Onwards and Upwards Nicholas Kellett's personal blog about space exploration, scuba diving, and travel

http://blog.nicholaskellett.com

“Making Space Happen”:

Journey To Mars http://blog.nicholaskellett.com/2014/01/27/making-space-happen-

journey-to-mars/

Why Mars?

“Its unexplored surface may hold unimagined riches and resources for future humanity, as well as answers to some of the deepest philosophical questions” – Robert Zubrin, “The Case for Mars” book (1996)

Mars may “provide an engine

of progress for all humanity for

generations to come” if we settle

there

Mars Direct

In 1989 NASA proposed $450 B USD Mars exploratory mission in infamous “90-Day Report”

Dr. Robert Zubrin called this “The Death Star” and the technology and industrial facilities that would have been required to make the mission happen “The Parallel Universe”.

As a response to the NASA plan, he helped create a mission proposal called “Mars Direct”: In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) = live off the land on Mars

Martian colony would make its own oxygen, water, and hydrogen fuel

Ships would be sent to Mars before first colonists arrived with supplies, ensuring that they had everything they need before their arrival.

Zubrin estimated cost of his Mars Direct plan at $30 B in 1996 dollars.

Red Planet on Earth

Dr. Robert Zubrin helped found Mars Society

Largest Mars advocacy group in the world

Mars Society has setup experimental bases on Earth, to represent colonization activities on Mars.

Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is a unique Mars exploration analog research facility established in 2000, and located on Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada

Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah conducts Mock Mars Mission

Mars-500

Mars-500 mission was multi-year experiment conducted between 2007 and 2011 by Russia, the European Space Agency and China

Experiment to see how volunteers in closed environment could adapt, socialize, and endure, while performing sample mission tasks that would simulate manned spaceflight to Mars

Thousands of people volunteered as crew The chosen members completed the mission Some had physical or emotional challenges on the

longest mission Experiment results are still being studied

Mars One

In 2024, Mars One plans to launch four picked astronauts in a Mars-bound spaceflight to become the first residents on Mars

Colony will eventually include 20 other astronauts.

First crew’s journey will be documented on reality television

Mars One hopes to raise funding in a variety of ways: Exclusive partnerships

Sponsorships

Sales of broadcasting rights

Involvement with high net worth individuals

Revenues from Intellectual Property

Crowdfunding

Concerns about its economic viability and dangers

Time will tell if this bold mission succeeds

Mars One

In 2024, Mars One plans to launch four picked astronauts in a Mars-bound spaceflight to become the first residents on Mars

Colony will eventually include 20 other astronauts.

First crew’s journey will be documented on reality television

Mars One hopes to raise funding in a variety of ways: Exclusive partnerships

Sponsorships

Sales of broadcasting rights

Involvement with high net worth individuals

Revenues from Intellectual Property

Crowdfunding

Concerns about its economic viability and dangers

Time will tell if this bold mission succeeds

A Real-Life Tony Stark

“I want to go to Mars.” – Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX

Has a rocket company, SpaceX, that launches to International Space Station

Wants to create a colony of 80,000 people on Mars. “The key thing for me is to develop the technology to transport large numbers of people and cargo to Mars. That’s the ultimate awesome thing.”

Thinks key point to get Mars colonization going is to reduce the cost to about $500,000 per colonist

Is Mars “Happening”?

Read the whole post on my blog, Onwards and Upwards, to find out and add your thoughts!

http://blog.nicholaskellett.com/2014/01/27/making-space-happen-journey-to-mars/

Get In Touch

I’d love to connect with you on

Twitter: @NickKellett

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholaskellett

Onwards and Upwards is my main blog at

http://blog.nicholaskellett.com

Subscribe to my blog:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/nicholaskellett/xFoR

I also have a Tumblr blog at

http://nickkellett.tumblr.com