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Bay Runner columnist Dr. David Watson Explains The How, The Why and The Logistics of Humans on Mars
By Sue Mayfield-Geiger (Published 3/04)
Mars is running out of air and the King of Mars decides the only solution is to raid Earth's air. The King calls upon the only person for the job - the depraved Lobster Man who agrees so long as it can eat as much unshelled food (humans) as it wants. On Earth, John and his girlfriend Mary see the Lobster Man come down and try to alert the authorities and defeat it as it rampages across the countryside. (Actual synopsis of "Lobster Man from Mars," 1989)
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Many bad movies have been made about Mars since the invention of cinematography. Some good ones have been made, too, but it is our fascination with science fiction that keeps the bad ones coming. Obviously, humans are spending a lot more time trying to figure out a way to get to Mars than any Mars creatures are trying to figure out a way to get to Earth. Therefore, there should not be an immediate alarm regarding lobstermen invaders.
In January, President George Bush spoke from NASA headquarters, detailing his intentions of putting man back on the moon, and then eventually Mars. The questions of cost, reasoning and timelines have become hot topics.
To gain a better understanding of the importance of putting humans on Mars, we turned to Dr. David Watson, Scientific Review Administrator for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). Dr. Watson is also a Program Manager and Senior Scientist with InDyne, Inc., Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at UTMB, and serves on the Pearland ISD School Board. His writings have been published nationally, but aside from the impressive curriculum vitae, his role as husband and father of four matters the most to him. He is a concerned citizen of this planet and firmly believes that a mission to Mars has merit and is necessary.
Since it is going to take nine months to a year to travel to Mars, Dr. Watson and the NSBRI work on the aspect of keeping people healthy during the trip, while they are there, and on the return voyage home. Getting astronauts there in six months would be ideal, but that will take better rocket technology. "In the movies," says Watson, "there is either unexplained gravity onboard the spacecraft or there is gravity that is brought about by rotating all or part of the ship, but it is not as simple as Hollywood portrays it. There is a major artificial gravity project getting started at JSC in order to see if this can help prevent some of the problems due to lack of gravity."
Watson explained that major factors to consider in keeping humans healthy during long space travel include: bone loss, muscle atrophy, cosmic radiation, and psychosocial issues. As for bone loss, he explained that genetics play a role in this because some people have more bone loss than others. One remedy is weight-bearing exercise, (difficult and time-consuming to do in space), but the other aspect is new pharmaceuticals that can slow down the rate of bone loss. The next generation of pharmaceuticals to stop bone loss will be administered as monthly or yearly injections. NASA may even come up with one taken at longer intervals. Watson proclaims, "The newest stats are very exciting on this."
Regarding muscles, there is the fluid shift to the head from the trunk and lower extremities. Since there is no force against which blood has to be pumped to get down to the weight-bearing muscles, the head and the cheeks of the astronauts look puffy when they go up. The body perceives this as excess fluid and gets rid of it. After a few weeks in space, astronauts start having bone loss and muscle weakness, which occur at different rates.
The Earth's magnetic field protects us from certain radiations created by the sun (cosmic radiation). As long as we are in low Earth orbit (LEO), we are protected by these magnetic fields. The fields are very weak at the Poles of the Earth; thus, we don't orbit the poles in manned spacecraft. When we went to the moon, there was some risk of cosmic radiation, but the moon missions proceeded anyway despite the danger. Once we get out of LEO going toward Mars, cosmic radiation is going to be an issue. (Mars does not have a true magnetic field of anything like the intensity of that around the Earth.) The radiation goes through the body and can cause severe tissue damage, but more importantly damage to the DNA, which can lead to all kinds of problems, including cancer. With heavy ion radiations, spaceship damage can also occur, so we also need better shielding for the exterior of spaceships.
The crew – as many as five – will be of mixed gender and ethnicity. Watson elaborates: "When you put people in a situation where they are together in small quarters for nine months to a year, you need to be certain that they are compatible with each other. We know surprisingly little about group interaction, particularly among different genders and ethnicities in an isolated environment for this length of time. It will be stressful. There is not a whole lot known about this, particularly when both genders are included. Put another way, halfway to Mars, it won't be possible to turn back because some of the crew are not getting along."
Another problem facing the missions is communication. "When you get as far away from the Earth as Mars, there is a communication delay of about 20 minutes," says Watson. "So, with the aid of computers, 'smart' technologies will have to be developed to enable the crew to operate autonomously. When we last went to the moon, it was pretty much accomplished without computers. There was a small communication delay, but not much, so this new crew going will have access to a lot more data than we did before," he allows. NASA has convened panels of world-class experts in all of these areas to assess these issues. They are the best authorities available on their respective topics.
Basically, going back to the moon is a dress rehearsal to prepare us for going to Mars. "We need to go back to the moon to help figure out how to go to Mars," states Watson. "Even though the Earth is very protected from space radiation, that is not the case on the moon (or Mars). Mars has a thin atmosphere; mostly carbon dioxide and is much too cold. Highest temperatures recorded are about 50 degrees F, and can drop to as low as nearly 200 degrees F below zero. The astronauts will be in space suits the whole time. There is some gravity there, but not full gravity as we know it. Plus, day length on Mars is longer, and the predominant wavelengths of light are different. On the moon, it is daylight for two weeks and dark for two weeks. There are photoreceptors in the human eye that keep our internal clock set. When something interferes with that, it upsets the internal clock. It is all extremely complicated and will take some pretty advanced life support technology."
So, once we get to Mars, how long will we stay? Some of the scenarios are to stay on the Mars surface for a year or more. Because of the way the planets revolve around the sun, Mars has a further distance to travel around the sun than the Earth. (We just missed our big chance in 2003 when Mars and Earth came the closest to each other they had been in 60,000 years.)
Regarding the return trip from Mars – well, that still needs more study. Watson elaborates: "That's the beauty of technology. You can never say, 'It's as good as it's going to get.' Rewind to the beginning of the last century when people were not driving cars or flying airplanes. In my own career since graduate school, so much has happened. The first computer my professor got was a toy compared to what we have now. I am not going to predict the future, because it is beyond my ability to do that."
"What we have now was basically beyond our dreams a generation ago. My uncle and grandfather, both born around the time of WWI, told me the most amazing thing they saw during their lifetimes was the progression of technology. I asked them, 'Where do you think it will be in another 50 years, say, at the end of my life?' They could not even grasp the concept. A hundred years from now, we won't even know this place, they said."
Can we afford to do this? Watson answers: "Yes, I think so. Take for instance, money spent on corporate research intended to produce commercially viable products. If you get a 10% return on this type of investment, that's pretty good. Basic research that is not targeted (where you've put money into something that is a good idea, but you don't know the outcome), the return on investment is worth more than money as far as expanding minds. For instance, going to the moon – we got a tremendous amount out of it. The entire NASA budget is roughly 15 billion dollars per year, while the overall Federal Government budget is more than two trillion dollars. This means that NASA's share is well under 1% of the total budget. Just the increase in the Dept. of Defense budget from 2002 to 2003 was more than 20 billion dollars. For comparison, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and other entitlements total well over one trillion dollars per year."
The real question for the American people is, do we do this? The president says yes; but will future presidents agree? It is all very political. "Though not all of our unmanned missions have made it, we have in fact repeatedly delivered hardware to the surface of Mars," says Watson. "Previously, Viking and Pathfinder operated successfully there; now we have Spirit and Opportunity roaming around. What it all boils down to, for me, though, is that the space program is one of our very best ways to motivate and teach the next generation of kids about math and science. It's really a wonderful means to inspire those who will inherit this place from us."
No doubt about it, Dr. Watson has a lot of passion for what he is doing. As he continues to examine the effects of space travel on the human body, he becomes more certain that human exploration of Mars can be accomplished. Will he go if he's still around and able to make the cut? Most assuredly – lobstermen or not.
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MISSION TO MARS TIMELINE:
By 2008: NASA will develop and test a new spacecraft, called the Crew Exploration Vehicle, to replace the 30-year-old shuttle program. A series of robotic missions to the moon begins.
By 2010: The United States will have completed most of its work on the International Space Station, but will continue to use the orbiter to study the effects of space on human health. NASA will retire its space shuttle fleet.
By 2014: The first manned mission for the Crew Exploration Vehicle.
By 2015: Astronauts will land on the moon using the Crew Exploration Vehicle.
By 2020: The United States will have established an extended human presence on the moon, using it as a launching pad for other manned exploration missions.
Destination Mars: No timetable has been set. But seemingly soon after 2020 if Bush's vision is carried out. If the White House and NASA think it'll take at least 12 years to get to the Moon, it seems reasonable to assume at least a few years more would be needed to mount a Mars mission, especially since the President stressed that financial and technological readiness would be evaluated at each step of the process.
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