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Size and distance from the Sun: |
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Size: diameter 6787 km (53% of Earth) |
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Surface gravity : almost 40% of Earth |
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Only planet in the habitable zone besides Earth
that is potentially habitable for humans |
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Venus: too hot |
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Europa, Titan: too far, cold |
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Moon: long day, too small |
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Jupiter: too big, no surface |
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Access to large amounts of near surface pure
water ice. |
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Ocean-sized quantity of water frozen. |
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Possible past and present liquid water. |
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All essential minerals for life: metals, carbon,
nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen. |
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Substantial atmosphere: 1% of Earth in pressure,
up to 5% of Earth in density. Can be increased ... |
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Nearly (24h 39m) 24 hour day- excellent for
growing food. |
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Magnetic shielding in large regions: protection
for humans and surface agriculture. |
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Closest potentially habitable place to Earth! |
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Habitable Zone: Just outside Venus’s orbit to
Mars |
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Habitable Zone will expand as the Sun gets older
and hotter |
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Mars Orbital distance: 205 – 246 million km |
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Closest to Earth: 53 million kilometers |
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Farthest from Earth: ~400 million kilometers |
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Inverse square law of gravitation: surprisingly,
energy needed to get to Mars is almost the same as that to get to Moon |
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Only visible as a bright reddish star at best of
times |
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Various beliefs, myths in religion, astrology.
Some survive till today! |
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Orbit was measured, observed by Kepler, Galileo. |
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Some wondered about life on other planets. |
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Galileo “guessed” Mars has two moons. |
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1659-66: Huygens, Cassini calculate Mars’s
orbital period. |
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Huygens speculates habitable planets. |
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Still just a point of light. |
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Faint features visible. |
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Powell
imagines giant industrial projects- canals on Mars |
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Claims evidence for an advanced, dying race on
Mars. |
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Aliens from Mars mania begins: |
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Edgar Rice Burroughs. |
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1938: Invasion from Mars creates panic. |
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Mars aliens mania blooms … |
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Since 1969, approx. ~40 missions launched to
Mars. Less than half made it through. |
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However, 6 out of 6 recent missions a success. |
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All 6 of them still running on Mars! |
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Only robotic exploration so far, of four kinds: |
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Flybys |
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Orbiters |
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Robotic Landers |
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Robotic Rovers |
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Extreme hype about aliens deflates. |
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Cratered moon-like regions photographed on Mars. |
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Mars appears dead. |
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People’s expectation increases again: |
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Volcanoes. |
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Huge amount of ice at poles. |
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Riverbeds |
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Ancient coastlines. |
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Virtually crater-free Northern hem. |
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First view from surface!! |
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Probing of nearby soil. |
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Anticipation of perhaps microbial life, first
results positive. |
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Pendulum swings: subsequent results negative. |
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Sterile oxidizing soil? Mars now seen as a
frozen desert: |
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First time able to move around on Mars |
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Exploration of Mars in digital age: crisp
photos. |
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Evidence of liquid water from surface. |
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High resolution photos. |
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Cheap, minature, short mission. |
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200 million hits of NASA site in 1 week |
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Good News: Past exploration pales in comparison
to present exploration scales. |
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Bad News (also good in some sense): NASA no
longer alone. |
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A network of robotic missions are active RIGHT
NOW at Mars. |
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100s of times superior communication, cameras,
sensors. |
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Robust design: some missions will last decades. |
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New missions keep adding to the network making
it more robust. |
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Mars Global Surveyor: 1997-Present |
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Mars Odyssey: 2001-Present |
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Mars Express (ESA): 2004-Present |
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Spirit & Oppurtunity Rovers: 2004-Present |
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: 2006-Present |
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Together they have generated literally millions
of extremely high photos |
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MRO, MGS and others together will generate a few
meter resolution of the entire planet |
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Numerous discoveries |
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A Collage of all their discoveries together now
follow: |
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Mars Global Surveyor: 1997-Present |
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Mars Odyssey: 2001-Present |
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Mars Express (ESA): 2004-Present |
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Spirit & Oppurtunity Rovers: 2004-Present |
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: 2006-Present |
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95% CO2
3% Nitrogen 1.6 % Argon |
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Highest pressure (~10mbar=1% of Earth) at lowest
elevations in the North |
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Density much higher up to ~5% : lower
temperature, CO2 is heavier |
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lower gravity= taller atmosphere |
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Prominent Clouds |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moonbase |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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A Moon-base is unnecessary for a mission to
Mars, or for sustaining and expanding human presence on Mars. |
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Live off the land- carry the minimum needed from
Earth |
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Maximize time on Mars, minimize time in risky
space. |
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Robustness: Ability to handle multiple points of
failure. Not needed for orbital or Moon missions with ability to supply
from Earth. |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moon-base |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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A Moon-base is not tailored for developing tech.
For Mars. |
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On orbit assembly is undesirable: more points of
failure. |
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Smaller is better. |
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Less time is better. |
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Mission priority: crew activity. |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moon-base |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moon-base |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moonbase |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moonbase |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moonbase |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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Phase 1 – Orbital Shipyards (space station) many
new transfer vehicles |
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Phase 2 – Moonbase |
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Phase 3 – Mars ship construction & mission |
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Total: 30 yrs and $450 billion |
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Robots |
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Radiation |
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Zero Gravity |
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The Moon |
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Reverse Contamination |
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Cost |
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Estimated by NASA and ESA recently |
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Mission development (10 years) and first
mission: US$ 30 billion = 3 billion per year |
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Flight for every additional crewed mission,
every 2 years: US $ 7billion |
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Current NASA budget: $17 billion |
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Annual cost for a growing Mars colony: $3.5
billion |
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Current shuttle annual cost: $ 3-4 billion |
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Current manned exploration budget: ~$6-7 billion |
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Public Outreach: 100s of local chapters |
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Over 10,000 members |
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Part of Space Alliance of 1 million+ members. |
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Advocacy & Lobbying: 2005 Moon-Mars Blitz |
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Hold annual scientific and technology
conference. |
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Research & Exploration |
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Mars Analog Research Stations |
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Translife Mission |
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Collaboration with NASA and others |
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Notes