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Thats very true except these stations have near instant access to atmosphere replenishment. A shuttle can set up an emergency landing, Mir and the ISS can be resupplied via ground launch.
Whatever is used on the Mars Mission has to be self contained and recyclable (But thats stating the obvious...sorry).
I guess it's research time.
Aha, someone finally asks something that has been bugging me for awhile...FIRE. Not only in the domes, but what about on the flight vehicles? Halon may be great for putting out fires, but it's really bad for the lungs. And what to do with the now poisonous air once the fire is out. CO2 could be used, then scrubbed out of the air, or absorbed with Lithium Hydroxide. Most chemicals used to make material fire retardent have major outgassing (fumes) problems also.
Being on submarines for 21 years now I can assure you the problems of atmosphere control in general, and fire in particular, are pretty serious and not all the questions have been answered yet.
Perhaps a good topic for a new Task Force to work on; Atmosphere control and Damage Control for a manned mission.
I wouldn't call it the "best" ever developed, but it is the ONLY one on the shelf today. The major problem I see is that Russia is in such a poor state that any attempt to buy/lease/build the Energia will end up in delays and cost overruns; just like the ISS sections.
I think a better HLV could be built out of 3 to 5 shuttle main engines with 2 or 4 SRBs strapped on. All the components are available now, including the experts needed to launch the thing.
BTW, wasn't Energia intended as the launch vehicle for the Buran? I cant imagine any other current payloads that would need that capabilty. Please correct meif I'm wrong on that. thanks
Definately Mars first. We have been to the moon and back. Any further missions to the moon (while scientifically viable) will tend to be looked on with a "been there, done that" mentality by the general public. The time, money, and effort spent on going to the moon will also delay any further Mars explorations. Additionally the fickle hands of politicians may decide the moneys spent on another moon mission was just to much, and cancel the Mars missions.
Its time to make a bold statement and recapture the imagination and support of the public and politicos. A manned Mars mission; the first person to step foot on another planet; would be just the sort of publicity to fire up the people again.
One item I haven't seen addressed anywhere are what controls will be placed on Translife? Will we be able to have a second set of mice on the ISS eating the same food, same basic conditions (sans gravity)? How about a third group on earth?
I think this would be critical so a more exact comparison can be made on the effects of low gravity environments.
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