[ad_1]
Radical radiations of the cosmos, possible vision loss and atrophied bones are just some of the challenges that scientists have to overcome before an astronaut can walk Mars, experts and officials from GODMOTHER.
The US Space Agency believes that in the next 25 years it can put a man on the red planet, but the technological and medical challenges that are in the way for this to happen are enormous.
"With current budgets, or somewhat larger, it will take about 25 years to solve these challenges," said the retired astronaut of GODMOTHER Tom Jones, who traveled in space on different missions.
"We must now begin with some key technologies," he said at a Washington press conference. At a distance of about 225 million kilometers, Mars is a bigger challenge than Apollo's missions on the Moon.
With the technology currently available, it would take an astronaut of up to nine months to reach Mars, and the physical cost of floating so long in zero gravity would be enormous. For example, scientists believe that this could cause irreversible changes in the blood vessels of the retina, which would lead to a degradation of vision.
In addition, after a period of zero gravity, the skeleton would begin to lose calcium and bone tissue.
Experts do not yet know the effects of a one-year mission to the Earth's surface. Mars.
BETTER PROPOSAL
One way to reduce damage to the human body is to significantly reduce travel time on the planet. Jones believes that nuclear power systems would have the added advantage of producing energy on flights.
"If we start now, in 25 years, we could have technologies available to help us protect ourselves from these long travel times," he said.
Under today's conditions, a single stage of the journey Mars It would take so long for an astronaut to receive the same amount of radiation considered safe throughout his career.
"We still do not have the solution in terms of safety in terms of protection against cosmic rays and solar rays to which the astronaut is exposed during this transit time," Jones said.
Specialists have identified several technologies that need to be developed quickly, including a ship that can withstand harsh entry Mars and landing without problems as well as the ability to return passengers to Earth.
GODMOTHER It has a new robotic landing module called InSight that goes on Mars, where it will land on November 26 after taking off from California on May 5th.
The $ 993 million project aims to extend the knowledge of the conditions in Mars to send explorers and to show how rocky planets like the Earth formed billions of years ago.
Jim Garvin, chief scientist of the Goddard Space Flight Center GODMOTHER, thinks InSight will fill out "critical unknowns" and help to have a clear understanding of Mars.
In 2020, another mission a GODMOTHER will send a vehicle to that planet to determine the habitats of the Martian environment to look for ancient signs of life and assess natural resources and dangers for future human explorers.
In addition, private companies such as SpaceX and other nations develop technologies that could be used in future missions Mars.
Source link
