Momof6
02-07-2002, 02:55 PM
Think I could go??????
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 07 2002
BY MARK HENDERSON, SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT
BUZZ ALDRIN, the second man to walk on the Moon, is planning a chain of “orbiting hotels” cruising perpetually between the Earth and Mars.
Within 20 years, three spacecraft carrying up to 50 passengers would operate a continuous liner service between the two planets, ferrying the people and materials that would be needed to start a Martian colony — or offering the ultimate package tour.
To reduce the cost of the eight-month voyage, the vessels, known as “cyclers”, would be propelled mainly by the gravity of the Sun, the planets and their moons, orbiting the Sun under their own momentum. Their orbits would be calibrated to cross those of the Earth and Mars when the planets were near by, allowing passengers to take “taxi” craft, like the space shuttle, to and from the planets.
The ambitious proposals, which would transform the prospects for regular human travel to Mars, have been submitted to Nasa by a team of scientists headed by Dr Aldrin, 72, the Apollo 11 astronaut who followed Neil Armstrong on to the Moon in 1969.
The first cycler could fly as early as 2018, he said, with a chain of three eventually operating at regular intervals to ensure a more frequent service. Dr Aldrin said: “We believe these regular planetary flybys would create an entirely new economic and philosophic approach to space exploration. Reliable, re-usable and dependable cycler transportation can be the key to carry humanity into the next great age of exploration, expansion, settlement and multiplanetary commerce.”
The spacecraft would “become a permanent, man-made inner solar system companion of Earth and Mars, tapping the free and inexhaustible fuel supply of gravitational forces to maintain orbit. Like an ocean liner on a regular trade route, a cycler will glide perpetually along its beautiful, predictable orbit.” Scientists have long been intrigued by the prospect of manned missions to the Red Planet, but the cost and logistics of providing fuel for the 285-million mile journey has always been considered a considerable barrier.
The Aldrin plan gets around this by using an inexhaustible resource — gravity — to keep the spacecraft going in a permanent cycle. As the craft pass close to the planets, they do not stop, but smaller vessels launched from the surface could move alongside, with passengers boarding them or disembarking from them. Such taxi flights would be many times cheaper than the cost of sending people and materials all the way to Mars.
James Longuski, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University in Indianapolis, a member of the Aldrin team, said: “The cycler essentially is in orbit around the Sun and makes regular flybys of Earth and Mars. Once you put your vehicle into a cycler orbit, it continues on its own momentum, going back and forth between Earth and Mars. You may need to carry some propellant for an occasional boost, but it’s pretty much a free trip after that.
“Some day people will be going to Mars on a regular basis. Most people are convinced that we are going to do this — the only question is when. This is sort of like a bus that doesn’t stop. When it comes by, you have to run alongside it and grab on. Then, when you get to Mars, you get in the taxi and de-orbit down to the planet. Cyclers would be like space hotels. They would provide the usual creature comforts.”
The research team, which also includes scientists from the University of Texas and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are working on the most appropriate design for the cyclers, and the precise orbit that the craft would need to travel close enough to both planets.
This will be a difficult calculation, because Mars’s orbit is more elliptical than that of the Earth, meaning that the distance between the two planets changes a great deal over time. It will also be essential to make sure that the cyclers reach the planets at a speed slow enough for taxi spacecraft to dock. Modified versions of the space shuttle’s external fuel tank might be used as building units for constructing the cyclers in orbit, Dr Aldrin said.
“We are going to put in a proposal for a more detailed study to narrow down some of the choices of the different kinds of cyclers, and decide which ones seem to fit into a very nice operational mission.”
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 07 2002
BY MARK HENDERSON, SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT
BUZZ ALDRIN, the second man to walk on the Moon, is planning a chain of “orbiting hotels” cruising perpetually between the Earth and Mars.
Within 20 years, three spacecraft carrying up to 50 passengers would operate a continuous liner service between the two planets, ferrying the people and materials that would be needed to start a Martian colony — or offering the ultimate package tour.
To reduce the cost of the eight-month voyage, the vessels, known as “cyclers”, would be propelled mainly by the gravity of the Sun, the planets and their moons, orbiting the Sun under their own momentum. Their orbits would be calibrated to cross those of the Earth and Mars when the planets were near by, allowing passengers to take “taxi” craft, like the space shuttle, to and from the planets.
The ambitious proposals, which would transform the prospects for regular human travel to Mars, have been submitted to Nasa by a team of scientists headed by Dr Aldrin, 72, the Apollo 11 astronaut who followed Neil Armstrong on to the Moon in 1969.
The first cycler could fly as early as 2018, he said, with a chain of three eventually operating at regular intervals to ensure a more frequent service. Dr Aldrin said: “We believe these regular planetary flybys would create an entirely new economic and philosophic approach to space exploration. Reliable, re-usable and dependable cycler transportation can be the key to carry humanity into the next great age of exploration, expansion, settlement and multiplanetary commerce.”
The spacecraft would “become a permanent, man-made inner solar system companion of Earth and Mars, tapping the free and inexhaustible fuel supply of gravitational forces to maintain orbit. Like an ocean liner on a regular trade route, a cycler will glide perpetually along its beautiful, predictable orbit.” Scientists have long been intrigued by the prospect of manned missions to the Red Planet, but the cost and logistics of providing fuel for the 285-million mile journey has always been considered a considerable barrier.
The Aldrin plan gets around this by using an inexhaustible resource — gravity — to keep the spacecraft going in a permanent cycle. As the craft pass close to the planets, they do not stop, but smaller vessels launched from the surface could move alongside, with passengers boarding them or disembarking from them. Such taxi flights would be many times cheaper than the cost of sending people and materials all the way to Mars.
James Longuski, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University in Indianapolis, a member of the Aldrin team, said: “The cycler essentially is in orbit around the Sun and makes regular flybys of Earth and Mars. Once you put your vehicle into a cycler orbit, it continues on its own momentum, going back and forth between Earth and Mars. You may need to carry some propellant for an occasional boost, but it’s pretty much a free trip after that.
“Some day people will be going to Mars on a regular basis. Most people are convinced that we are going to do this — the only question is when. This is sort of like a bus that doesn’t stop. When it comes by, you have to run alongside it and grab on. Then, when you get to Mars, you get in the taxi and de-orbit down to the planet. Cyclers would be like space hotels. They would provide the usual creature comforts.”
The research team, which also includes scientists from the University of Texas and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are working on the most appropriate design for the cyclers, and the precise orbit that the craft would need to travel close enough to both planets.
This will be a difficult calculation, because Mars’s orbit is more elliptical than that of the Earth, meaning that the distance between the two planets changes a great deal over time. It will also be essential to make sure that the cyclers reach the planets at a speed slow enough for taxi spacecraft to dock. Modified versions of the space shuttle’s external fuel tank might be used as building units for constructing the cyclers in orbit, Dr Aldrin said.
“We are going to put in a proposal for a more detailed study to narrow down some of the choices of the different kinds of cyclers, and decide which ones seem to fit into a very nice operational mission.”