General Space Mission Thread

[whp.blue]

It is more about anatomical effects of long term microgravity

I understand that but without effective shielding it means nothing, as nobody would survive any length of flight, the radiation would kill them long before the gravity issues take effect.

The radiation isn't bad enough to instantly kill people. The Curiosity measured it on the way to Mars and they found that although it's currently above what NASA want to use as a limit, and it certainly increases the risks of cancers, it's not instant death material and could feasibly be done.

Radiation in space is about 1.8 milliSieverts a day for those interested in radiation and NASAs lifetime limit is 1,000 milliSieverts. With current technology they could get there and back under that limit, if the mission was planned correctly and they used the window where Earth and Mars are closest then you're looking at 260 days travel. Problem is that the crew would have to be totally inexperienced in space which doesn't sound like a good recipe for one of the longest spaceflights ever done.

260 days times 1.8 is 468. The trip back would take longer and they'd probably push over the limit. This assumes current technology and no measures taken.

It's a broad concern but I think that there are astronauts in NASA who would probably risk an extra 5% risk of cancer to be the first human to ever set foot on another planet. Very few opportunities ever come along to be truly immortal alongside names like Jesus Christ, Homer and other names humanity will remember for as long as it exists. Being the first human on another planet would certainly be one of them.

Are you saying that because during the Curiosity voyage the radiation is a constant? and that it will be used as template?

I don't think they will ignore the chance of a SPE and would defiantly need shielding as these do have enough energetic particles to cause death

I am not sure how accurate we are at predicting this sort of event bearing in mind that they are putting the Astronauts lives on the line.

For some reason I have it in my head that we can only accurately predict these events about 5 hours before they occur.

 

[Damocles]

I understand that but without effective shielding it means nothing, as nobody would survive any length of flight, the radiation would kill them long before the gravity issues take effect.

The radiation isn't bad enough to instantly kill people. The Curiosity measured it on the way to Mars and they found that although it's currently above what NASA want to use as a limit, and it certainly increases the risks of cancers, it's not instant death material and could feasibly be done.

Radiation in space is about 1.8 milliSieverts a day for those interested in radiation and NASAs lifetime limit is 1,000 milliSieverts. With current technology they could get there and back under that limit, if the mission was planned correctly and they used the window where Earth and Mars are closest then you're looking at 260 days travel. Problem is that the crew would have to be totally inexperienced in space which doesn't sound like a good recipe for one of the longest spaceflights ever done.

260 days times 1.8 is 468. The trip back would take longer and they'd probably push over the limit. This assumes current technology and no measures taken.

It's a broad concern but I think that there are astronauts in NASA who would probably risk an extra 5% risk of cancer to be the first human to ever set foot on another planet. Very few opportunities ever come along to be truly immortal alongside names like Jesus Christ, Homer and other names humanity will remember for as long as it exists. Being the first human on another planet would certainly be one of them.

Are you saying that because during the Curiosity voyage the radiation is a constant? and that it will be used as template?

I don't think they will ignore the chance of a SPE and would defiantly need shielding as these do have enough energetic particles to cause death

I am not sure how accurate we are at predicting this sort of event bearing in mind that they are putting the Astronauts lives on the line.

It's not a constant but it's a decent enough figure to work off of for the purpose of our discussion.

Solar weather isn't really something that you can control and there will always be that element of risk, though rather a small one, that you could get hit by one. Not really a reason to suspend a manned mission. Sort of like how you could get hit by a bus but this doesn't stop you from going outside.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

anyone hear benedict Cumberbatch on Newsnight last night read out the speech prepared for the President if Apollo 11 had failed and left Armstrong and Aldrin stranded?

It was chilling.

 

[Damocles]

anyone hear benedict Cumberbatch on Newsnight last night read out the speech prepared for the President if Apollo 11 had failed and left Armstrong and Aldrin stranded?

It was chilling.

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

PRIOR TO THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT: The president should telephone each of the widows-to-be.

AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT, at the point when NASA ends communications with the men: A clergyman should adopt the same procedure as a burial at sea, commending their souls to "the deepest of the deep," concluding with the Lord's Prayer.

 

[Tuearts right boot]

I'm not a Doctor but I wouldn't have thought any of the effects of space travel would be long lasting once you're back on Earth.

Until that is, you grow a second head.

 

[whp.blue]

The radiation isn't bad enough to instantly kill people. The Curiosity measured it on the way to Mars and they found that although it's currently above what NASA want to use as a limit, and it certainly increases the risks of cancers, it's not instant death material and could feasibly be done.

Radiation in space is about 1.8 milliSieverts a day for those interested in radiation and NASAs lifetime limit is 1,000 milliSieverts. With current technology they could get there and back under that limit, if the mission was planned correctly and they used the window where Earth and Mars are closest then you're looking at 260 days travel. Problem is that the crew would have to be totally inexperienced in space which doesn't sound like a good recipe for one of the longest spaceflights ever done.

260 days times 1.8 is 468. The trip back would take longer and they'd probably push over the limit. This assumes current technology and no measures taken.

It's a broad concern but I think that there are astronauts in NASA who would probably risk an extra 5% risk of cancer to be the first human to ever set foot on another planet. Very few opportunities ever come along to be truly immortal alongside names like Jesus Christ, Homer and other names humanity will remember for as long as it exists. Being the first human on another planet would certainly be one of them.

Are you saying that because during the Curiosity voyage the radiation is a constant? and that it will be used as template?

I don't think they will ignore the chance of a SPE and would defiantly need shielding as these do have enough energetic particles to cause death

I am not sure how accurate we are at predicting this sort of event bearing in mind that they are putting the Astronauts lives on the line.

It's not a constant but it's a decent enough figure to work off of for the purpose of our discussion.

Solar weather isn't really something that you can control and there will always be that element of risk, though rather a small one, that you could get hit by one. Not really a reason to suspend a manned mission. Sort of like how you could get hit by a bus but this doesn't stop you from going outside.

That is a very poor analogy
A bus may kill single person however that person has a chance of seeing the bus and it is possible to evade an on coming bus even if they fail one person killed by a bus changes little however unfortunate it may be for the victim.

In the case of a very large SPE in a unshielded space ship 100% of the crew would be killed as they would have no chance of evading it.
The massively expensive mission would fail and it would be very high profile failure all the time and effort would have been wasted.
Also an SPE is a highly possible event on this sort of mission and I don't think anyone would ignore these risks and send an unshielded ship to Mars.

 

[Damocles]

I think they would not see the chance of being hit by a cme as a large enough risk to delay a manned mission. The type of shielding required to protect from that simply doesn't exist. Even if one hit the Earth we wouldn't be fully protected.

Its comparable to a volcanic explosion. The threat wouldn't stop you visiting Yellowstone

 

[Damocles]

3 weeks away from Pluto!!

 

[Le Havre Oswald]

Sorry to hijack the thread but Is there any new photos of Pluto to view as I know that satellite has gotten pretty close to it. On Google I can't tell what's real and what's fake

Cheers

 

[Damocles]

Sorry to hijack the thread but Is there any new photos of Pluto to view as I know that satellite has gotten pretty close to it. On Google I can't tell what's real and what's fake

Cheers

Lots!

The 3 week mark is to hit the closest current approach humanity has ever made.

Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI)

Mass: 8.8 kilograms (19.4 pounds)
Average Power: 5.8 watts
Development: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Andy Cheng, Applied Physics Laboratory
Purpose: Study geology; provide high-resolution approach and highest-resolution encounter images

LORRI, the “eagle eyes” of New Horizons, is a panchromatic high-magnification imager, consisting of a telescope with an 8.2-inch (20.8-centimeter) aperture that focuses visible light onto a charge-coupled device (CCD). It’s essentially a digital camera with a large telephoto telescope – only fortified to operate in the cold, hostile environs near Pluto.

During the encounter, LORRI images will be New Horizons' first of the Pluto system, starting about 180 days before closest approach. Pluto and its moons still resemble little more than bright dots, but these system-wide views will help navigators keep the spacecraft on course and help scientists refine their orbit calculations of Pluto and its moons. Approximately 60 days before closest approach – around mid-May 2015 – LORRI images will surpass Hubble-quality resolution, providing never-before-seen details each day. At closest approach, LORRI will image select sections of Pluto's sunlit surface at football-field-size resolution, resolving features at about 50 meters across.

This range of images will give scientists an unprecedented look at the geology on Pluto and its moons– including the number and size of craters on each surface, revealing the history of impacting objects in that distant region. LORRI will also yield important information on the history of Pluto’s surface, search for activity such as geysers on that surface, and look for hazes in Pluto’s atmosphere. LORRI will also provide the highest resolution images of any Kuiper Belt Objects New Horizons would fly by in an extended mission, should NASA approve one.

LORRI has no color filters or moving parts – operators take images by pointing the LORRI side of the spacecraft directly at their target. The instrument’s innovative silicon carbide construction keeps its mirrors focused through the extreme temperature dips New Horizons experiences on the way to, through, and past the Pluto system.

That LORRI unit there has been taking pictures for ages now. Not great pictures but pictures. Animated here with its moon, Charon



More pictures from LORI here:

http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons/lorri-gallery

I'm sorry but this is all very exciting to me.