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Destination Mars

This rather interesting project was mentioned by one of my course lecturers this week. He said something along the lines of it being an interesting study of the psycological effects of long term confinement but that the effects of microgravity on the human body would be more serious as little is known about that.

He also showed a diagram showing the various mission windows over the coming years and said that most Mars missions would have to be around 900-1000 days, around 3 years duration. I imagine that psycological issues will become a major problem after that time.

The attached image is the diagram I mentioned from a lecture by Dr. Adrian Tatnall

View attachment 51318
 
I wish our Russian friends good luck with their sample return mission, but doing the same with any other asteroid would likely produce similar results.

N.
 
Russians Fight to Save Mars Probe After Mishap

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Russian space engineers scrambled Wednesday to salvage an ambitious science mission to Mars after the unmanned spacecraft became stranded in Earth orbit. If they are not successful, the probe, which is loaded with toxic fuel, could re-enter the atmosphere within days or weeks.

The spacecraft, a high-stakes effort to bring back soil samples from the Martian moon Phobos — and to return Russia to prominence in planetary exploration after a long dry spell — was launched from Kazakhstan atop a Zenit rocket early Wednesday. Russian officials said that the launching was normal. But then, once the spacecraft was in orbit, two planned firings of its propulsion system, intended to send it on the nearly yearlong journey to Mars, did not occur.

“The engines did not fire, not the first or the second time,” said Vladimir Popovkin, director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

An unnamed person in Russia’s space industry told the Interfax news agency that there had been warnings before the launching that glitches in the probe’s command and control system had not been fully resolved. “The risk of failure because of its abnormal operation was very high. Unfortunately, the worst forecasts have come true,” the person said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/s...save-mars-probe-after-launch-mishap.html?_r=1
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If Phobos-Grunt eventually crashes back to Earth, its cargo may become a problem: The craft carries a full payload of toxic hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide fuel and small cargo of radioactive cobalt-57.

It is unclear how much of it will survive the fiery plunge through the atmosphere.
 
I can see this probe coming back with a virus that kills all the dogs and cats on earth. Then, with no other pets available, people begin keeping monkeys and apes as pets, ultimately training them to become slave labor. Thus begins the planet of the apes.


Why is everyone staring at me?
 
stansdds said:
I can see this probe coming back with a virus that kills all the dogs and cats on earth. Then, with no other pets available, people begin keeping monkeys and apes as pets, ultimately training them to become slave labor. Thus begins the planet of the apes.


Why is everyone staring at me?
Click to expand...

I am intrigued by your predictions and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.:icon_lol:
 
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