NASA wants people on Mars 25 years from now

Deadly cosmic radiation, potential vision loss and bone atrophy are just some of the challenges scientists face before any future astronaut can set foot on Mars, experts said Tuesday. NASA officials.

The US space agency thinks it can put humans on the red planet 25 years from now, but the technological and medical hurdles are immense.

"The cost of resolving these problems means that with current or slightly longer budgets, it will take about 25 years to resolve them," said former NASA astronaut Tom Jones, who had completed four Space Shuttle missions before retiring in 2001.

"We have to start using some key technologies," he told reporters.

At an average distance of about 225 million kilometers, Mars poses scientific problems an order of magnitude greater than anything the Apollo Lunar Missions have ever encountered.

With modern rocket technology, it would take up to nine months for an astronaut to reach Mars. The physical cost of such a long floating weightlessness would be enormous.

For example, scientists believe that prolonged weightlessness can lead to irreversible changes in the blood vessels in the retina, leading to poor vision.

And after a time at zero G, the skeleton begins to leach out calcium and bone mbad.

Scientists still do not know the effects of an alleged one-year mission on the surface of Mars, gravities representing only one-third of the Earth.

– Best Propulsion – One way to reduce wear and tear on the human body is to dramatically reduce travel time to March.

Jones called for nuclear propulsion systems that would have the added benefit of producing in – flight electricity.

"If we start now, in 25 years, we could have these technologies to help us and protect us from these long transit times," he said.

Under current conditions, a simple trip to Mars would take as long as an astronaut would receive the same amount of radiation that he would normally be considered to be safe to be along his career.

"We do not yet have the solution in terms of protection, protection against cosmic rays and solar flares that you encounter during this transit period," Jones said.

Aerospace experts have identified a number of technologies that require rapid development, including spacecraft capable of surviving the harsh entry into Mars and landing fairly slowly, as well as the ability to lift people from the surface and back to Earth .

NASA is currently using a new robotic lander called InSight that is approaching Mars and will land on November 26th after taking off from California on May 5th.

The $ 993-million project aims to expand human understanding of the conditions on Mars, to inform efforts to send explorers there, and to reveal how rocky planets such as the Earth have formed. billions of years ago.

Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said that InSight would fill in the "crucial unknowns" and contribute to understanding the basics of the planet Mars.

In 2020, another mission will see NASA send a rover to Mars in order to determine the livability of the Martian environment, to look for signs of ancient life and to badess the resources natural hazards and dangers for future explorers.

In addition, private companies such as SpaceX and many other countries are developing technologies that could be used in future missions to Mars.

Some experts believe that the new exploration of the Moon is the key to a future Mars mission, as astronauts could learn more about water extraction or on the planet. use of technology and apply these lessons to future Mars missions.