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Proposed Hab Module For Asteroid Redirect Mission Could Support a Lunar Return
MarkWhittington writes Space News reported on Wednesday that NASA is mulling a hab module as part of the Asteroid Redirect Mission. The inclusion of the hab module would extend the mission from 28 days to as long as 60 days. The module would provide enough consumables such as food, water, and oxygen and other support to sustain the crew of astronauts for weeks while examining a small asteroid in orbit around the moon. The module might also support a return to the lunar surface, given certain modifications.
It's always good to know EMPs could wipe out our species.
There's still some space for science up there. The properly analyzed samples come from only a small number of sites, and all from the surface - there's almost nothing known about what lies beneath. A lot could be learned by proper surveying. Drill for deeper samples, lay down seismic instruments. All of no practical benefit - the moon is unlikely to have any minerals rich enough in expensive elements to justify mining - but there is still science to be done. It'd also make a good observatory - it's not practical to haul the giant mirror of an optical telescope up there, but you could set up giant radio telescope arrays free from the interference and atmospheric absorption that limits observable frequency ranges on earth. A lunar science base would be very expensive, but it would still be of scientific use. It just wouldn't bring any immediate practical technologies - surveys of worthless dust and improved imaging of distant objects may be good for astronomers to refine their theories, but that's all.
Though with the way robotics is advancing, in another decade or two we wouldn't need humans to handle a mobile drill rig.
" thousands of tourists go to Antarctica. money to burn."
Thousands of tourists used to get sightseeing flights to Antarctica back in the late 70's
Air New Zealand stopped that when one of the DC10s hit Mt Erebus
We're too energy-intensive for that. Our bodies don't have a sufficient surface, not even when naked.
Ezekiel 23:20
We don't need such a module, because we don't need, or even want humans to go back to the Moon.
Wait - who is this "we" you keep referring to? Okay, he was speaking of Mars, but still...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I like human exploration, but I tend to the opposite motivation from a lot of space fans. I don't want us to go out there because we have really screwed Earth up and simply have to find some other place and try again. That seems like a lousy motivation. The idea that we could screw Earth up enough that it would be easier to terraform Mars or something should be very disturbing and frightening to us, a strong motivator to fix what we are doing wrong right here instead of cut and run.
As we discover new things we can do in physics, learn to hack our own biology and how Earth's ecology works, as we get more data on whether there are Earth-like planets in other systems, maybe find evidence of life on other worlds, we are going to actually know something about how hard it is to change ourselves for space, how hard to change other worlds to suit us, and what environments can support life of what kinds. I suspect there will be moments when we learn some things and say "Aha!, Now we know how to succeed at doing X, and why we shouldn't waste lives and resources on Y.", but we need a lot more such moments first. I'm willing to bet that learning more, fixing things right here, and maturing as a species will lead to a time when there will be obvious reasons for a stable, long term human presence in space. I even suspect we can make this world the sort of place that other space faring species, organic or machine, might want to have for a neighbor.
Cleaning up our own act here may one day make human expansion in space possible - deciding 'here is too hard, but out there will be easier' is the perspective of madmen. Learning more about how to keep people sane and interacting for mutual benefit is something we need to accomplish for right here and now, even if it may someday help a long term mission crew stay on task. Recrafting our educational system so our best and brightest don't spend the first third of their lives just getting through school is something that we need for here and now, even if it may also give us explorers who are skilled enough to survive while still young enough to live through even lengthier missions. Stabilizing this world's climate is something we need here and now, even if we may one day use that knoweldge to warm Mars. Yes, there are things we won't learn until we try space, but those things are built on a foundation of things we need to know for right here and now, and we need that foundation built first or we can learn nothing by going into space.
Even that stirring "space nutter" speech at the end of H G Wells' "Things to Come" follows after mankind has ended war, recovered the Earth's surface in rolling meadows and mighty forests, and built great cities and power, food and communications networks for everyone, and ensured universal education and healthcare. Wells saw those as the baby steps we had to master before trying for the stars.
Who is John Cabal?
The real goal of the habitat is the Martian moon, Phobos, which is reachable for nearly the same expenditure of energy as the high retrograde lunar orbit planned for ARM. It would take a good deal longer, though, thus the need for a habitat.
If you think of ARM as a training wheels dry run for Phobos, you would not be far off.
as Orion has no toilet compartment, no sleeping bunks for off shift use, no air lock, no room for treadmill (kinds of stuff Shuttle orbiter mid deck had).
mfwright@batnet.com
I think "we" are the types of humans that said the same thing when a family member decided to look and see what was on the other side of the valley so many years ago.
Actually, after following artificial intelligence for some 5 decades now, I suspect he or she is highly likely to sound more uninformed in a few decades. Very few things are as wince-inducing as reading 3-decade old AI predictions.
I think great reasons for manned space exploration have little to do with space exploration. It provides a sense of wonder and imagination that transcends all of humanity and it's earthly divisions. And manned space travel is human centric, so we end up learning a lot about humans that's valuable to living here, not just space travel. I think it also generates a ton of useful engineering -- materials, systems, technologies -- that also have use here and now.
Arguing its less good science or not practical seems to miss the bigger picture.
swb's comment is insightful too. The best reason to go into space is because we are happy on Earth and want to grow that happiness further.
That said, it is not unreasonable to want a distributed population for reasons of backup and resiliency, as well as reasons for new perspectives/exploration/innovation. Humans run simulations to learn things, and space habitats may develop a variety of approaches to things that are new and useful.
Also, as human technological power grows, the Earth becomes ever smaller and the stakes for a global mistake (e.g. bioweapon, nuclear war) get every higher -- even as we should do what we can to reduce and contain those risks as appropriate.
See also:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/K...
"A planet is the cradle of mind, but one cannot live in a cradle forever."
NASA should have been doing these sort of hab missions decades ago IMHO. Better late than never!
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.