The Mars mission

• Fact or fiction?

The Mars expedition, otherwise popular as the human mission to Mars, has been a subject of Sci-Fi since long. Many movies have been made depicting the human landings on Mars and discovering it to be livable for mankind. This one-way trip to Mars that everyone has been gushing on about represents the sole purpose to settle and terraform the planet. Basically, find out if its habitable for humans to live and colonise. As, people have been fascinated by the entire idea of discovering the concealed truths of the universe since man’s first step on the moon, the Mars mission is an almost impossible dream come true for many.

Exploring new grounds apart from Earth has been a goal of the space programs for decades now. Discovering and unravelling the mysteries this infinite universe and many more hidden from us have to offer, has been up until recently discussions to us, but, this very theory and concept will be set into motion soon. This manned mission to Mars consists, as discussed by the team at NASA of certain stages to go through before the final launch to Mars.

The four phases

Currently, NASA is at the phase they are calling zero, which comprises countless tests and gradually developing alliances with private space companies. Followed by phase zero is phase one, which would apparently consist of test launches of the rockets exclusively for delivering components that the station to be built near the moon would require. Phase one’s completion will be followed by phase two’s launching of the deep space gateway in between 2027-2029. That tube will carry the settlers of Mars, which will travel a long journey of 400 days. That makes it a continuous journey of one year and 35 days to be precise, which, seems to be an uncomfortably long ride for the travelers. The third phase, however, will ensure restock of the tube with supplies for the inhabitants. The final phase that is four will be the long journey in 2033.

Budget challenges

On the other hand, NASA requires to keep the mission very well maintained under the budget as it would prove to be an enormous challenge for them. The budget NASA is working under has been found to be 0.5pc of the complete budget of the states. This manned-mission requires an exceeding budget as the astronauts must be kept healthy. They will be sent with a complete package of necessities as no stop-overs would be possible. The astronauts’ mental health, too, is a key factor since the trip wouldn’t contain an escape route once sealed and not every individual can survive the year long journey.

Additionally, NASA is in the dilemma of facing a competition in the race to reach MARS. The Boeing and SpaceX, both being aerospace companies, anticipate to reach first with the SpaceX having set a soaring aim to arrive as early as 2022.

Consequently, though, we all will have a fair share of benefit from this race and the inventive solutions generated. If private companies work out some of these human challenges before NASA can, it will contribute to address and have the budget spent on other difficulties. At last, the aim of sending human beings to Mars will have been acquired, regardless of the organisation putting them there.

This scheme, however, demands an outpost to be built orbiting the moon. The four astronauts would most likely have to spend three years of their lives inside a ship orbiting Mars without ever landing on it. So, basically, these astronauts would have no escape route beyond the moon and a way to return to earth as their three years would be spent cramped up in a tube-shaped ship. Will this three-year time-period bear fruit or remain barren?

Difficulty in traveling to mars, why?

This mission has grave challenges involved as a very long distance is to be covered and an unknown environment to be settled in. Moreover, the humans must be landed with the utmost safety, therefore, designing a space craft that is able to penetrate and depart the atmosphere of Mars is a tricky task. The atmosphere of Mars from the information gathered seems to be dynamic compared to Earth’s.

Up to the present, NASA has had a total of six space ships landing on Mars: Viking I, Viking II, MER Spirit and Opportunity, Pathfinder and Phoenix, which proved to be successful in their missions. However, these missions experienced absence of astronauts, fuel and supplies for a round-trip as they were purely robotic missions with lighter space crafts. Why is it challenging? Because developing a system in order to carry humans to Mars will definitely require cautious balancing in between reducing weight and unriddling how to make use of as less fuel as possible.

The vision of scientists at NASA is to get the craft to penetrate the orbit of Mars first and then move onto deploying a lander to the planet’s surface. This will provide astronauts with the chance of observing the planet from afar and ensure no dust storms or weather hazards will be encountered where they are to land. For entering the planet’s orbit, scientists have come up with a method which has not been used previously and is named as aerocapture. Eliminating the fuel complication, aerocapture utilises drag originated by the upper atmosphere of Mars to lessen the craft speed. In this case, Mars’ atmosphere will serve as a brake.

By calculations, we are still a good 16 years away from this expedition. This span of time is not a short one and even by speculation it cannot be made certain whether this mission would bear favourable results or be a complete failure. Although by the tireless efforts and exertive energy being put into and executed by NASA day and night, the chances seem rather conducive.