31. You have said you want to bring doctors along for this mission, but what type of doctors are we talking about? Are they going to be limited to medical doctors, or are you also going to bring along dentists, psychologists, etc?
32. Are you only going to bring scientists/researchers, or are you also going to bring trades people? What about teachers for when the colonists start having children (they may have to revive the one-room schoolhouse)?
33. Are the crews going to be allowed to bring pets of any kind with them?
34. If the crew start getting married, having children, etc., what will be the legal authority/citizenship for this? Or will there be?
35. What about consumables, such as toilet paper, tissue paper, salt, soap, etc.?
36. What are the plans for grey water and black water treatment?
37. Will the crew continue to be paid/be employees when they are living on Mars, or only when they are on Earth?
26. What about pollinating of plants that are brought as food sources, such as fruits, berries, squash, etc.? Are the colonists going to bring any bees or other pollinators?
27. Are the colonists bringing only food crops with them, or are they also going or bring plants that are used for flavour/seasoning (i.e. crops for direct consumption vs. crops to flavour foods for consumption)?
28. What about wind power, or is the atmosphere of Mars too thin to support this form of energy production? A source of power other than solar would be useful considering that dust storms on Mars have the potential (on rare occasions) cover the entire planet and last for weeks to months; apparently, during Martian dust storms, the dust can make it almost as dark as night, but the wind speeds are high enough to turn a windmill and generate electricity.
29. For the crew members exploring Mars, will they be making use of some kind of stillsuit technology to help in the recycling and reclaiming of their water and processing wastes?
30. What about laws, charters, and constitutions for the crews as the founders of a Martian colony, are they going to be allowed to do this? No government is allowed to own Mars.
(In reference to my question 2, NASA has maps showing suspected thorium deposits on Mars http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/latestimages/PIA04257.html , and it is claimed that experiments with LFTR has shown the potential to produce enough energy from 12 gm of thorium to provide the energy needs of a US citizen for a decade.)
14. What is your plan if this mission should fail (e.g. the crew dies during their trip to Mars, somehow misses Mars and ends up going further into space, or dies during their time on Mars)? I know it's not nice to focus on the negatives, but having a plan of action would be appropriate considering the nature of this mission.
15. What is the reason the crew is limited to four people per trip? Some proposed Mars to stay missions were planned to have six crew members per trip.
16. What about building subterranean structures on Mars for the crews to live in as well as the structures provided to crews for habitat and work? (E.g. the homes of the people of Coober Pedy, South Australia, though with insulating and air-proof lining to maintain temperature and pressure, and structural support to prevent cave-ins.) This could help with expanding the living space, as well as increased protection from radiation.
17. Depending on the length of the trip to Mars (6-8 months with chemical rockets vs. 39 days with VASIMR), are you considering a form of artificial gravity for the trip?
18. How are you going to determine who will be the first to set foot on Mars? Or are you going to find a way for all four crew members to do this simultaneously?
19. How are you going to ensure a safe and stable supply of medications for the crews that may end up being needed? And what about medical procedures that may be needed?
20. Have you considered using some form of magnetic field shielding for the space craft to protect the crew from radiation during their trip to Mars?
21. What about the Founders Effect when it comes to genetic diversity (e.g. the original inhabitants of Trista de Cunha), how are you going to ensure genetic diversity and limited genetic diseases in the population?
22. What type of calendar and clock are you going to use for the colonists of Mars? The Martian year is almost twice as long as Earth's, and the Martian day is slightly longer than Earth's, necessitating a different form of time keeping than what is used on Earth.
23. Do you prefer to take married couples or couples in committed relationships to Mars, or do you prefer single people?
24. What would the diet of the Martian colonists be expected to be? I imagine meat will be hard to provide on Mars, so will it be vegetarian? Are crews going to be expected to take nutritional supplements, or will their diet be sufficient?
25. What types of science/research and exploration are you going to ask the crews to conduct while on Mars?
(In terms of organisms to breed and release on Mars to start the terraforming and greening of Mars that I referenced in question 5, another organism to consider is lichens; they have been found to survive in the vacuum and radiation of space, and survive in very harsh and extreme environments here on Earth.)
1. Have you looked into Ad Astra's VASIMR engine? They claim it would reduce the trip from the standard 6-8 months down to 39 days. NASA will be testing it on the International Space Station in 2015 I believe.
2. I know liquid-fueled thorium reactors are still not viable, but if they become viable would you consider building one on Mars?
3. What are the upper age ranges you are looking at for astronauts? I know you've mentioned that the lower age limit might be about 25, but I will be pushing 40 by the time the first trip to Mars is planned. Will that be too old? Or by the time the last mission is going I'll be about 50; is that too old?
4. You have said that you will encourage the astronauts not to have children when they get to Mars due to health and safety concerns, but accidents happen. What would it take for you to consider it safe for astronauts to start having children? Short of taking lab rats and other animals and studying the reproductive effects of microgravity or the low gravity of Mars, how are you going to determine the safety of or true settlement size needed for procreating and raising children on Mars? For that matter, what if people going to Mars form intimate relationships?
5.Are there any plans to intentionally introduce Terran lifeforms to the Martian environment, or attempt to breed organisms that can survive on Mars (e.g. photosynthetic single-celled organisms, high altitude or high latitude grasses, etc.)? In other words, what about beginning the terraforming process? This doesn't really require any advanced technology that is not already commercially available to begin experimenting with introducing some organisms.
6. You have said you want the astronauts to be training during the ten years leading up to the missions. For the first mission in 2023, I will probably still be in school for at least six of those ten years, and may have to do further training after that (all of which would be in training that could be incredibly useful skills for a small crew living on Mars). How would that affect my ability to qualify for the first mission?
7. Current astronauts are limited to being no taller than 6',3" (190 cm). Is there going to be a similar height restriction for this mission?
8. What about internet access and other forms of electronic communication/data transfer, especially for research and entertainment? Will they be available on Mars?
9. If a properly designed spacecraft were built that could be easily refueled, it could be left in orbit and the lander could touch down. That way the only thing needed for a return trip is a way to get into orbit again, and someway to generate fuel for this. (The VASMIR engine could really be useful for such a plan.) Would this idea be something you would consider?
10. What about doing a smaller version of Biosphere 2 or the Eden Project on Mars? It would be really nice to have something like this for peace of mind, not to mention food production and oxygen generation.
11. What about compost or other forms of recycling wastes? This could go along ways to helping provide the nutrients needed to sustain plant growth. What type of facilities will you be sending to support this?
12. How are you going to ensure the long-term psychological health of the crews? Considering confined environment psychology and the issues that have arisen in the past with similar situations (accidental or intentional) here on Earth, how do you propose to protect against this on Mars? I know it would be good for TV drama, but this could be disastrous, possibly lethal on Mars.
13. Are you going to implement an exercise regime similar to what astronauts in orbit go through for those living on Mars? With the reduced gravity there is still a chance that there will be bone demineralization and muscle loss.
Slashdot Mirror
31. You have said you want to bring doctors along for this mission, but what type of doctors are we talking about? Are they going to be limited to medical doctors, or are you also going to bring along dentists, psychologists, etc?
32. Are you only going to bring scientists/researchers, or are you also going to bring trades people? What about teachers for when the colonists start having children (they may have to revive the one-room schoolhouse)?
33. Are the crews going to be allowed to bring pets of any kind with them?
34. If the crew start getting married, having children, etc., what will be the legal authority/citizenship for this? Or will there be?
35. What about consumables, such as toilet paper, tissue paper, salt, soap, etc.?
36. What are the plans for grey water and black water treatment?
37. Will the crew continue to be paid/be employees when they are living on Mars, or only when they are on Earth?
26. What about pollinating of plants that are brought as food sources, such as fruits, berries, squash, etc.? Are the colonists going to bring any bees or other pollinators?
27. Are the colonists bringing only food crops with them, or are they also going or bring plants that are used for flavour/seasoning (i.e. crops for direct consumption vs. crops to flavour foods for consumption)?
28. What about wind power, or is the atmosphere of Mars too thin to support this form of energy production? A source of power other than solar would be useful considering that dust storms on Mars have the potential (on rare occasions) cover the entire planet and last for weeks to months; apparently, during Martian dust storms, the dust can make it almost as dark as night, but the wind speeds are high enough to turn a windmill and generate electricity.
29. For the crew members exploring Mars, will they be making use of some kind of stillsuit technology to help in the recycling and reclaiming of their water and processing wastes?
30. What about laws, charters, and constitutions for the crews as the founders of a Martian colony, are they going to be allowed to do this? No government is allowed to own Mars.
(In reference to my question 2, NASA has maps showing suspected thorium deposits on Mars http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/latestimages/PIA04257.html , and it is claimed that experiments with LFTR has shown the potential to produce enough energy from 12 gm of thorium to provide the energy needs of a US citizen for a decade.)
14. What is your plan if this mission should fail (e.g. the crew dies during their trip to Mars, somehow misses Mars and ends up going further into space, or dies during their time on Mars)? I know it's not nice to focus on the negatives, but having a plan of action would be appropriate considering the nature of this mission.
15. What is the reason the crew is limited to four people per trip? Some proposed Mars to stay missions were planned to have six crew members per trip.
16. What about building subterranean structures on Mars for the crews to live in as well as the structures provided to crews for habitat and work? (E.g. the homes of the people of Coober Pedy, South Australia, though with insulating and air-proof lining to maintain temperature and pressure, and structural support to prevent cave-ins.) This could help with expanding the living space, as well as increased protection from radiation.
17. Depending on the length of the trip to Mars (6-8 months with chemical rockets vs. 39 days with VASIMR), are you considering a form of artificial gravity for the trip?
18. How are you going to determine who will be the first to set foot on Mars? Or are you going to find a way for all four crew members to do this simultaneously?
19. How are you going to ensure a safe and stable supply of medications for the crews that may end up being needed? And what about medical procedures that may be needed?
20. Have you considered using some form of magnetic field shielding for the space craft to protect the crew from radiation during their trip to Mars?
21. What about the Founders Effect when it comes to genetic diversity (e.g. the original inhabitants of Trista de Cunha), how are you going to ensure genetic diversity and limited genetic diseases in the population?
22. What type of calendar and clock are you going to use for the colonists of Mars? The Martian year is almost twice as long as Earth's, and the Martian day is slightly longer than Earth's, necessitating a different form of time keeping than what is used on Earth.
23. Do you prefer to take married couples or couples in committed relationships to Mars, or do you prefer single people?
24. What would the diet of the Martian colonists be expected to be? I imagine meat will be hard to provide on Mars, so will it be vegetarian? Are crews going to be expected to take nutritional supplements, or will their diet be sufficient?
25. What types of science/research and exploration are you going to ask the crews to conduct while on Mars?
(In terms of organisms to breed and release on Mars to start the terraforming and greening of Mars that I referenced in question 5, another organism to consider is lichens; they have been found to survive in the vacuum and radiation of space, and survive in very harsh and extreme environments here on Earth.)
I do have a few questions:
1. Have you looked into Ad Astra's VASIMR engine? They claim it would reduce the trip from the standard 6-8 months down to 39 days. NASA will be testing it on the International Space Station in 2015 I believe.
2. I know liquid-fueled thorium reactors are still not viable, but if they become viable would you consider building one on Mars?
3. What are the upper age ranges you are looking at for astronauts? I know you've mentioned that the lower age limit might be about 25, but I will be pushing 40 by the time the first trip to Mars is planned. Will that be too old? Or by the time the last mission is going I'll be about 50; is that too old?
4. You have said that you will encourage the astronauts not to have children when they get to Mars due to health and safety concerns, but accidents happen. What would it take for you to consider it safe for astronauts to start having children? Short of taking lab rats and other animals and studying the reproductive effects of microgravity or the low gravity of Mars, how are you going to determine the safety of or true settlement size needed for procreating and raising children on Mars? For that matter, what if people going to Mars form intimate relationships?
5.Are there any plans to intentionally introduce Terran lifeforms to the Martian environment, or attempt to breed organisms that can survive on Mars (e.g. photosynthetic single-celled organisms, high altitude or high latitude grasses, etc.)? In other words, what about beginning the terraforming process? This doesn't really require any advanced technology that is not already commercially available to begin experimenting with introducing some organisms.
6. You have said you want the astronauts to be training during the ten years leading up to the missions. For the first mission in 2023, I will probably still be in school for at least six of those ten years, and may have to do further training after that (all of which would be in training that could be incredibly useful skills for a small crew living on Mars). How would that affect my ability to qualify for the first mission?
7. Current astronauts are limited to being no taller than 6',3" (190 cm). Is there going to be a similar height restriction for this mission?
8. What about internet access and other forms of electronic communication/data transfer, especially for research and entertainment? Will they be available on Mars?
9. If a properly designed spacecraft were built that could be easily refueled, it could be left in orbit and the lander could touch down. That way the only thing needed for a return trip is a way to get into orbit again, and someway to generate fuel for this. (The VASMIR engine could really be useful for such a plan.) Would this idea be something you would consider?
10. What about doing a smaller version of Biosphere 2 or the Eden Project on Mars? It would be really nice to have something like this for peace of mind, not to mention food production and oxygen generation.
11. What about compost or other forms of recycling wastes? This could go along ways to helping provide the nutrients needed to sustain plant growth. What type of facilities will you be sending to support this?
12. How are you going to ensure the long-term psychological health of the crews? Considering confined environment psychology and the issues that have arisen in the past with similar situations (accidental or intentional) here on Earth, how do you propose to protect against this on Mars? I know it would be good for TV drama, but this could be disastrous, possibly lethal on Mars.
13. Are you going to implement an exercise regime similar to what astronauts in orbit go through for those living on Mars? With the reduced gravity there is still a chance that there will be bone demineralization and muscle loss.