NASA has just admitted something that should greatly concern anyone hoping that we will one day land mankind on Mars.
The head of NASA has just admitted something that is likely to greatly disappoint anyone hoping that we’ll start a colony on Mars in the next few decades. NASA’s chief of human spacefligth William H. Gerstenmaier acknowledged that the agency couldn’t put a date on missions to the Red Planet because they don’t even have the funding to make it happen.
Gerstenmaier’s stunning admission comes just a few days after Vice President Mike Pence hailed the new Trump Administration budget as a sign that they were ushering in a “new era” of ledearship in space, including a return to the moon and a manned mission to Mars.
“I can’t put a date on humans on Mars, and the reason really is that at the budget levels we described, this roughly 2 percent increase, we don’t have the surface systems available for Mars,” said NASA’s William H. Gerstenmaier according to the Daily Mail. “The entry, descent and landing is a huge challenge for us for Mars. We think an unfuelled mars asset vehicle would weigh around 20 tons, that’s a 20 fold increase on a rover.”
The following are excerpts from NASA’s proposed 2017 budget under the Trump Administration regarding Mars.
NASA shall submit biennial reports until 2023 which include:
a description of the progress NASA is making in achieving its deep space human exploration objectives on the ISS and prospects for accomplishing future mission requirements, space exploration objectives, and other research objectives on future commercially supplied low-Earth orbit platforms or migration of those objectives to cis-lunar space;
steps NASA is taking and will take, including demonstrations that could be conducted on the ISS, to stimulate and facilitate commercial demand and supply of products and services in low-Earth orbit;
identification of barriers preventing the commercialization of low-Earth orbit;
the cost estimates for extending operations of the ISS to 2024, 2028, and 2030;
evaluation of the feasible and preferred service life of the ISS beyond September 30, 2024, through at least 2028, as a unique scientific, commercial, and exploration-related facility; and
the impact on deep space exploration capabilities, including a crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s, if the preferred service life of the ISS is extended beyond 2024 and NASA maintains a flat budget profile.
(Sec. 412) The key U.S. objectives for human expansion into space shall include achieving human exploration of Mars and beyond through the prioritization of those technologies and capabilities best suited for such a mission in accordance with the stepping stone approach to exploration specified in federal law.
(Sec. 413) NASA shall manage human space flight programs, including the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle, to enable humans to explore Mars and other space destinations.
(Sec. 414) NASA: (1) may conduct missions to intermediate destinations in order to achieve the objective of human exploration of Mars, and (2) shall incorporate any such missions into the human exploration roadmap.
The bill declares that in order to maximize the cost-effectiveness of the long-term exploration and utilization activities of the United States, NASA shall take all necessary steps, including engaging international, academic, and industry partners, to ensure that activities in NASA’s human exploration program balance how those activities might also help meet the requirements of future exploration and utilization activities leading to human habitation on the surface of Mars.
Within budgetary considerations, once an exploration-related project enters its development phase, NASA shall seek to complete such project without any undue delays.
Furthermore, in order to achieve the goal of successfully conducting a crewed mission to the surface of Mars, the President may invite U.S. partners in the ISS program and other nations, as appropriate, to participate in an international initiative under the leadership of the United States.
NASA shall continue the development of the fully integrated SLS, including an upper stage needed to go beyond low-Earth orbit, in order to safely enable human space exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond over the course of the next century.
Within 60 days of enactment of this bill, NASA shall submit to Congress a report that addresses the ability of Orion to meet the requirement specified in federal law that it be designed to have, at a minimum, the capability to provide an alternative means of delivery of crew and cargo to the ISS in the event that other vehicles, whether commercial vehicles or partner-supplied vehicles, are unable to perform that function. Such report shall detail:
those components and systems of Orion which ensure that it is in compliance with such minimum capability requirement;
the expected date that Orion, integrated with a vehicle other than the SLS, could be available to transport crew and cargo to the ISS;
any impacts to the deep space exploration missions NASA shall continue development of pursuant to this section which are due to enabling Orion in meeting such minimum capability requirement and conducting such a mission to the ISS; and
the overall cost and schedule impacts associated with enabling Orion in meeting such requirement and conducting such a mission.
NASA shall also continue the development of:
an uncrewed exploration mission to demonstrate the capability of the SLS and Orion as an integrated system by 2018;
a crewed exploration mission to demonstrate the SLS, including the core stage and exploration upper stages by 2021;
subsequent missions beginning with the EM-3 at operational flight rate sufficient to maintain safety and operational readiness using the SLS and Orion to extend into cis-lunar space and eventually to Mars; and
a deep space habitat as a key element in a deep space exploration architecture along with the SLS and Orion.
Subtitle C–Journey to Mars
(Sec. 432) NASA shall develop a human exploration roadmap, including a critical decision plan, for expanding human presence beyond low-Earth orbit to the surface of Mars and beyond, considering potential interim destinations such as cis-lunar space and the moons of Mars.
The human exploration roadmap shall include:
an integrated set of exploration, science, and other goals and objectives of a U.S. human space exploration program with the long-term goal of human missions near or on the surface of Mars in the 2030s;
sets and sequences of precursor missions in cis-lunar space and other missions or activities necessary to demonstrate the proficiency of the specific capabilities and technologies identified in the roadmap and to meet the goals and objectives developed under the human space exploration program, including anticipated timelines and missions for the SLS and Orion;
an identification of the specific capabilities and technologies, including the SLS, Orion, a deep space habitat, and other capabilities, that facilitate the goals and objectives developed under such program; and
a description of how cis-lunar elements, objectives, and activities advance the human exploration of Mars.
As part of the human exploration roadmap, NASA shall include a critical decision plan that:
identifies and defines key decisions to guide human space exploration priorities and plans that need to be made by June 30, 2020;
define decisions needed to maximize efficiencies and resources for reaching the near, intermediate, and long-term goals and objectives of human space exploration; and
identifies and defines timelines and milestones for a sustainable cadence of missions beginning with EM-3 for the SLS and Orion to extend human exploration from cis-lunar space to the surface of Mars.
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