Apollo 8 To Mars

It has been a while since manned spaceflight had a more aggressive goal. For forty years or more, man has been hanging out in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and it has now been thirty years since the last Apollo mission left the surface of the moon. The Shuttle and the various space stations have been useful and fun, but it seems that mankind has lost the spirit of exploration, preferring instead to watch the robot explorers get all the glory.

Various proposals have been floated to land a man on Mars and return him safely to the Earth. There are also alternative destinations of the Moon or various Near-Earth asteroids that have been discussed. Mars is the more interesting destination since it has most of the raw materials and conditions necessary for longer-term human habitation. And besides - it's a new planet for heaven's sake.

The problems with manned missions to the surface of Mars, however, are many. It's expensive. It's always a decade or more away. It requires developing a spectrum of technologies. It's seriously dangerous in a dozen different ways. And it's not clear that the trip is anything but a flags and footprints kind of affair.

Since these national efforts are linked with the political realm, where politicians are elected for sub-decade lengths of time, we might look toward a shorter-term goal - one which is achievable in a presidential term of office. Yet the effect on the population of the nation and even the world would still be electrifying. Call it a stunt, perhaps, but it would serve to reinvigorate our will as humans to physically explore the solar system.

The proposal is to perform a manned Mars flyby, something akin to what Apollo 8 did for the Moon. If one looks back at the emotional impact of the Apollo 8 mission, one sees something profoundly more important than a stunt. Apollo 8 awakened within the soul of our planetary population a realization that we share a tiny speck of dust in a vast sea of darkness. It's time we were reminded of this, but that we also understand that there are new lands across that sea awaiting our more adventurous ambitions.

On a technical level this mission, albeit a challenge, is very achievable in a period of less than four years. Much of the technology has already been developed, either for Apollo or for the space stations. The basic heavy lift to orbit should be accomplished by the *commercial* medium lift boosters (Delta 4, Atlas V, Ariane 5, Proton, and Sea Launch) that are dying for payloads. The project would boost several (or a score) of these modules to LEO for integration of the vehicle (or vehicles). The manned component of the mission would ride to orbit on whatever manned capability is available at that point - Shuttle, Soyuz, or whatever will succeed Shuttle. The re-entry vehicle should probably be an Apollo capsule - it has a perfect record for getting men home so why mess with success.

The trip need not be a single-shot event. Aldrin has proposed that trips to Mars be accomplished with a cycler, a space station of sorts that orbits permanently between Earth and Mars. If not a permanent cycler, the vehicle could be a demonstrator for later cyclers. Hardware such as one finds on the LEO stations would certainly be useful for future missions.

The goals of the mission need not be limited to a passive flyby. Robotic precursor missions to the surface of Mars or to the moons of Mars might be sent shortly before the manned mission. When controlled from Earth, these robots have an annoying time delay of many minutes, due to the speed of light time lag with Earth. However, for a short period during the flyby, the astronaut(s) onboard the cycler would be able to control them with much less delay. It provides the mission with a veneer of science.

But make no mistake - the mission is not about science. It is about human colonization of the solar system. Although students might study the mission in their high school science classes, this is really about the future of the human race. It's time to get off this planet and on to the score of other orbs here in our solar system. It paves the way for missions to the surface of Mars, a return the Moon, and the establishment of a permanent commercial presence off-world.

May 6, 2003
Cris Fitch
San Diego, CA
http://www.orbit6.com/