Technological Concepts and Solutions for Human Space Travel to Mars
One way both astronauts and mission control at NASA are preparing for a Mars mission is a fully functional simulation with an underwater space craft, affectionately called NEEMO, or NASA Extreme Environmental Mission Operations (Chappell et al., 2016). Using different buoyancy levels, NEEMO can simulate any range of gravity expected of a Mars mission, from zero gravity during the trip to the gravity on Mars. Six subjects carried out 4-hour tests in NEEMO under the closest conditions to the actual mission, including a 15-minute communication delay between the astronauts and mission control (Chappell et al., 2016).
The Evolvable Mars Campaign, or EMC, was a program created by NASA to focus research and technological advances towards the goal of sending humans to Mars by the mid-2030’s. EMC has designated the goals of constructing three conceptual structures supporting 4 crew for the Mars mission: a Mars moon habitat for 300-550 days available in 2028, a transit habitat for up to 1100 days in space available in 2032, and a Mars surface habitat for 300-550 days available in 2035 (Simon et al.,
2015). These structures will all be equipped with solar panels, an Electrical Power Control Unit, life support, thermal and radiation shields, and an array of items for the crew, including computers, food storage systems, vacuums, treadmills, utensils etc. (Simon et al., 2015). Two of the most important characteristics of these structures are that they are as light and small as possible, sacrificing mass and volume of any unnecessary item or material where possible, and that they are reusable for future Mars missions, meaning they’re durable and recyclable.
Figure 1: Global map of Mars with coordinates of all the proposed landing sites and exploration zones for NASA’s Mars mission, with topography indicated by color.
NASA has already begun selecting proposed landing sites and base locations based on regions or interest, or ROI, which are determined by certain preferred characteristics such as their elevation and proximity to geographically and chemically unique places for sample collection (Bussey and Hoffman, 2016). Figure 1 is a global map of Mars with all of the proposed landing sites based on ROI, with elevation indicated by color.
Figure 2 displays the interactions between solar radiation and Mars’ upper atmosphere by translating the energy of escaping charged ions to color (Fang et al., 2015). The interactions are also responsible for the auroras that can be seen both on Earth and Mars, though Mars’ lack of a global magnetic field means these solar winds are able to strip off the remnants of its atmosphere.
Figure 2: Computer simulation of solar winds interacting with ions in the upper atmosphere of Mars. The spectrum of colors is scaled in reference to the relative energy in electron-volts of the charged ions.
Studying the movements and energies of these escaping ions is one of the best ways to visualize solar winds during a long-term and immobile mission on Mars because they can serve as a forecast of radiation, almost like indirectly observing the humidity of air by looking at the condensation of water on a cold object. Satellites like the MAVEN, which recorded the data to construct Figure 2, would constantly monitor the solar winds to let astronauts determine whether it is safe to leave the protection of their shielded base and where to travel (Fang et al., 2015).
The only effective way to combat muscle atrophy aboard a long-term space mission is vigorous exercise, which is particularly important for potential Mars astronauts who will live in microgravity conditions for months before having to suddenly adapt to the gravity of Mars. In one study, nine astronauts aboard the International Space Station for six months were monitored for calf and skeletal muscle loss before and after their missions along with their total exercise methods and durations (Trappe et al., 2009). The three exercise methods were cycling on stationary bikes, running on a treadmill with a harness pulling down from the waist, and lifting using elastic bands. The study concluded that there remained a substantial decrease in calf and skeletal muscle loss even after the exercise routines, with an average muscle loss of about 13% (Trappe et al., 2009). The study shows the urgency for finding better exercise methods of combatting muscle atrophy for a Mars mission.
Works Cited
Fang, Xiaohua, University of Colorado, MAVEN Science Team. “Computer Simulation of Mars’ Polar Plume.” Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at The University of Colorado Boulder. (June, 2015) [Cited 23 September 2016].
Bussey, Ben, Stephen J. Hoffman. “Human Mars Landing Site and Impacts on Mars Surface Operations.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (March, 2016) [Cited 23 September 2016].
Simone, Matthew A., Larry Toups, Scott A. Howe, et al. “Evolvable Mars Campaign Long Duration Habitation Strategies: Architectural Approaches to Enable Human Exploration Missions.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (August, 2015) [Cited 23 September 2016].
Chappell, Stephen P., Kara H. Beaton, Trevor Graff, et al. “Analog Testing of Operations Concepts for Integration of an Earth-Based Science Team During Human Exploration of Mars.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (July, 2016) [Cited 23 September 2016].
Trappe, Scott, David Costill, Philip Gallagher, et al. “Exercise in space: human skeletal muscle after 6 months aboard the International Space Station.” Journal of Applied Physiology. 106, no. 4 (April, 2009) [Cited 23 September 2016].
