NASA/Spacelink File Name:6_11_10_4.TXT SPACE EXPLORATION: VOYAGES TO OTHER WORLDS It is the year 2025. A family pauses to watch the news on their high-definition TV. They hear about political events in an ever-shrinking world and get an update on efforts to protect the environment. Next is a story about a new galaxy discovered by an observatory on the moon. Then the TV picture takes on an increasingly-familiar red tint. The reporter announces, "Now the latest from our outpost on Mars ..." Outposts on Mars ... observatories on the moon ... they are not just tales of science fiction writers or dreams of visionaries. The groundwork is being laid now to make those dreams reality within the next few decades. On July 20, 1989 -- the 20th anniversary of the day Americans left the first footprints on the moon -- President George Bush sounded the challenge for a bold initiative in space exploration. "The time has come to look beyond brief encounters. We must commit ourselves anew to a sustained program of manned exploration of the solar system -- and yes -- the permanent settlement of space. ... "I'm proposing a long-range, continuing commitment. First, for the coming decade -- for the 1990s -- Space Station Freedom -- our critical next step in all our space endeavors. And next -- for the new century -- back to the moon. Back to the future. And this time, back to stay. And then -- a journey into tomorrow -- a journey to another planet -- a manned mission to Mars." Less than a year later, he announced a timetable for the goal: "Before the 50th anniversary of our first landing on the moon -- the American flag should be planted on Mars." It is a goal that cannot be met overnight, in a year, or even in a decade. But it CAN be met. As President Bush wisely observed, "What Americans can dream -- Americans can do." AN INVESTMENT IN TOMORROW What will we gain as we accept the challenge of space exploration? The surges in technology required to accomplish these ambitious goals will place America on the cutting edge of technological progress, keeping us competitive in the world economy. Applications of these advances will in turn make life better here on Earth. We will learn volumes more about the physical laws which govern our universe -- life-changing insights which might not be discovered for years without an intellect-stretching effort. America will maintain her place of leadership as a spacefaring nation, while providing the ideal forum for international cooperation. Our young people will have a goal -- a dream -- a dream worth aiming for, a dream to challenge them to master the "hard" subjects like science and math so they can be a part of it. But ultimately, it is worthwhile because in going to Mars, America will be carrying on the tradition in which this nation had its birth -- moving boldly forward into uncharted territory. It is our destiny to explore, and the worlds beyond us are yet the next frontier. PREPARING THE PATH TO THE FUTURE We do not yet have all the hardware -- or all the answers -- that we will need to establish settlements on other worlds. Meeting the challenge of the next century requires giant leaps in technology, knowledge, and commitment in the decade to come. It takes from eight to 12 years from the time technology research begins for it to be put into use in complex space systems. So we are beginning now. NASA has already launched a technology search spanning government agencies and laboratories, universities, and private industry. Bits and pieces of imaginative breakthroughs found in the search will be meshed to create technical advances greater than the sum of the parts. In addition, there will be an all-out effort by NASA and these other groups to create new technology and generate new ideas to accomplish our goals in the best, fastest, safest, and least expensive ways possible. A BUILDING BLOCK APPROACH The challenge of the Space Exploration Initiative is not just to go there and come back, as we did with the Apollo moon missions, but to go there and go on. It calls for a building block approach where experience from one step is utilized for the next, leading to increasingly permanent exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds. ROBOTIC EXPLORERS -- SCOUTING OUT OUR DESTINATIONS We already know a great deal about the moon and Mars. Orbiting spacecraft have mapped the Martian surface, and we have landed spacecraft there. Twelve Americans have walked on the surface of the moon. But before we are ready to choose sites for permanent outposts and send out manned expeditions, we need to know more about both destinations. That is where robotic explorers come in. They are the scouts we send to pave the way for the humans who will follow. Mars Observer, to be launched in the early 1990s, will orbit the red planet to photograph its surface, analyze its atmosphere, and look for mineral resources and possible layers of water ice underground. Lunar Observer, a spacecraft with a similar design, is planned for later in the decade to give us a detailed map of the entire surface of the moon. More unmanned scouting expeditions to Mars are also proposed. One will scatter landers to monitor the planet from several locations. Early in the next decade, a Mars sample return mission will bring about ten pounds of Martian rocks, soil, and atmosphere back to Earth for analysis. Later, reconnaissance orbiters and a series of unmanned rovers will be used to select the best site for establishing a manned base. These rovers will be "smart" robots, with a degree of artificial intelligence that allows them to maneuver without waiting for commands from Earth -- which can take over 40 minutes round trip! SPACE STATION FREEDOM -- "THE NEXT CRITICAL STEP" Space Station Freedom is our stepping stone to the solar system. For the first time, we will no longer be merely visitors to space, but long-term residents there. A RESEARCH LAB IN SPACE- Aboard Freedom Station, we will multiply our knowledge about the effects of space flight on human beings. Even during relatively short Shuttle flights, astronauts' bones lose calcium, their muscles deterioriate, and their hearts pump less efficiently. These ill-effects reverse quickly after return to Earth, but what about long-term exposure to weightlessness? Can an astronaut travel in a zero-gravity spacecraft for a year and then be strong enough to work in the one-third gravity of Mars? Experience aboard Freedom will be used to determine whether an artificial-gravity spacecraft is necessary for Mars missions. Space Station Freedom will also be a proving-ground for new technology. There we will try out the hardware and procedures that will later be adapted for living and working on the moon and Mars -- medical care facilities ... improved space suits ... robots and automation ... living and working quarters ... materials and power systems ... techniques for spacecraft assembly and refueling in orbit. A high priority is development of a "closed loop" life support system, where air and water are recycled to be used again and again. The goal is to be as self-sufficient as possible, requiring a minimum of resupply from Earth. A SPACEPORT TO OTHER WORLDS- The space station is designed with "add-on" capability. Shortly after the turn of the century, additional trusses, solar-energy collectors, living quarters, and robots will expand the research lab of the 1990s into a spaceport to other worlds as well. The Space Shuttle will transport crews bound to the moon or Mars to Freedom Station, while their vehicles and cargos will be delivered in several flights aboard a new advanced launch system. At Freedom, the vehicles will be assembled, fueled, tested and loaded with cargo, then launched toward their destination. Returning explorers will make Freedom their first stop on their way home to Earth, leaving their spacecraft at the station to be refurbished to fly again. BACK TO THE MOON ... BACK TO THE FUTURE The moon . . . Americans have already made six brief visits there. But this time, it will be different. We'll be going back to stay. Why return to the moon before going on to Mars? First, because it is nearby. The moon is less than 250,000 miles from Earth, a short three-day trip. The journey to Mars -- almost 50 million miles away -- could take as much as a year. So the moon is the logical place for learning to live on other worlds. There we can test out the transportation vehicles, living and working quarters, space suits, and power systems we will later use for Mars missions. And the moon is a natural space station for studying the long-term effects of a reduced-gravity environment on humans. We can perfect techniques for mining and using available natural resources on the moon, an essential step toward self-sufficiency. It may be possible to extract oxygen from the lunar soil for refueling spacecraft or for life support. Helium-3, an element rare here but abundant on the moon, might be mined and sent back to Earth as fuel for nuclear-fusion reactors -- a possible solution to our growing energy crisis. The back side of the moon -- rock stable and isolated from the electronic noise of Earth -- is the perfect platform for the next generation of astronomical observatories. Since the moon has no atmosphere, the whole spectrum of light can be viewed without distortion. Lunar observatories could receive images 100,000 times better than ground-based instruments. They might even provide the key to finding other life in the universe. Not only would they be sensitive enough to detect planets which may be orbiting other stars; they could also determine whether those planets have atmospheres that might support life. A dual spacecraft is presently being studied for lunar missions. A transfer vehicle will take crew and cargo on the 250,000-mile journey from the space station to the moon. When the craft arrives in lunar orbit, an excursion vehicle will separate from it to carry them to the surface. Eventually, an excursion vehicle will be permanently based on the moon. It will meet arriving or departing transfer vehicles to ferry crew and cargo between lunar orbit and the moon's surface. NASA's current working plans call for two unmanned cargo flights to deliver lunar outpost equipment from Space Station Freedom to the moon early in the next century. The equipment will then be put into place robotically. A four-man crew will follow later for a 30-day stay. Cargo and crew missions will continue to build up the lunar base, which could be permanently manned within three years of the first cargo flight. Gradually the outpost will be enlarged. A facility for launching, landing, and servicing excursion vehicles will be provided. Large inflatable living and laboratory quarters can be added, covered with lunar soil to protect their inhabitants from radiation. Advanced solar or nuclear power generators will supply the base with electricity. Mining operations and observatories will become increasingly sophisticated, and rovers will allow moon settlers to venture far from their base. By the middle of the second decade of the century, the fully- developed outpost would be nearly self-sufficient -- our first permanent settlement on another world. ___________________________________________________________________ THE MOON * 239,000 miles from Earth * 1/4 diameter of Earth * 1/6 Earth's gravity * No atmosphere * Lunar day: 28 Earth days * Trip time: 3 days one way * Launch opportunity every month * Communication time: 2.6 seconds round trip ___________________________________________________________________ MARS * 48,600,000 miles from Earth * 1/2 diameter of Earth * 1/3 Earth's gravity * Very thin carbon-dioxide atmosphere, 1% air pressure of Earth * Martian day: 24 hours, 37 minutes * Martian year: 1.88 Earth years * Trip time: 6 months to 1 year one way * Launch opportunity every 26 months * Communication time: 10.2 - 41 minutes round trip ___________________________________________________________________ A JOURNEY INTO TOMORROW -- A MANNED MISSION TO MARS If we are to fulfill the ultimate destiny of space exploration, we must venture past our familiar Earth-moon niche out into the vast solar system. Mars is our logical destination. Though in many ways its climate is forbidding, it is the most Earth-like of all the planets. There is evidence that Mars at one time had great rivers of water and a thicker atmosphere ... and it is even possible there may have been some forms of life. Today, things are very different. The wispy-thin atmosphere has allowed the surface water to evaporate. It rarely retains enough of the sun's heat for the temperatures to rise above freezing. What happened, and could it happen here? To understand the evolution of Earth, we go to Mars. The experience we gain aboard Freedom station and on the moon, as well as the new technology we develop, will determine our ultimate strategy for reaching our solar-system neighbor. The scenario NASA is using for its initial plans goes something like this: Some 15 years after our first return to the moon, a four-man crew will be launched from Space Station Freedom in dual vehicles considerably larger than those used for lunar flights. After about a year's journey, they will arrive at Mars. An aerobrake will slow the craft from its 20,000-mile-an-hour interplanetary speed by skipping it along the planet's atmosphere like a pebble skipping on the water. Then the crew will move from the more roomy quarters of the transfer vehicle to a smaller excursion vehicle to land on the planet's surface. Those first adventurers will stay on Mars for about 30 days. They will explore the area around their landing site and look for evidence of resources, underground water, and past or present life. The next year a cargo flight will take permanent living quarters, a rover, and a vehicle launch and landing facility to the same site. Another crew of four will follow for a 20-month stay. They will set up the permanent living quarters and then begin efforts to extract water from underground layers of ice. They will venture miles from the outpost in the rover, setting up instruments to monitor the climate, winds, and geology of Mars. At the outpost, they will raise plants and animals, studying how the Martian environment affects them as well as humans. A third crew will later spend another 20 months refining the water extraction operations, beginning production of oxygen from the carbon-dioxide atmosphere, and looking for mineral resources. Production of these necessities of life on Mars is very important to permanent settlement. Like those of the past, the pioneers of the space frontier must learn as much as possible to "live off the land", so they will not have to depend on the long supply line from Earth. The result envisioned by about the year 2025 is two permanent operating outposts -- one on the moon, one on Mars -- with the knowledge base and experience to begin setting our sights for even further exploration. A NEW GENERATION OF EXPLORERS The space explorers of the next century will not be just the men and women who make the first journeys to other worlds, or even the colonists who follow them. The thousands of Earthbound workers who make those journeys possible -- whether they wear lab coats or hard hats, work at computer keyboards or in manufacturing facilities -- will be explorers in their own right. The groundwork for the journeys is being laid now. But many of those who will make the dream of solar system exploration a reality are in our schools or colleges today. Theirs is a unique opportunity to become a part of one of the greatest adventures in the history of exploration. "Our goal: To place Americans on Mars -- and to do it within the working lifetime of scientists and engineers who will be recruited for the effort today. And just as Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to open the continent, our commitment to the moon/Mars initiative will open the universe. It's the opportunity of a lifetime -- and offers a lifetime of opportunity." -- President George Bush February 2, 1990, at the University of Tennessee