Establish One or More Self-Sustaining,Permanent Space Colonies
Exploration of Mars is a worthy goal, but it should not be the only
goal. In fact, it alone could become like Kennedy's original moon goal
and once completed, it becomes "been there, done that". A more worthy
goal might be: To establish one or more self-sustaining, permanent
space colonies, e.g., Mars or planetary moons, including ours.
Along the way we can:
- Explore and exploit solar system's smaller planets, asteroids and comets.
- Look for evidence of life beyond earth.
We should not underestimate the difficulty of even a "simple" Mars
mission (especially for a country that agonized over the risk of
sending astronauts to a high orbit to repair Hubble).
Here are some steps along the way:
1. Return NASA to the primary goal of space exploration. Take
NASA out of the LEO space transportation business and encourage
multiple, competitive commercial solutions.
2. Develop key space travel technologies specifically for long duration missions. For example:
- Radiation protection.
- Gravity simulation.
- Closed ecosystem for food, water and air.
- Repairable and maintainable spacecraft systems. On
Earth this would be called "Appropriate Technology for
Village-Level Sustainability" (If we cannot keep our space station
toilets going, how are we going to colonize Mars?).
- Human factor design for long isolation periods.
- Advanced propulsion systems with nuclear power
generation (VASMIR) that enable significantly faster trips not limited
to solar power.
- In-situ processing (water production, mining, etc.).
- Space robotics to handle the more dangerous or tedious tasks.
3. Perform a series of low-gravity missions with increasing durations to build confidence and experience.
- Visit multiple near-Earth asteroids to prospect for
water and high value materials, and to learn what technologies might be
needed if we need to deflect one someday.
4. Develop a reusable, maintainable lander (cargo ship) for use
on the Moon, Mars or other similar sized bodies, e.g., for the moons of
Jupiter. Test it on the moon. Don't design something just for the
moon that is not reusable.
5. Develop and demonstrate fuel and water making capability in
both carbon dioxide and methane-based atmospheres using robotic
missions first. Then, incorporate the technology as options on the
reusable lander.
6. Plan a series of Mars missions with the capability for each
to stay and explore for long durations, e.g., six months to one year
each.
7. Develop technologies for permanent colonization in space.
- Establish a base first, then a colony on a small asteroid having a water source.
- Mine ore from an asteroid and create building materials for space habitats.
- Demonstrate sustainable industrial processes in
space, later to be applied to habitats on Mars or anywhere else
of interest.
- Establish a base, then a colony, on Mars.
- Establish outposts or long duration exploration stations traveling throughout the solar system.
It doesn't really matter how long it takes as long as the vision is
maintained and we have incremental successes toward the ultimate goal -
to become a species that thrives in more than one place in the universe.
