To Boldly Go

This is actually an Essay, but it wasn't an option for the type.

To Boldly Go

Written by

Steven Childress

 

“Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”

-John F. Kennedy

The cold deep darkness of space was a back drop to the red planet known as Mars; the planet slowly turned as a rumble broke the silence that was so very loud. A behemoth of human design approached the red planet, and this monstrosity of human innovation was slowly adjusting itself to gain orbit around the globe that had been a desired destination for so many decades. The International Space Station with its brave and courageous crew was finally on Mars’s doorstep and they were ready to ring the proverbial doorbell. The VASMIR plasma engines had gotten them to Mars in forty days and forty nights, and the crew inside was celebrating as the pilots drifted it into the safety of the planet’s orbit. Inside a crew of six astronauts was popping a bottle of champagne, and in zero gravity liquid floats in globular form.

Colonel David O’neal was pouring the bubbly from the bottle and the other astronauts were darting from wall to wall as they floated around chasing the golden bubbles. Over the inner communications array a voice echoed in the cabin where the adventurers were celebrating “Alright boys….we have orbit Yeeehaaaaawwww!” the voice cried out excitedly. All the astronauts cheered and it was a joyous moment all throughout the science vessel. Colonel O’neal made his way to the communications panel and stared directly into a camera and picked up a black mic that looked much like a CB radio mic and he spoke as the crew quieted down “Houston…we have big red right outside our window….we are planet side….this is a great day for all the people of Earth.” The colonel voiced with confidence and elation as he stared out the porthole at the giant red planet that had only been known to him through telescopes. The crew began their duties to prepare for the first crew to take one of the landers down to collect their first samples for the lab.

            The International Space Station is probably the current height of man’s lust for technological innovation and invention, but complacency is wasting the infinite potential of this grand technological marvel. The International Space Station or ISS measures 357 from end to end; that is roughly the size of a football field. This modern marvel has an equal amount of pressurized space in comparison to a Boeing 747; the internal pressurized volume of the ISS is measured at 33,023 cubic feet, and with planned additions it will soon be larger than a five bedroom house. Among the attributes and assets of the ISS it has an acre of solar panels to supply its needed 70 to 90 kilowatts of running power. This behemoth of human ingenuity has the ability to keep five astronauts, maybe more, in a good healthy state for prolonged periods. (NASA) The space station’s advanced and underutilized laboratories might as well be studying the flow rate of ketchup in zero gravity. The potential this station is carelessly being squandered and is being resigned to obscurity.

            This space station was as expensive as it was innovative; the ISS cost roughly 150 billion dollars to construct and Michael Benson an American writer, journalist, and filmmaker describes the ISS as the Biggest undisputed expense in American invention. But this is not the issue here; the issue is that a marvel of such imagination, innovation, and invention is a cosmic paperweight. In this idea Benson remarks “It is going nowhere at a very high rate of speed.” It seems to just be a decoration for our globe; much like a sleigh or a reindeer ornament would dangle from a Christmas tree, but the ornament has a purpose and identity and the ISS seems a though it does not. The ISS has no real or noble purpose, and something so special should be used to achieve something great.

            Is it complacency that drives human ambitions of exploration and discovery into the nearest bridge embankment, or maybe it could be the current politicians that seem set in their ways to dismantle and cripple space exploration. NASA shares its own responsibility in its funds being endangered. Keith Cowing, a space biologist and editor and manager for the website NASA Watch points out “Decades of financial mismanagement at NASA have eroded Congress' and the Administration's willingness to trust the agency thus tightening the funds further.” However how can all mankind experience punishment for a few people’s mistakes when other solutions could be mandated or presented to solve the funding issues. Regardless of transgressions from either side towards furthering exploration; we know one thing, and that is studying effects of zero gravity and extensive time in space is a tired and boring routine that is played out. A thousand torches unified can light the darkness of the unknown, but being divided in our endeavors only lets the unknown darkness devour the light of understanding and curiosity.

Every nation looks to the stars and has shown their curiosity by establishing space programs, so with this trend towards globalism maybe the nations of Earth should truly make use of the ISS together. With no plan there is no attack, and with no attack there is no victory, so a plan must come first. NASA has inspired scientists and engineers to submit submissions for a reformulation of a possible Mars Mission. In a news release on NASA’s website from May 24^th, 2012, the senior public affairs officer in the office of communications of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Dwayne Brown reports NASA's request to people in fields of innovation and technology; brought more than 400 notable ideas, and this quantity far exceeded the expected amount of submissions to the table on which this formulation is being devised. (NASA) Brown further states:

This strong response sends a clear message that exploring Mars is important to future exploration," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington and an astrophysicist and astronaut. "The challenge now will be to select the best ideas for the next phase. (NASA)  

These coming progressions will shape the future of the ISS’s developing purpose, and as new technologies continue to be proven the ISS stands a chance to achieve Mars orbit.

 New inventions and technologies are finally presenting hope in making the ISS more than an ornament dangling on a cosmic branch. Reliable and efficient propulsion would be paramount in reaching Mars, but even a greater need would be the ability to return home. Ad Astra, a rocket company has recently entered into an agreement with NASA and this innovative company has such a rocket. Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASMIR rocket; shows great potential in being just what the ISS needs for travel in our solar system. Ad Astra in a press release on May 31^st, 2012 describes The VASMIR rocket uses plasma, and creates an electrically induced gas that is excited by radio waves and is governed and is influenced by robust magnetic fields. Insulation from these fields provides the ability to achieve extreme core temperatures, and in turn greater and more efficient thrust. The rocket also features a green aspect to fuel utilization, as the need to burn fuel is dramatically less than current chemical rockets.(2) The VASMIR rocket is proving to be a viable solution to the need of an efficient propulsion system.

The innovation presented by the VASMIR rocket presents enormous possibilities for travel to Mars. In an interview with SEED magazine Franklin Chang-Diaz, a physicist, former astronaut, inventor of the VASMIR rocket and the founder and President of Ad Astra Rocket Company speculates “In fact, with the power close to what a nuclear submarine generates, you could use VASIMR to fly humans to Mars in 39 days.”(Billings) With an engine as advanced and as powerful as this our ability to explore our own little slice of the heavens could be truly realized, and with a propulsion system so advanced a navigational method would also have to be employed. There are some ideas that have been presented, as well as other ideas that have not been pulled from obscurity. Benson presents a viable solution for this need as it pertains to technologies already realized or that are currently in development, and Benson states “The Orion crew exploration module is designed to be ISS-compatible. It could serve as a guidance system and also use its own rocket engine to help boost and orient the interplanetary ISS.”(1) These technologies, though expensive and costly would provide the equipment needed to reach Mars and return safely.

The Mars mission would be costly, but equally distributed as a globalized endeavor the costs would be less daunting to any one government to bankroll. Figures are tossed around here and there, a hundred billion, a trillion dollars. It is known that sending the ISS on a purposeful mission will be costly and a gamble to bring a good return for such an investment, but this has been an issue in the forefront of space exploration since the start of the space program. President Kennedy in his historic speech addressed this very eloquently when he stated:

This is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers. Surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships, as well as high reward.

There is high potential of profound discovery in store for us in the unknown, and if we embrace exploration the rewards intrinsic or extrinsic would benefit all of mankind in any number of ways.

If the most influential and well to do nations truly want this and are willing to share the costs equally there is no reason why this could not be afforded. In a Washington post article, Benson insists in the past the Chinese have engineered human spaceflight abilities, and the Chinese have inquired many times for NASA to let them into the exclusive club. The ISS being an international beacon of peace and togetherness should really be just that, and we should globally share the costs. (2) The United States sends its jobs to China, so why not let China in on the ISS Mars endeavor. Sharing the costs globally would allow for Earth’s nations to reap rewards globally.

The unknown frontier of Mars may just hold special metals or resources that could solve problems with any of our various issues here on Earth. Little is known as to what resources Mars has to be discovered, but the curiosity alone warrants wonderment. The secrets that Mars holds are as infinite as they are unknown, but having a lander to put a crew on the surface with the right tools to obtain samples could uncover. Kenneth Chang a writer for the New York Times writes that a significant presence of zinc was very surprising. Dr. Squyres voiced that it was a tell-tale sign clue Mar’s rocks just may have manifested from a hydrothermal system, and even though it is a bit premature to excogitate on the possibilities of geysers on Mar’s; there was or is definitely H2O exhalation permeating through the crags. If there is water and minerals under the clay soil; it would be reasonable to assume ore or precious exist as well, and if indeed there are they would be ripe for the taking. Kennedy saw the potential of venturing into the stars in search of furthering science and creation and he believed:

The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school. Technical institutions, such as Rice, will reap the harvest of these gains.

This would present a global effort and global sharing in something greater than squabbles and petty political differences.

            The International Space Station, a modern marvel that Jules Verne, and H.G Wells would call science fiction has the ability through new technology, and international space program endeavors to finally go to the angry red planet. NASA has boasted many times that it was just around the corner and they have planned and planned for so very long, but with all this planning over decades maybe there should be a little less talk and a lot more planning. Climb the mountain because it is there, venture into the unknown like the explorers of the past. Let there be a celebration with champagne in zero gravity while in Mars’s orbit. Do not ask why, but ask why not, and give the ISS a fracking purpose besides being a cosmic paperweight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Ad Astra Rocket Company. PRESS RELEASE 310512, May 31, 2012 AD ASTRA ROCKET COMPANY AND NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER SIGN AGREEMENT ON VASIMR® PAYLOAD SAFETY AND RELIABILITY SUPPORT. Adastrarocket.com. Ad Astra Rocket Company, May-June 2012. Web. June-July 2012. <

Benson, Michael. "Send It Somewhere Special." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 13 July 2008. Web. 13 June 2012. <

Billings, Lee. "Seed Magazineabout." A Rocket for the 21st Century § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. Seed Magazine, Sept.-Oct. 2009. Web. 13 June 2012. <

Chang, Kenneth. "Mars Rover Discovery Elates NASA." New York Times 02 Sept. 2011: 12. TOPICsearch. Web. 13 June 2012.

Cowing, Keith. "Let's Stop Going in Circles - And Go Somewhere." SpaceRef. SpaceRef Interactive Inc., May-June 2002. Web. 13 June 2012. <

Kennedy, John F. "John F. Kennedy Moon Speech - Rice Stadium." Speech. John F. Kennedy Moon Speech - Rice Stadium. Rice Stadium, Houston. 12 Sept. 1962. NASA.gov. NASA. Web. June-July 2012. <

NASA. Headquarters. NASA Receives Widespread Concepts for Future Mars Missions. NASA. NASA, May-June 2012. Web. June-July 2012. <

 "NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration." NASA.gov. Ed. Amiko Kauderer. NASA, Sept.-Oct. 2011. Web. 13 June 2012. <