5 EXCITING TECHNOLOGIES NASA'S DEVELOPING SO WE CAN MAKE IT TO MARS AND BACK

Matt Damon ("Mark Watney") leans against a rover

Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox

NASA really wants to go to Mars in the 2030s. Last week, the agency releaseda report about its progress and plans for the #JourneyToMars. Though the report is mostly filled with optimism and abstract goals, it does outline a few of the awesome/important technologies that NASA hopes to develop in the coming decades. Here are a few:

Really Big Rockets

Artist's concept of NASA's Space Launch System

NASA/MSFC

The successor to the Space Shuttle could be ready for liftoff as early as 2018. When it does take off, NASA's Space Launch System will be able to carry 70 metric tons of supplies into orbit. Later, it could send payloads of up to 130 metric tons into a trajectory towards Mars.

At 382 feet tall, the SLS will eventually be the largest launch vehicle ever built, and even more powerful than the Saturn V rockets that carried the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. "This payload capacity far exceeds the capability of current and planned commercial launch vehicles," says the report.

Along with the Orion crew capsule (also in development at NASA), the SLS could eventually carry astronauts to Mars and other deep space destinations.

Experimental Propulsion

The SLS is powered by the combustion of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. But SLS is only meant to carry astronauts out of Earth orbit. For the approximately 7-month journey to Mars, using rocket fuel to propel a spacecraft requires a large gas tank that would be very expensive to launch off the ground.

Instead, NASA might use the power of the Sun to send cargo, supplies, and maybe even astronauts to Mars.

An ion propulsion engine

NASA

The method (which is being called Solar Electric Propulsion) would move the spacecraft by shooting ions out its backside. This is similar to the engine that the Dawn spacecraft used to get to Ceres. Electrons break down xenon gas into plasma, and an electric field accelerates the particles until they shoot the back of the engine at high speeds. Solar power provides the electrons to make it work.

Solar electric propulsion doesn't provide the enormous thrust of rocket fuel. Instead it builds up speed slowly over time, eventually propelling the spacecraft at up to 200,000 miles per hour. And ion propulsion is very efficient too, using up to 10 times less propellant than rocket fuel.

The technology is already real, but now NASA needs to dramatically scale it up. To drive a heavier payload, the ion engines will need to be at least an order of magnitude more powerful. In the 2020s, NASA plans to use theAsteroid Redirect Mission to test a version of the engine that's 5 times more powerful than the Dawn spacecraft's.

Deep Space Habitats

Drawing of a Mars habitat

NASA

If we want our astronauts to get to Mars and back in one piece, we can't just cram them into a Humvee-sized Orion capsule for three years. NASA wants a deep space habitat that attaches to the Orion capsule to provide more living space (and a bathroom) for the astronauts on board, as well as a habitat for them to live in on Mars. Such a habitat would need to provide life support, fire prevention, and radiation protection, in addition to giving the astronauts room to exercise and do their work.

Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable space habitats and NASA's creatively namedDeep Space Habitat concept could provide a jumping-off point for future designs.

Flexible Spacesuits

Martian astronauts could spend a year or more on the Red Planet. During that time, they'll want to roam around outside, exploring and collecting data. Unfortunately, Mars wants to kill us (just ask Mark Watney…).

Dava Newman is designing a new spacesuit

NASA/Douglas Sonders

New spacesuits will need to protect against Mars' damaging radiation and cold, thin atmosphere, while still allowing the astronauts to do their work. Today's spacesuits are a lot like balloons, making it hard to move around--especially the hands. But researchers are designing outfits that are easier to get around in. They may also incorporate augmented reality, self-healing materials, and interwoven bio-monitors.

NASA plans to test a next-gen spacesuit when it sends astronauts to rendezvous with a boulder during the Asteroid Redirect Mission.

Frickin' Laser Beams

Drawing of NASA's laser communications experiment

NASA

At its closest, Mars is 33.9 million miles away from Earth. The Internet connection is pretty lousy out there, and it needs to get better. NASA's new report notes that the Mars rovers can send and receive data at a rate of about two million bits per second. By comparison, the International Space Station's data rate is 300 million bits per second. And in order to navigate to and land on Mars, NASA's gonna need a stronger connection--something on the order of a billion bits per second (1 Gigabit per second). The solution: lasers.

During a 2013 test, a laser communication system allowed NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) to download information at 622 million bits per second. Other designs might be able to send data at a few billion bits per second out to the distance of Saturn.

Developing these technologies won't be easy. It's going to take many years and billions of dollars, and some experts are skeptical that NASA can make it happen. There are plenty of challenges to overcome on the "journey to Mars", not the least of which is NASA's flatlining budget. But going to Mars would be pretty sweet.

Read Also : MARS: LAKES, STREAMS EXISTED BILLIONS OF YEARS AGO, NASA'S CURIOSITY ROVER TEAM CONFIRMS , IS GOING TO MARS REALLY IN OUR FUTURE?

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Is going to Mars really in our future?

WATCH: The new movie 'The Martian,' starring Matt Damon, is about an astronaut who must survive the Red Planet after being stranded by his crew. How close is NASA to putting people onto Mars? Ashley Esqueda spoke with NASA's head of planetary sciences about future Mars missions.

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While the new movie The Martian might have bolstered the hope of one day travelling and working on the red planet, the realities and challenges that lie on the road to Mars are enormous.

Read Also : MARS: LAKES, STREAMS EXISTED BILLIONS OF YEARS AGO, NASA'S CURIOSITY ROVER TEAM CONFIRMS

5 EXCITING TECHNOLOGIES NASA'S DEVELOPING SO WE CAN MAKE IT TO MARS AND BACK

The new NASA document breaks down the journey into three distinct steps: Earth reliant; Proving ground; and Earth independent.That’s not to say they are insurmountable. Earlier this month, NASA released a 35-page plan entitled, “NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration” outlining what it says is its steps for getting humans to Mars.

The Earth reliant process largely takes place aboard the International Space Station, which would include, for example, the current One-Year Mission with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly; the proving ground is the stage where humans learn to live and work further away, mainly     around the moon; and finally, the Earth independent activities are the final steps, perhaps a low-Mars orbit or a visit to one of its moons.

The only problem is, NASA doesn’t present a timeline. So how likely is it that anyone alive today will see someone walk on Mars?

An artist’s depiction of the Earth Reliant, Proving Ground and Earth Independent thresholds.

NASA

“If you look at that, you still don’t know when they’re going or how,” said Randy Attwood, executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and space historian. “The whole moon program had a definite schedule and budget. Early on they changed their minds on how they’d do it…but they committed to doing it.”

One of the major hurtles NASA faces today — that it didn’t in the 1960s —  is funding.

Plans to get humans to the moon begun with a definite goal set by U.S. President John F. Kennedy; there was an impetus to beat the Soviet Union to the moon, to assert not just worldwide dominance, but technological dominance.

There is no such drive to get humans to Mars.

“Unfortunately, you have to run space programs on public interest, but that’s just not enough,” said Attwood.

Will we ever see a human boot print on Mars?

NASA

Another problem is the changing administrations within the U.S. government. Every time a new president is elected, he or she will have a different plan for the space program than his or her predecessor. A perfect example is NASA’s Constellation program initiated by President George W. Bush in 2004. Never heard of it? That’s because it got scrapped when President Obama took office in 2009.

Parts of it live on today at NASA, however; for example the Orion spacecraft that is included in its current vision to getting us to Mars.

Money from Congress has plummeted since the Apollo years, going from roughly4.5 per cent of the United States’ federal budget to less than half a per cent. And, to use the saying from the movie The Right Stuff, “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.”

“NASA of the ’60s is long gone,” Attwood said.

The persistent whispers about heading to Mars have lasted since the Apollo days. For some, heading to the moon was just the first step to the science-fiction future with bases and spaceships. But that never materialized.

READ MORE: Elon Musk suggests nuking Mars on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’

War, politics and the economy took precedence over what some considered to be frivolous space exploration. Human space exploration took a backseat, and it’s never really been able to recover.

To be fair, going to Mars presents challenges unlike anything we’ve ever seen. There is the distance — due to the orbits of our planets we only have two windows  of opportunity a year to take advantage of the distance. There’s the challenge of getting enough fuel and supplies up into orbit for the likely six- to nine-month trip, an expensive endeavour. And then there are the physical limitations: space radiation presents a possibly deadly, if not life-shortening possibility to astronauts on long-duration space flights.

“Going to the moon was extremely difficult, but it’s nothing compared to going to Mars,” said Attwood.

But going to Mars isn’t just a NASA endeavour. While they are the space agency with a large budget, there are other countries who could attempt the undertaking. In 2014, India sent its first orbiter to the red planet.

And then there’s private enterprise. Billionaire founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, a man who seemingly doesn’t believe in limitations — has long set his sights on Mars. In January, he said he would reveal plans for SpaceX’s Mars Colonial Transporter by year’s end (we’re still waiting).

Whether it be private enterprise or NASA or another country, Mars isn’t a walk in the park. The distance, the inhospitableness, the physical challenges are all very real. And seeing humans walk on Mars will likely take longer than we think.

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Mars: Lakes, streams existed billions of years ago, NASA's Curiosity rover team confirms

PHOTO: Mars was once capable of storing water in lakes for an extended period, NASA says. (Supplied: NASA)

Using data from the Curiosity rover, the study confirmed Mars was once capable of storing water in lakes for an extended period.Streams and lakes existed on Mars billions of years ago, a new study from NASA's Mars Science Laboratory has found.

Sediment deposited in layers formed the foundation for Mount Sharp, the mountain which exists in the middle of the Gale Crater today.

"Observations from the rover suggest that a series of long-lived streams and lakes existed at some point between about 3.8 to 3.3 billion years ago, delivering sediment that slowly built up the lower layers of Mount Sharp," Mars Science Laboratory project scientist Ashwin Vasavada said.

Mr Vasavada said the images showed an abundance of finely laminated mudstones that look like lake deposits.

"Paradoxically, where there is a mountain today there was once a basin, and it was sometimes filled with water," lead author of the report John Grotzinger said.Mudstones indicated the presence of lakes which remained for long periods of time and possibly repeatedly expanded and contracted during hundreds to millions of years.

Last month, it was confirmed liquid water flows on today's Mars, while previous research has suggested there were ancient lakes on Mars.

"What we thought we knew about water on Mars is constantly being put to the test," NASA's Mars Exploration Program lead scientist Michael Meyer said.

"It's clear that the Mars of billions of years ago more closely resembled Earth than it does today.

"Our challenge is to figure out how this more clement Mars was even possible, and what happened to that wetter Mars."

PHOTO: Mudstones indicated the presence of lakes which remained for long periods of time. (Supplied: NASA)
Read Also : Is going to Mars really in our future?     
                      5 EXCITING TECHNOLOGIES NASA'S DEVELOPING SO WE CAN MAKE IT TO MARS AND BACK 

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