Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Mars Exploration News .




MARSDAILY
Mars One mission: big work ahead
by Staff Writers
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Dec 31, 2013


"Big work" lies ahead from conceptual design to actual construction, for which five years may not be enough, so, perhaps, the launch date for Mars One's unmanned payload will be postponed until after 2018. It is already two years behind its original schedule.

Around 200,000 people have applied for a one-way mission to Mars, though it's still pretty unclear if and when the ambitious project to colonize the "red planet" is going to take place. Some believe that it may happen in the 2020s.

Determined to forge ahead with its plans whatever the financial or technical challenges, the company behind the Mars One project first intends to send an unmanned payload in 2018 and obtain streaming video from the surface of Mars, and after that, the first four-man Martian crew will blast into space on a no-return voyage, followed by additional crews every two years.

Mars One's top goal is to build a human settlement as a stepping stone on humanity's way out of its terrestrial cradle into the Solar System.

Mars One candidates must be older than 18, "intelligent, creative, psychologically stable and physically healthy", have personal drive and motivation and be capable of working in a team. As there are no means to take them back to Earth, Mars is going to be their only since the moment they land on it. Their life on the "red planet" is supposed to be broadcast here on Earth as a reality TV series.

Though the manned part looks better on paper, the wheels are already in motion to set the unmanned stage on track. The first contractors for Mars One's unmanned mission have been selected. These are Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL). Lockheed Martin will build a robotic lander and SSTL will build a communications satellite.

The lander will have will have a robotic arm, an onboard laboratory and some as-of-yet unknown payload proposed by the winner of a worldwide Mars One university contest to be launched next year. It will also attempt to deploy solar panels and extract water from Martian soil.

The satellite will stay on orbit, providing communications for the lander and feeding back live video from the surface camera and telemetric data.

SSTL Executive Chairman Martin Sweeting was thrilled by his company's role in the mission. "This study gives us an unprecedented opportunity to take our tried and tested approach and apply it to Mars One's imaginative and exhilarating challenge of sending humans to Mars through private investment," he said in an interview.

The commercialization of space exploration is "vital in order to bring down costs and schedules and fuel progress," Sweeting said.

Big work lies ahead from conceptual design to actual construction, for which five years may not be enough, so, perhaps, the launch date for Mars One's unmanned payload will be postponed until after 2018. It is already two years behind its original schedule.

Source: Voice of Russia

.


Related Links
Mars One
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








MARSDAILY
Mars One mission: one way ticket to new life
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Dec 23, 2013
200,000 people from 140 countries have applied for a one-way ticket to Mars. The applicants agreed to stay on the Red Planet for the rest of their lives and be filmed for a reality TV program, according to the company behind the mission, Mars One. David Mimoun, an Associate Professor at Institut Superieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace, (French Superior Institute of Aerospace) for the SU ... read more


MARSDAILY
Chang'e 3 Lander and Rover From Above

China's moon rover "sleeps" through lunar night

Will the Moon be carved-up?

NASA Releases New Earthrise Simulation Video

MARSDAILY
China launches communications satellite for Bolivia

China's moon rover continues lunar survey after photographing lander

China's Yutu "naps", awakens and explores

Deep space monitoring station abroad imperative

MARSDAILY
Station Cosmonauts Complete Spacewalk to Deploy Cameras

Russian cosmonauts Kotov and Ryazansky complete ISS spacewalk

Expedition 38 Sends New Year's Greetings on Off-Duty Day

Station's Replacement Pump Successfully Restarted

MARSDAILY
The Sounds of New Horizons

On the Path to Pluto, 5 AU and Closing

SwRI study finds that Pluto satellites' orbital ballet may hint of long-ago collisions

Archival Hubble Images Reveal Neptune's "Lost" Inner Moon

MARSDAILY
Clay-Like Minerals Found on Icy Crust of Europa

Cassini Spacecraft Obtains Best Views of Saturn Hexagon

Model Suggests Ocean Currents Shape Europa's Icy Shell in Ways Critical for Potential Habitats

The Bright Vortex Off Saturn Way

MARSDAILY
NASA and JAXA Announce Launch Date for Global Precipitation Satellite

NASA Carbon Sleuth Gets Simulated Taste of Space

China's HD observation satellite opens its eyes

Rainfall satellite will aid in environmental, weather science

MARSDAILY
Only lawyers profit as tech giants go to war over patents

Space trips open to Chinese travelers

Work on NASA's New Orion Spacecraft Progresses as Engineers Pivot to 2014

Official: Iran to Send Astronaut into Space in 2024

MARSDAILY
NASA's Hubble Sees Cloudy Super-Worlds With Chance for More Clouds

Researchers use Hubble Telescope to reveal cloudy weather on alien world

Using an Atmosphere to Weigh a Planet

Gaia Mission Could Help Map Exoplanets




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement