New Mars Forums

Maybe a pressure of about 50kPa, 40% O2, 40% He and 20% N2 would be a rather good atmosphere.

To find the exact date requires though calculations where the exact elements of the Mars orbit and the Earth orbit are required. It's the best to use Lamberts theorem to do this. I've done this for a trajectory Mars-Earth.

Due to the rotational velocity of the earth, the difference in total delta-v to achieve is about maximal 400 m/s. Working with a last stage-Isp of about 340 s this will result in a maximum gain of 13% (8.4 MT will became 9.5 MT). This is a rough guess, but without drastically engineering the existing rocket the gain in mass will be not higher than taht 13%, assuming the easiest obtaineble LEO is chosen (5 degree inclination instead of 51 degree as from Baikonour).

If using artificial gravity it is also possible to vary it by spinning faster. Just before descent you can spin up to an artificial gravity above 1 G to test the astronauts. Duyring the missiion I guess .25 G would be sufficient to decelerate bone deterioration.

I think the most serious challenge of staying long in space are the psychological aspects. Medical considerations about radiation and bone weakening are better understood and can be handled. It's nott clear to me what the Russians found on their cosmonauts who stayed a year or longer in space, but they never reported serious medical problems about bone weakening.

I consider Callisto or Ganymede as the new challenge when Mars is reached. We can't stop :band:

Right-handed

There has been research on this topic, but results are not clear. People are essentially not symmetrical, it's obvious when looking at the digestive system. But also brain-functions differ in the right and left hemisphere. Dominance in the hemisphere is associated with dominance in the hand on the other side, but this is not always the case. There are a very few people who are as a whole mirrored (appendix on the left). About 15% of all people seem to be left-handed.

One explanation for predominance of righthandedness is the way a righthanded mother takes her child in the arms: Theleft shyoulder of the child is limited in action, so it develops a dominant right hand.

Please, not UN. They've already too much work to do. Maybe something like an international commitee with people from different space agencies that can give some advice to governments.

It's a matter of looking for the right realization. With what is yet discovered, I can't imagine this will never work. When? If we go on, neglecting political bla-bla, within a decade.

Let's hope this will work.

If nuclear fusion works, It's no problem anymore to 'create' oil or something like that using carbon dioxide, biomass, or whatever to do the things that are yet done with oil. Eg sugar could be enriched to hexane by adding electrolitically obtained hydrogen, so you have some kind of substitute for benzine (right english?). Metallurgic extractions yet done with cokes could be done by electrolysis, also replacing some fossil fuel. Irrigating big areas using huge amounts of energy can result in big areas of growing biomass, which can be used to make plastics, rubber, medicine, etc.. Nuclear fusion is the real solution for very much problems.

I don't think China will burn it's hands on that isle. They know the US likes that island and will not take the risk. Beside that, China will slowly realize that conquering that island is not more than saving some honour from earlier times, which is not a very constructive drive. Mao will change his position for some Gorbatsjov-like guy and then China starts to de-maoize. When Castro dies, communism will cease forever on this planet. :laugh:

I think some conflict potential to create a WWIII can only happen around Palestine, but not within 10 years. Sooner or later, some severe palestinian action will react Israel and then reactions from some countries which are at that time very angry.

Another possibility: Any American or Israelian, which don't agree to the international court, is captured and locked up in the Hague for trial. Despite insisting negotiations by US and UK the UN resists to free the guy. Some 3rd-generations WWII-victims in the Netherlands make troubles around the court and decided is that German and French troops assist Dutch troops to protect the court. US and UK make a airborne/seaborne invasion at Scheveningen beach and there....

(Seems intriguing to me, just don't hope this will happen, )