io9: space Colonization

Will Barack Obama Destroy the U.S. Space Program?

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:37:03 PDT

As the race for U.S. President starts to heat up, Barack Obama has continued to polish his image as the youthful candidate promising a hopeful future. And yet he's also on record saying "[U.S. Space Agency] NASA is no longer associated with inspiration." He's proposing cutting NASA's budget in order to fund early-education programs for kids under 5. It's hard to fault his desire to educate kids, but why sacrifice space programs to do it? If elected, is it possible that Obama, the "hopeful" candidate, will destroy our hopes for space exploration and colonization?

Obama has said he'll take money away from NASA's Constellation program, which focuses on flights to the Moon and Mars. A space exploration advocate, Greg Zsidisen, questioned Obama about his plans for the program a couple of months ago and got a vague answer. According to the Chicago Tribune:

"I grew up on Star Trek," Obama said. "I believe in the final frontier."

But Obama said he does not agree with the way the space program is now being run and thinks funding should be trimmed until the mission is clearer.

"NASA has lost focus and is no longer associated with inspiration," he said. "I don't think our kids are watching the space shuttle launches. It used to be a remarkable thing. It doesn't even pass for news anymore."

Zsidisen, the advocate who asked Obama about the space program, has an interesting article on Obama's views about space travel, as well as Hilary Clinton and John McCain's maddenly vague views, at The Space Review. You can also hear him talk about these issues on The Space Show podcast, where he's joined by Buzz Aldrin a couple of times to discuss government space policy. Really interesting stuff.

Will Phoenix Mars Rover Disappear Like the Last Mars Polar Lander?

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:26:17 PDT

What happened to Polar Lander, the last Mars rover that NASA tried to land in the Martian polar region, where it hopes that the Phoenix rover will touch down on May 25? The mysterious fate of the lander that simply disappeared moments before reaching Mars has been the subject of both scientific and UFO-logy debates. Was it shot down by angry Martians dwelling at the pole? Did it encounter some strange magnetic phenomenon that disabled it? Or did it just malfunction? We may soon find out.

Phoenix, an even more badass version of the current Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, will hit the Martian north pole. (Sadly, it can't look for the dead Polar Lander, because that rover was headed for the South Pole.) If all goes as planned, it will immediately dig into the icy tundra and take samples to see what the deal is with all that ice. Could it be turned into potable water for future colonists?

To make sure nothing goes wrong with the landing — or at least to see what the hell happened if it does — three Earth-controlled satellites orbiting Mars will be watching Phoenix's descent into the ice. According to Discovery News:

Mars Odyssey will relay the descent and landing live, or what passes for live when the action takes place 171.5 million miles away. At that distance, radio signals traveling at the speed of light take 15.3 minutes to reach Earth. By the time flight controllers know if Phoenix began the descent through the planet's atmosphere, it should have already landed.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Europe's Mars Express are the backups. They will record signals from Phoenix during the descent and landing which can be relayed to Earth for later analysis.

You will be able to watch live satellite feeds from the Mars landing at the NASA website — well, what passes for live given the time lag. So frakkin cool.

Mars Probe Entourage Poised to Welcome Phoenix [Discovery News]

US Army Sargeant Volunteers Unit to be First Colonial Marines

Michael Reilly — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:40:00 PDT

Being a member of the US military in Afghanistan takes it's toll after a few years. So last week, Sergeant First Class William Ruth of the Army's 101st Airborne Division proposed an alternative mission for his soldiers: let them be the first humans to colonize another planet. In his letter (below) to an editor at LiveScience, Ruth says his unit's role as advanced scouts and reconnaissance soldiers makes them ideally suited to the rough, lonely life in the cold, barren wastes that await them on Mars, the Moon, or elsewhere.

Ruth's letter says it all:

Please forward this to the proper channels. I have read Stephen Hawking's latest remarks on space travel and the importance of it to human survival. The problem is, NASA is going about it all the wrong way.
Here is an idea: Send battle-hardened, strong-minded soldiers and marines on the long trips into space. We are conditioned to live with the bare minimal (of) life's necessities and are trained to be prepared for ... the worst conditions that any environment could throw at us.

Hell, me and my men will go, set up a colony somewhere and await colonists to arrive.

Me and most of my men are on our 3rd or 4th deployment into a combat area. We are scouts, reconnaissance specialists. We go before everyone else and spend time living off the land. Sounds just like the type of men needed for a long colonization journey.

Please pass this message on to anyone you know in the space program. (T)here are many men already trained and prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country and the human race.

Thank you for you time.

SFC Ruth, 101st Airborne Division. Afghanistan

Patriotism and desire to get out of Afghanistan aside, who better to blast alien nasties than these soldiers? Chances are there's nothing out there that can hurt us, but if there is you're going to regret not having the Colonial Marines expeditionary force along with you.

Source: LiveScience.com

Earthlings' Next Home: Phobos?

Michael Reilly — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:40:00 PDT

NASA scientists have been arguing for years that Martian moons Phobos and Deimos may be the best place to in the solar system for humans to colonize. Some would argue even better than our own Moon. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera snapped two awesome color shots of what might be humanity's next home during a flyby on March 23rd. Why do NASA geeks think the Martian moons might be the best real estate investment of the 21st century?

The reasoning's simple — all missions to the Moon or Mars spend most of their fuel lifting off and landing. Fuel is expensive to burn and expensive to carry, so the less you need the better. Phobos and Deimos have very little gravity of their own (about 1/1000th that of Earth), and a convenient Martian atmosphere to slow your spaceship down in. Earth's Moon's the opposite, so despite the distance, it turns out you need about the same amount of fuel to land on the Martian moons as you to for a safe touchdown much closer by.

Can you picture yourself in a crater-side apartment complex? 9-km wide Stickney crater is the largest feature on Phobos, and with a view of Mars 80 times as big as the full Moon seen from Earth it's bound to be prime property some day.