Labor of Mars love
Mars Society researchers are hot on the trail of what may work best in opening up the Sun's fourth planet to extensive exploration by humans. This labor of Mars love builds upon invaluable lessons learned from construction and operation of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station, the first habitat seeded on Devon Island in 2000.
The newer, Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), situated near Hanksville, Utah, went operational February 7 of this year. Since then, sets of specialists have made the habitat their address of choice for two-week stints. A third 6-person crew took up residence at the MDRS on March 24, Zubrin told SPACE.com.
"We don't pay. We offer them the glory," Zubrin said. "This is an experiment in cosmic destiny," he said.
Zubrin said the habitats at Devon Island and Utah offer glimpses into what future expeditionary crews on Mars will encounter. "It does no good to field a beautifully engineered tool if it's the wrong tool," he said.
The questions Mars Society researchers are attempting to answer are many: what are the right robots needed for Mars? What kind of scientific instruments are needed to uncover Mars' past? How important is the skill mix of those sent outward on an interplanetary journey?
"Mars is a big place," Zubrin said. An early realization is that exploring Mars is vastly beyond robotics. "The right robots for human Mars exploration are not big robots. We've found that little robots work best. They can be taken out into the field, sent down into caves, lowered over cliffs and nudged into crevasses and other hard-to-get places."
Waving a red flag
In many ways, what habitat teams are showing via simulated "Mars walks" is that fieldwork is akin to backpacking here on Earth. Super-athletes for Mars need not apply. However, how much can be accomplished on Mars will be reflected in the overall physical condition of the crew when they arrive, Zubrin said.
In this regard, Zubrin is waving a red Mars flag in NASA's face.
"We're coming to an immediate, very strong conclusion that going to Mars in zero gravity and deconditioning the crew in that manner is absurd," Zubrin said. "NASA's current space program is focusing virtually all of its space medical research on zero gravity. There's virtually no research on artificial gravity. This is very significant and very bad," he said.
To help probe this weighty issue, the Mars Society is moving forward on designing, building, and flying a TransLife space capsule. This craft will look at the long duration effects of Mars gravity on the human body, but with a twist.
The specially designed TransLife capsule is to be occupied by mice, spun up to one-third Earth's gravity, thereby mimicking what Mars has to offer. "We want to look at the long duration effects of Mars gravity on both adults, born and raised on Earth -- the original mouse crew -- and on the children conceived, born, and growing up in a Mars-like gravity," Zubrin said. The flight would last 50 days, with the young mice recovered and studied, he said.
"We'll get some real data on 1/3rd gravity effects. That will give us insight as to whether humans can colonize Mars," Zubrin said.
Five university-based teams are vying to build the TransLife spacecraft. A go-ahead to fabricate the capsule is expected in early April, Zubrin said. Instead of sending into Earth orbit a free-flying craft, an ideal situation would be to house the experiment onboard the International Space Station. "Then we wouldn't need to build an entire spacecraft, but just a centrifuge with a life support system," he added.
Seasoned science
Zubrin said that there's no shortage of future Marsnauts. As evidence, some 400 people submitted applications to become habitat inhabitants. Occupants of the Utah station have already included a biologist from the Mayo clinic, a Boeing/Rocketdyne aerospace engineer, American and French geologists, a physicist from UC Berkeley Sciences Lab, a psychologist, as well as several NASA researchers.
Contrasted to the Arctic station, which became a touch-and-go battle of building problems, Zubrin said that the desert habitat offered its own set of construction challenges. Severe wind gusts howling across the desert caused some problems, damaging a greenhouse, and other items.
Operating the desert site, however, is less costly than the Devon Island habitat. Also, more people can participate in Utah, allowing Mars Society researchers a chance to test out the skills, talents, and aptitudes of different kinds of people, Zubrin pointed out.
Research at the Utah habitat will run through the end of April. In July the arctic facility on Devon Island becomes operational again. "Right now, our plan is to carry out our desert Mars work in the Spring, Fall, and Winter, and use the arctic habitat in the Summer," he said.
Dot the Earth
The Mars Society's current plan is to dot the Earth with two more habitats. One may be headed for the basaltic and geothermally active deserts of Iceland, and the other positioned in the Austrian outback. In Australia, ancient deserts contain fossils that date from the same period when Mars' surface ran with liquid water.
Next up on the habitat raising agenda is installing what is now called EuroMars. A European Mars Arctic Research Station may be built in Iceland, although other locales are also under review.
The EuroMars habitat will be significantly different than the previous structures, having three levels instead of two. A new habitat design grew out of early experiences in keeping living quarters, science operations, and airlock traffic running afoul of each other.
As on Earth, so goes it for Mars: "Keep dirty with dirty and move clean with clean," Zubrin said.
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