The invasion of Mars - Part III and last

Humans have always been curious to find out what the planet holds. Starting with the ancients who followed the planets from the ground, and ending with spaceships floating on the surface of the planets. Last chapter

In the previous chapter we reviewed missions to Mars that are in the planning and execution stages. In the fourth and last chapter of the "Invasion of Mars" article series, we will talk about the issue of manned missions to Mars.

A human task

The multitude of unmanned missions described can raise the question: what about a manned mission? Are we in a situation where the various space technologies allow a manned mission to Mars? If so, what will be the price of the task? Who will do it? And the question of the questions - when will man set foot on Mars?

American plans for a manned flight to Mars were back in the fifties of the 20th century, before man reached space. These detailed plans were prepared by the German rocket engineer Werner Von Braun, but never came to fruition. After the manned space flights in 1961, and even more so after the Apollo missions to explore the moon, it was clear that Mars is an important and attractive destination for manned space missions.

At the same time, it must be remembered that many factors make a manned mission to Mars difficult. Beyond the obvious technological aspects, such as the development of powerful launchers, large and spacious spacecraft, etc., one of the most essential challenges related to a manned mission to Mars is the long time required for such a mission. We have already seen that Mars and the Earth are arranged in their orbits around the Sun in such a way that allows for a comfortable passage between them once every two years. This means that a mission to Mars involving a team of astronauts cannot be a short mission, like the single-day forays of the Apollo missions to explore the moon.

nature of the task

A possible profile of a manned mission to Mars currently looks like this: a flight to Mars would take between 6 and 7 months, the stay on the surface of Mars would last about a year and the return to Earth would take another 6 to 7 months. It is understood that such a long mission requires special preparation that will allow the astronauts to reach Mars in good physical condition and function there for a long period of time. One of the first risk factors to be addressed is the problem of radiation from the sun: at different times intense solar storms occur, which emit a stream of particles into space. These particles can easily penetrate the body of the spacecraft, and harm the crew inside. Therefore, an anti-radiation shelter must be developed, which will be inside the spacecraft. Since protection requires thick and heavy walls, it is impossible to shield the entire spacecraft against the harmful radiation. This in itself affects the launcher or launchers that will be required to carry out manned missions to Mars.

Another issue that must be resolved is the very long stay of the crew members in the conditions of the absence of gravity inside the spacecraft on the way to Mars and on the way from there to Earth. Exposure of humans to these conditions causes a series of severe physiological problems, including accelerated calcium escape from the bones, loss of muscle mass and weakening of the heart.

While astronauts who are on the International Space Station for long periods return home and can undergo a series of comprehensive physical tests and begin a program to restore their physical fitness and general condition, the astronauts who arrive on Mars after a 6- or 7-month stay in zero-gravity conditions will have to immediately transition from a state of relaxed levitation And devoid of gravity to a state of strenuous and difficult physical work for many hours every day under the conditions of the gravity of Mars.

One of the possible solutions is the construction of a centrifuge inside the spacecraft, which will allow the astronauts controlled exposure to changing acceleration forces that will simulate the existing gravity on the surface of Mars. The technical problems in the construction of this facility have not yet been resolved, and at this stage constitute a major stumbling block in the planning of a manned mission to Mars.

In 1989, in a speech delivered by President George Bush (Sr.) on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the first man's landing on the moon, he publicly announced that he was ordering NASA to develop several new space missions, including a manned flight to Mars. Unlike President Kennedy, who backed up his statements regarding a manned landing on the moon with huge budgets that made the Apollo program possible, President Bush did not translate his statements from words to budgets. Therefore, after some staff work at NASA, it was decided that the technology of the early nineties does not allow the execution of a concrete plan to land a man on Mars. It is important to understand that a manned space mission to Mars will be very expensive. The price tag of a manned mission to Mars would be so high that even itself would struggle to achieve this goal on its own.

General plans for an international mission to Mars have been known since the nineties of the 20th century. The vision of President Bush (Jr.) from 2004 directs NASA to return and land a man on the moon by 2018. This vision is derived from a NASA research initiative known as "Moon, Mars and Beyond". As part of this general plan, NASA has been engaged for years in testing and examining the various options before it when it becomes necessary to send a man to Mars. Today, future residential complexes are being built that can be used by Mars researchers, new space suits are being developed to be used by astronauts on Mars, and even extensive research is being conducted in the field of hydroponic agriculture (without soil) - one of the mechanisms for creating food and oxygen for the future research teams that will reach Mars.

The European Space Agency is also engaged in preliminary planning for a manned space mission to Mars, and recently it was learned that China also intends to enter the new space race whose purpose is to land a man on Mars, probably towards the year 2030 to 2035.

At an international space conference I attended, several plans for manned exploration of Mars were presented by officials from the Russian space agency. It seems that there are two possible scenarios for a manned mission to Mars: a space race between space powers such as the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and China, or extensive international cooperation in a format reminiscent of the construction and operation of the International Space Station.

At least in terms of the public statements and from an analysis of various moves in the field of plans for manned research of the moon around the year 2020, at this stage it can be determined that the likelihood of an international project whose purpose is to land a man on Mars is not particularly high. In addition to the activity of large space agencies in the field of manned research of Mars, the public, and in particular scientists, call not only for a limited study of Mars, but also for the settlement of the Red Planet by large masses of human beings.


The most prominent voice in the community of supporters of Mars settlement is that of Dr. Robert Zubrin, a former NASA scientist. Zubrin founded a public association called the Mars Society, whose goal is to promote public engagement in the field of Mars research and its future settlement. This association carries out extensive activities that include publishing books and articles, operating websites, holding workshops and conferences, and the highlight: real research concerning the design of future spacecraft for Mars, residential complexes and even the training of volunteer quasi-astronauts in these residential units, which are stationed in remote areas of the Earth and simulate To a large extent the conditions prevailing on Mars. A representative from the State of Israel also participated in one of these research missions.

Zubrin was the first to come up with the revolutionary strategy for a flight to Mars: sending an unmanned lander to Mars and extracting fuel from the Martian soil and its atmosphere to fuel the return spacecraft. Once the spaceship on the ground knows that its tanks are full and it is possible to return to Earth when necessary, a team of astronauts will be sent in the same spaceship and will land next to the first spaceship.

From that moment, the spaceship that just landed will start producing fuel in order to return to Earth, while the astronauts will be able to live both inside it and in the spaceship they landed next to. When they are required to return to Earth, they will make their way in the spaceship that arrived first and was waiting for them when it was already fueled. The sequence of missions will allow each time to bring an additional spacecraft and expand the landing site to include a small permanent base, which will be able to satisfy most of the needs of the astronauts.

Along with the large waste of funds in state missions without cooperation, the space race to Mars also has a certain advantage - the strong drive to win political achievements of international prestige can release quite a few bureaucratic barriers and divert budgets to complete the goal of a mission to Mars.

As long as there is no clear, budgeted and purposeful vision for manned space exploration, both by the space powers and by the global scientific community, we can only review every few years the missions that did not take off from the drawing board (or, more precisely: from computer monitor). In the long run, the settlement of Mars could be the difference between the survival of the human race and its extinction - whether due to a natural disaster (such as a large asteroid colliding with the Earth) or due to human-made environmental changes.