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Instead of all this talk about slashing the ISS, ditching the Shuttle and praising unmanned missions, should we not consider what many of us hold as a dream.
I still want to see, in my lifetime, man walk on MARS. An unmanned mission cannot accomplish anywhere near as much as one where we put humans on another planet where they explore, gather, test and live for a period of time. The ISS is meant to be used to answer some of the unknowns, especially how we can develop means that humans can live in space for long periods of time without serious muscle and bone degredation. These answers are vital to a manned Mars mission.
To accomplish this, we need to continue manned missions to the ISS and on other scientific experimental missions, such that our knowledge can be increased. To do this, the Shuttle and Russian rockets are required.
Space is still a frontier, and one which man wants to explore. It is still a conquest as we try to understand such that we can reach out further and further into the unknown. The reason we are not accomplishing much isn't just due to bad decisions on projects, but that many of us have lost the vision.
I still want to be alive when man walks on Mars, and hopefully involved in the mission in some way. Man will still look to the stars and wonder what is out there, and through the use of both manned and unmanned missions and projects, maybe we will discover.
Maybe we should all remember what the shuttle was designed to do, and how long it was designed to do it for. The shuttle was originally designed for transportation and microgravity experiments of NASA. The government then decided that a bigger payload was desired such that military applications could also be combined, and also at a lower cost.
The shuttle was doomed from this stage.
The shuttle was also designed to launch at a greater frequency than it has been proven practical, and was meant to have already been completely replaced by the next generation shuttle whose design was to incorporate new technology and learn from the failuires of the pevious shuttle. At this time, NASA have committed to using the Shuttle from the next 15 years, at least. BY then, we ill be flying 40 year old technology!!!!!
I must close by remembering the 7 heros who were willing to risk it all, as well as those who went before them, Challenger, Apollo 1 and also the Russians, for they to were just as brave.
We should all remember the words of a great man when considering the future of our space travel, that of Gus Grissom, Apollo 1 comander:
"The conquest of Space is worth the risk of Life"
The ISS is not designed for the Marian orbit environment. Due to the Earth orbit design which sees it spend almost all of its time within the Van Allen Rdaiation belts protection, the station has not been designed with space radiation in mind. As a result, no human could live on the station in Mars orbit for any length of time.
What is needed is a united approach to Mars research, such that information can be gathered that is required for the desinging of a realistic Mars mission plan. Current deficiancies in the knowledge of human factors, space radiation and microgravity effects currently dooms all current plans (including my own) to failure.
Adequate research and investment could see a human mars mission, with the plan on further research while they are there to set up a permenant base within the next 30 years.
Currently though, we may need another cold war space race to get governments investing the required money.
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