think of how many jobs such platforms would provide for Average Joe’s around the world. Speaking of energy and jobs how about orbital solar arrays? Unfiltered sunlight, unspoiled by the earth’s atmosphere, channeled directly to your outlet from Mother Nature herself. Money made.

I don’t have the capitol to attempt either of these options but someone out there does. Don’t believe me? Well, back in my Star Trek class I also told my students about Virgin Galactic and how Sir Richard Branson was going to be putting the future of space travel into the hands of entrepreneurs instead of bureaucrats. This December (2009) the VSS Enterprise is going to be making history. Based on the technology from Space Ship One (which won the X-Prize and is now hanging in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum between the X-1 and the Spirit of St. Louis) it will usher in a new era. Space flight is now within the Average Joe’s hands. Granted that Average Joe will have to pay about 200 K for a ticket but let it be known, that is a LOT cheaper than NASA, not only that but this technology is real; it has happened and, come December, it will be happening on a regular basis. Here is Virgin Galactic’s computer generated promo of what is about to happen – NEXT MONTH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IytjSl6voP0. New Mexico is now the home to the world’s first Spaceport. Seriously.

Free enterprise will save space exploration. It is a matter of time and a matter of profit. We were going back to the moon in 2020. I do not believe that NASA can do it. With the world the way it is unprofitable exploration is not at a premium. If you can make a dollar, yen or rupee that mindset will change in a New York minute. Therefore, I say give Sir Richard Branson a shot; I believe he will have us to the moon much sooner and at a fraction of the cost that the bureaucrats are projecting.

If I could afford it, I’d go aboard the VSS Enterprise inaugural flight. What about you, Gentle Reader?

The X-Prize

Sometimes the some of history’s most amazing moments are simply missed, forgotten, or passed over. Few remember when the microchip changed the world or when a global networking of computers decided to call itself the ‘Internet’. One may arrive at the question “Why is that – why do we ignore such moments that will have such an impact on us in the future?” I believe it’s because until a milestone or some step forward directly affects our lives we, as a populous, are happily oblivious. As a society (and once our basic survival needs are met) we tend to focus on the big issues such as if Brittany will take her kids with her on new world tour or lamenting the fact that Jerry Springer is just not as much fun anymore since they toned down all the fighting.

Not that I’m throwing stones. You don’t have to cruise along here on this particular corner of the blogosphere to see that pop culture and Evil Chicken are like this {NOTE: Evil Chicken is now holding up his right hand – the index finger is pressed tightly against his middle digit signifying that there is a close relationship. He is now releasing said gesture and returning his fingers to his wireless keyboard.} I too am swayed by the siren call of mass consumer corporate goodies and bright & shiny things. Anyway, I mention all this in preface to an article that I stumbled across from Wired Magazine’s site (which ROCKS out loud if you happen to be or aspire to become a techno-geek). It is about the Automotive X-Prize. Check it out for yourself here: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/02/automotive-x-pr.html. The goal of this Automotive X-Prize is, “to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles to help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change. Teams will compete for multi-million-dollar cash prizes by designing and building super-efficient vehicles that will achieve 100 MPG (2.35 L/100 km) that are commercially viable.”

The first X-Prize winner now hangs in the Milestones of Flight gallery of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. It is right between the Spirit of St. Louis and the Bell X-1. Space Ship One won the ten million dollar “Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight, successfully challenged teams to build private spaceships to open the space frontier.” Now you too can grow up and be an astronaut. Seriously. This Anasari X-Prize was won on 10/4/2004, when “Mike Melvill broke the 100-km (62.5 mi) mark, internationally recognized as the boundary of outer space.”

We did not notice. It didn’t directly affect us. Hey, it’s ok, Judge Judy was on. This next X-Prize, the Automotive one is different and it is as tangible as asking yourself just how much YOU paid at the gas pump the last time you filled your tank. With any luck this will have a direct impact on our lives in the extremely near future. I love the concept of competition and how 25 teams of visionaries from around the world just might present us with something truly revolutionary. Can you imagine a world where we were not so utterly and completely dependent on the whims of madmen, oil barons, status quo automobile manufactures or OPEC?

This concept, the X-Prize Foundation, pleases me to NO END. Big changes can come from the little guy. “Revolution through Competition” is the Foundation’s theme. For more information check them out here: http://www.xprize.org/.

Best of luck to all the teams and participants in the contest; I am now officially looking forward to triple digit mileage. I believe it can happen, that it can be commercially viable, and that this moment in history, when it happens, will not be passed over or forgotten.