Step on the surface Marte This would be possible from 2039, if the prediction of the US space agency NASA comes true, it plans to use the moon as a “testing ground” for innovative technology and research that could help humans live on the red planet.
A human visit to Mars would be a “giant step” for humanity, but first a return to the Moon would be necessary, more than 50 years after the last Apollo mission, to sort out the technology, logistics and enabling operations. To expand space exploration, a NASA engineer explains to Efe Carlos Garcia-Galan.
“This decade we will do what is necessary to return to the Moon. Next we will focus on completing the infrastructure, surface and gateway space station,” he explained.
GarcÃa Colón is director of the Orion spacecraft's European Service Module Coordination Office at NASA's Glenn Research Center and is participating in the Small Satellites and Services International Forum (SSSSIF) conference in Malaga these days.
Work would begin in the late 1930s Systems for Mars. The Malaga-based engineer believes that by the end of that decade “or early 40s” they will be “too advanced” to make that move. “I haven't worked on it yet, but I definitely hope to see it,” he says.
To “accelerate” this process, it aims to combine the work of government agencies with the innovations of private companies. “Who would have thought that today there would be tourists accompanying ships to Earth orbit and the space station?” He's referring to SpaceX or Blue Origin planes.
Time delay
It would take three or four days to reach the Moon, and “communications were already delayed by a few seconds,” making the trip to Mars a A journey of six to nine monthsAnd once there, the delay in communication can be as little as 20 minutes, says Garcia-Callan.
At that distance, “if you forget something or break something, if the crew has a health problem, you can't afford it. You can't react immediately, you have to have what you need there,” insists the engineer, who gives an example of the legendary phrase, “Houston, we have a problem.” , it takes 20 minutes to reach the ground and 20 minutes to figure out what it is.
For this reason, he says, we must “cultivate.” New technologies must be completely independent», takes advantage of the information provided by nanosatellites to allow the creation of maps of the lunar surface or the creation of a communication network.
He tells Efe that the moon will be used as a “testing site” to establish human habitation camps and experiment with technology. Andres MartinezProgram Manager for Independent Earth Operations at NASA, including pioneering robotics, communications and navigation missions.
Martinez is immersed in organizing experts, scientists and engineers to design an autonomous system. Solve any kind of problems It may arise on Mars, so an alarm will be set off before that happens.
The goal is to set foot on Mars by 2039The last year is the 1930s, but he admits that “it is a challenge and depends on collaboration with industry and coordination with other international partners so that the horizon can be extended.”
What is necessary to survive
The research required for the long-awaited mission includes both the testing of technical equipment and the development of space agriculture and bioassays. Deep space radiation.
Many activities have been carried out on the International Space Station. Experiments Lessons are drawn from it. “Plants use gravity as a compass to determine where the roots go,” he points out, and it's about knowing “how much gravity needs to be provided for the plant to germinate and grow” far from Earth.
Because its purpose is to create an ecosystem that allows survival in space. On a mission to Mars, astronauts must “Learn to live those 80 days” And the first task concept aims to “go there and stay a while” so they need to know “how to make water”.
To know its effects on living beings Stay in space and protect humansSome of the biological experiments carried out on the BioSentinel satellite include NASA using yeast because “its DNA behaves similarly when exposed to high levels of radiation,” Martinez explains.
By placing small satellites in lunar orbit, Data that can be used in other tasks Space in the future. “Humans are going to be interplanetary because, by nature, we are explorers,” he asserts.
The conquest of space was achieved much earlier in cinema, although in many cases the common visions of science fiction rather than reality. With Andrés MartÃnez Curious And admit it Gravity It made them “laugh” because it was intended to “enlighten the masses”. Further removed from the scientific basis.
