America is planning... Human Flights to the Moon and Mars A Return to the Moon and a New Wave to Mars BRIEF HISTORY OF MOON EXPLORATION BRIEF HISTORY OF MARS EXPLORATION THE NEW MOON RACE EXPLORING EARTH'S MOON
In NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, humans will return to the Moon before 2020, and that will pave the way for journeys to Mars and beyond.
NASA artist imagines future explorers on the Red Planet.
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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. As the first step on a long path back to the Moon, NASA will launch a robot probe to the Moon in 2008 to create high-resolution maps, seek landing sites, and continue to search for water ice and other useful resources.
The U.S. space agency will send the new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the Moon in October 2008. Data sent back to Earth from the LRO will will facilitate returning humans safely to the Moon and enable extended stays.
LRO will work at least one year orbiting over the Moon's poles some 20-30 miles above the lunar surface. It may work as long as five years observing the surface and acting as a communication relay satellite for other spacecraft above and on the lunar surface.
The spacecraft should be able to:A smaller companion, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, will be launched with LRO. After launch, LCROSS will travel independently and crash into the lunar surface in search of water ice.
- Measure deep space radiation in orbit over the Moon
- Map the Moon's topography
- Record temperatures in polar shadowed regions
- Photograph the permanently shadowed regions of the surface
- Identify near-surface water ice trapped in polar soil
- Locate ground features for landing sites
- Measure lighting of the polar region
The Bush plan. More than three decades after the last man walked on the Moon, U.S. President George W. Bush proposed sending humans there again, to build a permanent base, and then on to Mars.
"The desire to explore and understand is part of our character," Bush said in January 2004. "We do not know where this journey will end, yet we know this – human beings are headed into the cosmos.
"Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea. We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives and lifts our national spirit."
The new goals include sending robot explorers to the Moon by 2008 and human explorers by 2015.
American astronauts would return to the Moon around 2015 with a human base to be completed on the Moon soon after. Human flights to Mars would follow in the next decade. The Moon would be used as a steppingstone for manned trips to Mars and beyond.
Endorsement. Space professionals and enthusiasts have had a powerful desire to return to the Moon since the last Apollo astronaut left there in 1972. The Bush call for exploration of the Moon and Mars was the boldest space goal since President Kennedy called in 1961 for sending astronauts to the Moon. That goal was accomplished with six manned flights between 1969-1972.
A NASA artist imagines future Moon workers
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In September 2006, a special National Research Council panel of the National Academy of Sciences declared the Moon "priceless" to planetary scientists. The group gave a strong endorsement to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's plan for returning to the Moon. The scientists said lunar exploration will open the way to broader studies of the Earth and Solar System.
The National Academy of Sciences is established by Congress to advise the government on science and technology. The 15-member special National Research Council panel included university scientists, retired members of the space industry, and a journalist. They said the Moon's geological record could reveal the Moon's secrets to astronauts on the scene.
Bush wants the United States to establish an "extended presence" on the Moon in preparation for exploring Mars. NASA is spending $12 billion over five years toward landing on the Moon.
The scientists want NASA to study the composition and structure of the Moon's interior, the lunar atmosphere, and the Moon's potential as an observation platform for studying Earth, the Sun, and deep space astronomy.
Why Go Back Now?
Twelve American astronauts walked on the Moon between 1969-1972. No human being has been there since, so why go back now?
Humans living on the Moon and Mars would allow Earth to exploit numerous opportunities for the generation of energy, astronomy, communications, mining, industrialization, and commercialization, as well as the future expansion of humanity across the Solar System.
In later decades, Mars could be the jumping off point for human flights beyond the Asteroid Belt to the giant planet Jupiter. In particular, planetary scientists would be interested in landing on and exploring one or more of the moons of Jupiter.
The renewed American interest in the Moon and Mars may have been stimulated at this time by the highly visible and successful first manned spaceflight by China in 2003. China, India, Japan, Europe and others want to probe the Moon and eventually land there.
What is needed? These accomplishments are needed to meet the goals:Most of the technology already is at hand, but it will be expensive to build the ships to carry human beings to the Moon and Mars. President Bush suggested increasing NASA's annual budget by five percent to pay for the expensive new plan. He also planned to ask other countries to participate in the project, which means rockets and spacecraft from other nations could play an important role.
- The American space shuttle fleet would be retired in 2010. U.S. involvement in the International Space Station would be phased out a few years after completion of construction in 2010. Then, from 2016, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan would operate the station.
- A new cheaper, simpler human transport spacecraft – known as the crew exploration vehicle – would replace the shuttle. The CEV, which would be something like the old Apollo capsules, would have its first unmanned flight test in 2008 and be ready to take astronauts to the Moon by 2015.
- Scores of new technologies would be developed for such chores as converting lunar ice and martian atmosphere gases into rocket fuel and for human consumption.
- To fly on to Mars, t human space travelers would have to be able to withstand isolation for one to three years in a low gravity environment, in a transport vehicle surrounded by deadly solar radiation, and then on the harsh martian surface.
In the last three decades, a handful of Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts have spent long periods in Earth orbit, including a few with many months and even years in orbit aboard space stations.
Getting there. There are a variety of possible technologies for transporting astronauts and their gear to the Moon and Mars:More powerful rockets. None of America's space rockets today are powerful enough to launch something as large and heavy as one of the old Apollo capsules and landers. Back in the 1960s, it took five years to develop the huge Saturn 5 Moon rocket, which lifted Apollo capsules and Moon landers to Earth orbit. Development of the rocket after the last Apollo flight to the Moon in 1972.
- Chemical-fuel rockets like those used by the United States back in the 1960s to send astronauts to the Moon. Men in Apollo capsules were lifted off of Earth's surface and ferried to Earth orbit atop Saturn 5 rockets. From Earth orbit, their Apollo transport capsules were blasted directly across space to the Moon. Space shuttle rockets have used both liquid fuel and solid fuel.
- Nuclear-powered propulsion, which is a powerful, fuel-efficient technology that NASA is developing in Project Prometheus for robotic exploration around Jupiter.
- Relay flights, in which different kinds of transport vehicles would be used to lift astronauts off of Earth and then send them on to the Moon or Mars. The International Space Station or a Moon base might function like an airport on Earth. For instance, astronauts could fly in a capsule atop a rocket to the ISS where they would switch to a different kind of small transport to fly on to the Moon. At the Moon, astronauts could switch to yet another type of craft for the longer flight out to Mars.
A launcher as powerful as the Saturn 5 Moon rocket has not been needed in recent times because it offers a great deal more boost than needed to carry today's commercial and military satellites to Earth orbit.
The most powerful expendable rockets in the American fleet today are the Atlas-5 and the Delta 4, each of which could loft about half of the weight needed for a human Moon mission. Using weaker rockets would require multiple launches, which would make planning more complex and increase the risk of failure.
The new flight hardware. Construction of the International Space Station will be completed by 2010 and the U.S. shuttle fleet will be retired. After that, new human flight hardware will come into use.
Lockheed Martin Corp. artist rendering of an Orion crew vehicle launching atop an Ares I rocket.
Lockheed Martin vision of an Orion in lunar orbit, with Earth in the background.
A new NASA program called Constellation already is preparing the necessary next generation of human spacecraft.Ares and Orion re-use some of the best elements of the old Apollo and space shuttle programs for safe, reliable systems.
- Space rockets known as Ares I and Ares V – named for the Greek god of Mars – will provide the thrust to return humans to the Moon and then on to Mars and other destinations.
Future astronauts will ride in their crew capsules to Earth orbit on Ares I rockets, which will have as a first stage a single five-segment solid-fuel rocket booster derived from the space shuttle's solid rocket booster. The second stage will be a liquid-fuel – oxygen and liquid hydrogen – J-2X engine derived from the Apollo J-2 second stage engine. Am Ares I will be able to lift more than 55,000 lbs. to low Earth orbit.
The Ares V rocket, a heavy-lift launch vehicle, will use five RS-68 liquid-fuel – oxygen and liquid hydrogen – engines mounted below a larger version of the space shuttle's external tank, and two five-segment solid propellant rocket boosters for the first stage. The upper stage will use the same J-2X engine as the Ares I. The 360-ft.-tall Ares V will be able to lift more than 286,000 pounds to low Earth orbit. The system will be used to carry cargo and components to Earth orbit as they are needed to go on to the Moon and Mars.
- A transport vehicle known as the Orion crew capsule will be the home in space for future astronauts. The Orion crew capsule will carry astronauts back to the Moon and later to Mars. Lockheed Martin Corp. will be building eight of the reusable Orion manned lunar spaceships through 2019, replacing the space shuttle. The first flight with astronauts aboard is planned for no later than 2014. Orion's first flight to the Moon is planned for no later than 2020.
The New Moon Race
A new Moon Race is developing. In addition to the United States, the nations of Japan, Europe, China, India and Russia also are interested in exploring the Moon over the next two decades.
Japan. Japan became the third country ever to send a spacecraft to the Moon:Europe. The European Space Agency conducted its first exploration of the Moon with a probe about the size of a home clothes washing machine – the Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology (SMART-1) spacecraft launched in September 2003. It reached the Moon in November 2004. Testing astronomy and communication technologies, SMART-1 had a high-resolution camera, an infrared spectrometer, and a battery of miniature instruments to:
- First, it sent the Muses-A robot science explorer to the Moon in 1990. Later renamed Hiten, the unmanned explorer dropped off a miniature satellite called Hagoromo into lunar orbit. The science package was a West German micrometeorite counter from the Munich Technical University which recorded the weight, speed and direction of dust particles striking the craft.
- Next, the Japanese plan to send a lunar penetrator mission, LUNAR-A, in 2007-2008 to explore inside the Moon. It would use seismometers and heat-flow probes installed in ground penetrators to study the lunar interior – one on the nearside of the Moon and one on the farside.
The nearside penetrator would be located near the old Apollo 12 site or Apollo 14 sites, allowing comparisons between LUNAR-A data and Apollo data. The farside penetrator would be positioned opposite that site on the back of the Moon.
After releasing the penetrators, the orbiter would maneuver into a low circular path 125 miles above the lunar surface. From there, it would use its 100-ft. resolution, monochromatic camera to snap shots of subtle variations in the topography on the lunar surface near the terminator.
- Later, Japan also would send a lunar surveyor called SELENE in 2007-2008. The name is short for SELenological and ENgineering Explorer. SELENE actually would consist of three separate lunar satellites – the main orbiter, a small relay satellite, and a small Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) astronomy satellite called VRAD.
SELENE would explore the origin and evolution of the Moon, obtain data across the entire lunar surface to find ways of utilizing the Moon's resources, and develop lunar orbital systems in preparation for continuous exploration of the Moon. SELENE would have thirteen instruments including imagers, a radar sounder, laser altimeter, X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and gamma-ray spectrometer to study the origin, evolution, and tectonics of the Moon.
- Japan would like to construct an astronaut base on the Moon by 2025.
SMART-1's mission concluded with an intentional crash on the Moon in September 2006.
- conduct detailed mapping of the Moon's surface, including the far side never seen from Earth.
- examine infrared light as it looks for water hidden deep in craters on the lunar surface.
- use X-rays to map the chemical composition of the lunar surface. A spectrometer will measure the amounts of key elements such as silicon, aluminium and magnesium in rocks on the lunar surface.
- gather chemical data to test a theory that the Moon was created when a giant asteroid struck Earth during the early days of our Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. That theory would be supported by a greater presence of lighter elements such as magnesium or aluminium vs. a lesser presence of heavy elements such as iron.
- test the establishment of a laser beam link with Earth for communications.
China. China intends to launch a probe called Chang'e No. 1 in December 2006 to fly out to the Moon and enter lunar orbit. From there, it would send photos and science data back to Earth.
Chinese exploration of the Moon would involve four stages:India. India plans to explore the Moon and with an unmanned probe in 2008. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) calls the Moon flight project Chandrayan Pratham, which has been translated as First Journey to the Moon or Moonshot One.
- orbiting the Moon in 2006
- landing an unmanned rover on the Moon in 2010 or 2012
- returning lunar soil and rock samples from the Moon around 2015
- landing human beings on the Moon later
Chandrayan-1 would fly in a polar orbit 60 miles above the lunar surface. The project's main objectives are high-resolution photography of the lunar surface using remote-sensing instruments sensitive to visible light, near-infrared light, and low-energy and high-energy X-rays. The spacecraft would carry X-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers to send back data that scientists on Earth would use to produce a high-resolution digital map of the lunar surface.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has agreed to support the project by providing three science instruments for Chandrayan-1. They will be identical to those that orbited the Moon on ESA's Smart 1 spacecraft. The United States will supply a radar instrument designed to locate water ice on the lunar surface.
A Brief History of Lunar Exploration
The suggested timeline would see lunar exploration return almost 50 years after the USSR and the U.S. sent their first spacecraft to orbit the Moon:Previous human flights to the Moon. The only country to have landed astronauts on the Moon is the United States, with its Apollo series of manned missions from 1969-1972. There were nine Apollo capsule flights to the Moon between 1968 and 1972. Of those, six were landing flights.
- On April 4, 1966, the Soviet Union launched Luna 10, the first spacecraft from Earth to orbit the Moon. Russia had tried to probe the Moon as early as 1958. Altogether, the USSR launched 24 exploration spacecraft in the Luna series from 1959-1976. They included crash landings on the lunar surface, fly-bys, landers, rovers, satellites in orbit, and sample return missions.
- On August 10, 1966, the United States launched Lunar Orbiter 1. The Lunar Orbiter project included five satellites of the Moon launched in 1966-1967. The U.S. had other lunar explorers such as the Ranger project in 1964-1965. America had tried to probe the Moon as early as 1958.
Each Apollo flight to the Moon carried three persons. On each landing flight, two persons flew down to the lunar surface in a small Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), while one astronaut stayed in the Apollo capsule orbiting above the Moon.
- Flew out and around the Moon, but did not land on the Moon:
- Apollo 8 lunar orbiter, December 21, 1968, astronauts Borman, Lovell, Anders
- Apollo 10 lunar orbiter, May 18, 1969, astronauts Stafford, Young, Cernan
- Apollo 13 aborted lunar landing mission, April 11, 1970, astronauts Lovell, Haise, Swigert
- Flew to the Moon and landed:
- Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, July 16, 1969, astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins
- Apollo 12 lunar landing mission, November 14, 1969, astronauts Conrad, Bean, Gordon
- Apollo 14 lunar landing mission, January 31, 1971, astronauts Shepard, Mitchell, Roosa
- Apollo 15 lunar landing mission, July 26, 1971, astronauts Scott, Irwin, Worden
- Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, April 16, 1972, astronauts Young, Duke, Mattingly
- Apollo 17 lunar landing mission, December 7, 1972, astronauts Cernan, Schmitt, Evans
A Brief History of Mars Exploration
Many robots from Earth have probed Mars. The United States, Russia, Europe and Japan over four decades have sent numerous flybys, orbiters and landers to Mars.
On December 2, 1971, the Soviet Union's Mars 3 was the first spacecraft to make a successful soft landing on Mars.
Later, three American spacecraft completed highly successful landings on the surface – the pair of Viking landers in 1976 and Mars Pathfinder 21 years later in 1997. Mars Exploration Rovers in 2004 »»
In addition, several spacecraft have either flown by the Red Planet, sending back picture postcards as they traveled on, or have dropped successfully into orbit around Mars.
Numerous other Mars spacecraft over the years either failed to leave Earth at all or were unable to find their way correctly to the Red Planet.
In the 21st century, five probes from America, Europe and Japan have flown to Mars, including Europe's and Japan's first solo missions to Mars.
