The International Space Station can be seen as a small object in lower right of this image of the moon in the early evening January 4, 2011, in the skies over the Houston area flying at an altitude of 242.8 miles.

Yesterday, a candidate for the Republican nomination as president, Newt Gingrich, gave a speech on space policy in Florida. “By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon, and it will be American,” Gingrich boldly stated. I assume that he means this Moon base will be created before inauguration day in January 2021—remember that it took longer than that for the first Apollo astronauts to reach the lunar surface—and this was clearly the most spectacular of his assertions.

Such a return to the Moon is certainly something that the space community has desired for a long time, and it will be embraced by this community. But this is not the first time national leaders have made similar statements. Of course, JFK famously declared on May 25, 1961, that “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” Slightly more than eight years later the first astronauts erected the American flag on the lunar surface, but that omits the broad political, technological, and economic effort that made it possible. I have been puzzled for years by a statement that goes something like, “If we just had a president with the vision and foresight of John F. Kennedy to announce a bold space initiative all would be well with NASA.”

But we have had other national leaders who made those bold proclamations. Twenty years to the day after the Apollo 11 landing, President George H.W. Bush made another Kennedy-like speech announcing the ambitious Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) that was intended to return people to the Moon by 2000, establish a lunar base, and, then, using the space station and the Moon, reach Mars by 2010. The price tag for this effort was estimated at a whopping $400 billion over two decades and the initiative never gained traction in Congress or with the American people. On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush performed essentially a reenactment of his father by announcing a “Vision for Space Exploration” that called for humans to reach the Moon and Mars during the next thirty years. It did not gain much political or funding support either.

Astronauts on the lunar surface arrived there slightly more than eight years after President John F. Kennedy gave his May 25, 1961, speech announcing the program. Will this be the case again?

Will Mr. Gingrich’s proposal experience a similar fate? Space policy expert John Logsdon certainly thinks so: “When we are not expecting a U.S. crewed launch to the ISS until 2016-2017 and are just getting started on a lunar-class launch vehicle, establishing a lunar outpost by 2020 is a fantasy,” As Logsdon SPACE.com, “It would be much better to set realistic goals, but that is not Mr. Gingrich’s strong suit.”

I believe that a core question needs to be considered here—one that has yet to be satisfactorily resolved since the Apollo program of the 1960s and early 1970s—“why return to the Moon?” The U.S. went to the Moon during the space race for very specific geopolitical objectives with reference to the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Absent those geopolitical issues there is every reason to believe that a human lunar landing program would have either not been completed or at least not been undertaken on the schedule of Apollo.

The justification for returning to the Moon or mounting a human mission to Mars is a significant question that hasn’t been seriously addressed in the last score of years; I did not hear Mr. Gingrich offer a compelling rationale for going back to the Moon now. Of the traditional reasons for lunar exploration—pride at home and prestige abroad, economic harvest, national security, etc.—only prestige remains. There does not at present seem to be anything either sufficiently profitable or sufficiently terrifying found on the lunar surface. That may change in the future but without either economic justification or national security concerns to sustain such grand activities, I do not envision a confluence of support from the various political, social, and economic interests in the United States for a significant expenditure of national effort, human capital, and treasure to undertake a human mission to return to the Moon.

I would like to be proven wrong because I would dearly love to see humans on the Moon again in my lifetime, but I must question whether or not a sufficiently compelling reason for humans to return to the Moon will emerge in the near term. Clearly, we will be sending robotic probes to the Moon, and they may well find something astounding there. That could change everything. So to, could major technological breakthroughs that would make it much easier to reach the Moon and accomplish useful things there. Certainly, we live in interesting times.

What do you think?

I still believe that is true, certainly for the past and I believe it will be true for spaceflight in the future. But there is an excellent post just offered by Paul Spudis on his “Once and Future Moon” blog about just how far the distance between this belief about the power of prizes to stimulate technology and the reality of the space launch situation at present. His key concern is stated in the closing sentences of this blog post: “Prizes seem attractive because of their historical role in stimulating a nascent aviation industry. But significant differences between aviation and spaceflight and our primitive level of development of the latter suggest that what worked before may not work now.” Check out his piece, “Everybody has won and all must have prizes.” Any thoughts?

A table showing this information is depicted below. The basic information for this, excluding the percentages, was taken from Marcia Smith’s fact sheet shown above. For more information I refer you back to her “Box Score of 2011 Launches.”

This undated handout artist rendering provided by NASA shows Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. It is the first planet that NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed to orbit in a star's habitable zone - the region around a star where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could persist. NASA has found the new planet outside our solar system that's eerily similar to Earth in key aspects.

Howard McCurdy and I appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on January 2, 2012, for a discussion of the Space Shuttle’s replacement, the discovery of extrasolar planets closer the size of Earth than anything yet discovered, the prospects for life beyond Earth, and what the future might hold for knowledge about the universe. The show is available here. Enjoy.

Telstar 1

2012 is another year containing many important anniversaries in space history. I have compiled a basic list of key anniversaries. Many of the most important are coming soon, especially the upcoming fiftieth anniversaries of John Glenn’s orbital flight in February, the launch of TELSTAR 1 in July, and the launch of the first successful planetary probe in August. Are there any anniversaries that I should add?

55 Years Ago

1957

7 August—A U.S. ­Army-­JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Jupiter C rocket fired a ­scale-­model nosecone 1,200 miles down range into the Atlantic Ocean with a summit altitude of 600 miles.

4 October—The Soviet ­Union launched Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite, from its rocket testing facility in the desert near Tyuratam in the Kazakh Republic.

3 November—The Soviet ­Union launched Sputnik II, which carried female husky Laika.

8 December—The first test of the Viking rocket and a satellite, TV-3, failed on the launch pad.

17 December—The U.S. Air Force first successfully tested the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile by launching from its Atlantic complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

50 Years Ago

1962

John Glenn Climbing into his "Friendship 7" Mercury capsule.

20 February—Astronaut John Glenn became the first American to circle the Earth, making three orbits in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft.

10 July—The United States launches the world’s first successful active repeater communications satellite into Earth orbit, TELSTAR 1.

11-15 August—The Soviet ­Union completed the first ­long-­duration space flight. Cosmonaut Andrian Nicolayev spent four days in space aboard Vostok 3.

12 August—In the first double flight (occurring at the same time as Vostok 3 with cosmonaut Nicolayev), the Soviet ­Union launched Vostok 4, with cosmonaut Papel Popo­vich.

Mariner 2

27 August—Launch of Mariner 2, the first space probe to complete a successful planetary encounter. It successfully measured the radiometric temperature and magnetic field of Venus.

3 October—Astronaut Walter M. “Wally” Schirra Jr. flew six orbits in the Mercury spacecraft Sigma 7.

45 Years Ago

1967

27 January—At 6:31 p.m., during a simulation aboard Apollo-Saturn (AS) 204 on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, after sev­eral hours of work, a flash fire broke out in the pure oxy­gen atmo­sphere of the capsule. Flames engulfed the capsule, and the three astronauts ­aboard-—Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward ­White-—died of asphyxiation.

24 April—During the return of Soyuz 1, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died when the capsule returned to Earth in a spin.

9 November—During the flight of Apollo 4, an unpi­loted test of the launcher and spacecraft, NASA proved that the combination could safely reach the Moon.

40 Years Ago

1972

5 January—President Richard M. Nixon announced the decision to develop a space shuttle, which was first flown in space on 12-14 April 1981.

3 March 1972-Present—To prepare the way for a possible mission to the four giant planets of the outer solar system, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 went to Jupiter and Saturn and, from ­there, outside the solar system.

23 July 1972-Present—Landsat 1, the first of a series that would operate through the end of the century, was launched from Kennedy Space Center to carry out an Earth resource mapping mission that provided data on vegetation, insect infestations, crop growth, and associated ­land-­use information.

7-19 December—Apollo 17 was the last of the six Apollo missions to the Moon, and the only one to include a ­scientist-—astronaut/geologist Harrison ­Schmitt-—as a member of the crew.

35 Years Ago

1977

18 February—The first orbiter, Enterprise (OV-101), was first flown in flight tests atop Boeing 747 ferrying aircraft at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Facility in southern California.

12 August—The Enterprise had its first free flight test at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Facility in the high desert of southern California at Muroc Dry Lake.

20 August 1977-Present—NASA undertook the Voyager program, with two probes, to the outermost giant planets, ­thereby greatly expanding knowledge of the outer solar system.

29 September—The Soviet ­Union launched Salyut 6, a civilian space station that remained operational for three and a half years. The last mission to it was Soyuz ­T-­4, launched on 12 March 1981. During active life, Salyut 6 was home for 16 crews and was occupied for 676 days.

30 Years Ago

1982

4 July—President Ronald Reagan announced the National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 42. The new space policy retains the language used in PD/NSC 37 with respect to peaceful use and purposeful interference. It also includes a specific policy on space arms control for the first time: “The United States will consider verifiable and equitable arms control measure that would ban or otherwise limit testing and deployment of specific weapons systems should those measure be compatible with United States national security.” The fact sheet accompanying the policy stated the Reagan administration’s intent to develop an ASAT capability to deter threats to American space systems.

25 Years Ago

1987

14 July—NASA submitted to President Ronald Reagan a report on the agency’s implementation of the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident that took place the year before.

20 Years Ago

1992

25 September—The Mars Observer satellite mission was launched, although it was lost as it neared the red planet in 1993.

6 October—NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin and Russian Space Agency director Yuri Koptev signed two cooperative agreements in Moscow regarding human space flight, including participation in an international consortium to build a space station, with the United States as the senior partner.

15 Years Ago

1997

11-21 February—In a record five extravehicular activity (EVA) operations, astronauts from the shuttle Discovery performed the second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. This mission replaced the ­near-­infra red camera (NICMOS), the ­two-­dimensional spectrograph, and repaired insulation on the telescope.

25 June—During the attempted docking of the Russian resupply vessel, Progress, with the Russian space station Mir the vessel collided with the science module, Spektor, attached to Mir. The module decompressed and its solar arrays ­were knocked out of ser­vice. Although the crew of two Russian cosmonauts and one U.S. astronaut, Michael Foale, are uninjured, the accident crippled the space station and led to a series of crises in space. The Russian Space Agency managed to keep the station operational until it could be resupplied and repaired.

4 July—The inexpensive Mars Pathfinder (costing only $267 million) landed on Mars, after its launch in December 1996. A small, 23-pound robotic rover, named Sojourner, departed the main lander and began to record weather patterns, atmo­spheric opacity, and the chemical composition of rocks washed down into the Ares Vallis flood plain, an ancient outflow channel in Mars’ northern hemi­sphere. This vehicle completed its proj­ected milestone 30-day mission on 3 August 1997, capturing far more data on the atmo­sphere, weather, and geology of Mars than scientists had expected. In all, the Pathfinder mission returned more than 1.2 gigabits (1.2 billion bits) of data and over 10,000 tantalizing pictures of the Martian landscape.

25 ­September-­6 October—In this seventh docking mission with the Russian space station Mir, the shuttle Atlantis delivered three Russian air tanks and nine Mir batteries (170 pounds each). ­They also delivered a Spektor module repair kit (500 pounds), which enabled the station crew to begin seriously needed repairs from the Progress collision of June 25. The mission also delivered 1,400 pounds of water, 1,033 pounds of U.S. science items, and 3,000 pounds of Russian supplies. During this mission Russian cosmonauts Parazynski and Titov conduct an EVA to retrieve four environmental effects space exposure experiments (MEEPS) on Mir’s module. Atlantis also flew around Mir to assess the damage to the station. The astronaut Michael Foale also departed for Earth after a stay of nearly five months and was replaced by astronaut David Wolf.

15 October—The international Cassini space probe mission left Earth bound for Saturn atop an Air Force Titan IV-B/Centaur rocket in a picture-perfect launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida. With the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe and a high-gain antenna provided by the Italian Space Agency, Cassini will arrive at Saturn on 1 July 2004.

10 Years Ago

2002

3 July—The Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) Discovery class mission was launched toward close fly-bys of two comet nuclei: Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, with a possible third target of d’Arrest. The spacecraft failed as it was to leave Earth orbit toward a heliocentric trajectory; following the scheduled firing time no further contact was made with the craft.

16 September—The NASA administrator named the first science officer for the International Space Station, Expedition Five crewmember Peggy Whitson. The post of science officer would be a permanent designation for one crewmember aboard ISS, and the person occupying it would have exclusive responsibility for overseeing and enhancing the scientific activities taking place on the station.

5 Years Ago

2007

4 August—Launch of NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander. The trip took ten months before it performed a soft landing on Mars in May 2008 and pursued data collection on the polar climate and weather, atmospheric readings, the geomorphology of  the near surface, and determined the role and history of water and ice.

Perhaps by using the “follow the water” strategy humanity may someday find sand-laden jets shooting into the polar sky as depicted in this view by noted space artist Ron Miller. It shows the Martian south polar ice cap as southern spring begins.

The robotic probes first sent to Mars found a planet far different from that envisioned in Western popular culture. Humanity had envisioned a world filled with some type of life, perhaps only plants, but it found a desert, rocky surface. Planetary scientist and JPL director Bruce Murray noted that public expectations to find evidence of life on the red planet devastated any desire to return to Mars for more than two decades. While there were planning exercises for missions to Mars, none from the U.S. actually flew until the 1990s.

One important change in the interest registered about Mars came in August 1996 when a team of NASA and Stanford University scientists announced that a Mars meteorite found in Antarctica contained possible evidence of ancient Martian life. When the 4.2-pound, potato-sized rock (identified as ALH84001) was formed as an igneous rock about 4.5 billion years ago, the scientists believed that Mars was much warmer and probably contained oceans hospitable to life. Then, about 15 million years ago, a large asteroid hit the red planet and jettisoned the rock into space, where it remained until it crashed into Antarctica around 11,000 B.C.E. Scientists presented three suggestive, but far from conclusive, pieces of evidence suggesting that fossil-like remains of Martian microorganisms, which date back 3.6 billion years, might be present in ALH84001. While there is no consensus on the truth of these findings, they did lead to added support for an aggressive set of missions to Mars to help discover the truth.

Thereafter the strategy for much of Mars exploration has been built upon the motto, “Follow the Water.” In essence, this approach noted that life on Earth is built upon liquid water and that any life elsewhere would probably have chemistries built upon these same elements. Accordingly, to search for life on Mars, past or present, NASA’s strategy must be to follow the water. If scientists could find any liquid water on Mars, probably only deep beneath the surface, the potential for life to exist was also present.

Liquid water on the surface of Mars? So it would seem from this photograph. This image from the Mars Global Surveyor shows a portion of the wall and floor of an ancient impact crater in the southern cratered terrain of Noachis Terra. It also shows a smooth, dark surface on the crater floor that many think is the remains of a pond or lake.

The Mars of today, without any evidence of water whatsoever on the surface, probably had water flowing freely in its ancient history. Evidence of changes to the planet’s surface from fast flowing water has been collected by many space probes orbiting the planet since the latter 1990s. The spacecraft to open this possibility was Mars Global Surveyor, reaching the planet in 1998 and a new and exciting era of scientific missions to study the red planet. Its recent discoveries offer titillating hints for learning about the possibility of life on Mars, at least in the distant past. In an exciting press conference in June 2000, astronomer Michael Malin discussed his analysis of imagery from Mars Global Surveyor, a stunningly successful NASA probe. He showed more than 150 geographic features all over Mars probably created by fast flowing water. He suggested that there might actually be water in the substrata of Mars, and our experience on Earth has indicated that where water exists life as we understand it exists as well.

Operating for several years, Mars Global Surveyor continued to send back views of the Martian surface that seemed to show evidence of dry riverbeds, flood plains, gullies on Martian cliffs and crater walls, and sedimentary deposits that suggested the presence of water flowing on the surface at some point in the history of Mars. This led scientists to theorize that billions of years ago, Earth and Mars might have been very similar places. Of course, Mars lost its water and the question of why that might have been the case has also motivated many Mars missions to the present. At that point, a consensus emerged that on any mission to Mars we should “follow the water” and seeking the answer to the ultimate question: “Are we alone in the universe?” Mars may well provide a definite answer.

At present, most scientists believe the odds are almost nonexistent that complex life forms could have evolved on Mars because of its extremely hostile environment. The stories of “advanced civilizations,” as proposed by Percival Lowell, or “little green men” are just that, stories. But many scientists believe there is sufficient evidence to think that microscopic organisms might once have evolved on the planet when it was much warmer and wetter billions of years ago. There are even a few scientists who would go somewhat further and theorize that perhaps some water is still present deep inside the planet. In that case simple life forms might still be living beneath Mars’ polar caps or in subterranean hot springs warmed by vents from the Martian core. These might be Martian equivalents of single-celled microbes that dwell in Earth’s bedrock. Scientists a quick to add, however, that these are unproven theories for which evidence has not yet been discovered.

This schematic shows the Opportunity rover as it was at the time it flew to Mars in 2004.

This strategy of “follow the water” has dominated all planning for Mars science missions for more than a decade and results thus far have been promising. Scientists continue to plan an integrated set of missions to continue this strategy. These major missions have been undertaken to learn more about Mars:

• Mars Pathfinder – USA Lander & Surface Rover – 870 kg -  (4 December 1996): The inexpensive Mars Pathfinder (costing only $267 million) landed on Mars on 4 July 1996, after its launch in December 1996. A small, 23-pound, six-wheeled robotic rover, named Sojourner, departed the main lander and began to record weather patterns, atmospheric opacity, and the chemical composition of rocks washed down into the Ares Vallis flood plain, an ancient outflow channel in Mars’ northern hemisphere. This vehicle completed its projected milestone 30-day mission on 3 August 1997, capturing far more data on the atmosphere, weather, and geology of Mars than scientists had expected. In all, the Pathfinder mission returned more than 1.2 gigabits (1.2 billion bits) of data and over 10,000 tantalizing pictures of the Martian landscape. The images from both craft were posted to the Internet, to which individuals turned for information about the mission more than 500 million times through the end of July. The mission’s primary objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of low-cost landings on the martian surface. This was the second mission in NASA’s low-cost Discovery series. (Successful)
• Mars Polar Lander-USA lander – 538 kg – (3 January 1999): and its attached Deep Space 2 probes were launched on a Delta II rocket which placed them into a low-Earth parking orbit. The third stage fired for 88 seconds to put the spacecraft into a Mars transfer trajectory. Trajectory correction maneuvers were performed on 21 January, 15 March, 1 September, 30 October, and30 November 1999. After an 11-month hyperbolic transfer cruise, the Mars Polar Lander reached Mars on3 December 1999. The lander was to make a direct entry into Mars’ atmosphere at 6.8 km/s but was lost during the landing sequence. JPL lost contact with the spacecraft and due to lack of communication, it is not known whether the probe followed the descent plan or was lost in some other manner. (Unsuccessful)
• Mars Exploration Rover A – USA Mars Rover – 827 kg – (10 June 2003): Named “Spirit” upon landing on the Martian surface on 4 January 2004 this rover was one of a pair launched to Mars in mid-2003. Equipped with a battery of scientific instruments it was intended to operate for 90 days, until April 2004, and to traverse about 100 meters a day. The scientific goals of the rover missions are to gather data to help determine if life ever arose on Mars, characterize the climate of Mars, characterize the geology of Mars, and prepare for human exploration of Mars. It has performed exceptionally well and is still operating. A primary mission objective was to search for geological clues to the environmental conditions that existed when liquid water was present and assess whether those environments were conducive to life. It landed in Gusev Crater because it had the appearance of a crater lakebed. The rover’s scientific data suggests that Gusev may have at one time been filled with water. (Successful)
• Mars Exploration Rover B- USA Mars Rover – 827 kg – (7 July 2003): Named “Opportunity” upon landing on the Martian surface on 25 January 2004 this rover was the second of a pair launched to Mars in mid-2003. It carried identical instruments to “Spirit” and landed at Terra Meridiani, also known as the “Hematite Site” because it displays evidence of coarse-grained hematite, an iron-rich mineral which typically forms in water. This mission has also continued into 2011. (Successful)
• Phoenix Mars Lander - USA Mars Lander – 350 kg – (4 August 2007): The Phoenix Mars Lander is designed to study the surface and near-surface environment of a landing site in the high northern area of Mars. The primary science objectives for Phoenix are to: determine polar climate and weather, interaction with the surface, and composition of the lower atmosphere around 70 degrees north for at least 90 sols; determine the atmospheric characteristics during descent through the atmosphere; characterize the geomorphology and active processes shaping the northern plains and the physical properties of the near-surface regolith focusing on the role of water; determine the aqueous mineralogy and chemistry as well as the adsorbed gases and organic content of the regolith; characterize the history of water, ice, and the polar climate and determine the past and present biological potential of the surface and subsurface environments.Phoenix was launched on 4 August 2007 on a Delta II 7925 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida. The 681 million km heliocentric cruise to Mars takes approximately 10 months, with landing on Mars on 25 May 2008. (Successful)
• Mars Science Laboratory, “Curiosity,” (MSL) – USA Mars Rover – 750 kg – (26 November 2011). Launched at 10:02 EST, the objective of Curiosity was to explore the Martian Habitat as a former or current habitat for life, and as such, it would operate for a full Martian year, or 687 earth days. MSL has eight scientific objectives: determine the nature and inventory of organic compounds, inventory the chemical building blocks needed for life, identify features that reflect biological processes, investigate the Martian surface and near surface geological features, interpret the processes that have formed rocks and soils, assess long-timescale atmospheric evolution processes, determine the present state and distribution of water and carbon dioxide, and characterize the spectrum of surface radiation. After leaving earth’s orbit, The Rover will travel eight months to reach Mars, landing in August of 2012. There are four possible landing sites, from which MSL will travel 20 to 70 km to collect 70 rock and soil samples. (Undetermined).

The 2001 Mars Odyssey is the one remaining part of the Mars Surveyor 2001 Project, which originally consisted of two separately launched missions, The Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter and the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander. The lander spacecraft was cancelled as part of the reorganization of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA.

The United States, the Soviet Union/Russia, Japan, and the European Space Agency have each sent orbiters to Mars since the 1970s. The Soviet Union achieved partial successes early on with its Mars 2 and 3 in 1971, by inserting orbiters into Martian orbit. This was followed in the later part of the year with Mariner 9 from the United States. Mariner 9, entering Martian orbit in November 1971, detected a chilling dust storm spreading across Mars; by mid‑October dust obscured almost all of Mars. Mariner 9’s first pictures showed a featureless disk, marred only by a group of black spots in a region known as Nix Olympia (Snows of Olympus). As the dust storm subsided, however, the spots emerged from the dust cloud to become recognizable as the remains of giant extinct volcanoes dwarfing anything on the Earth.

The discovery of Mons Olympus by Mariner 9 was a stunning result of the mission. It dwarfed anything on Earth and in time scientists would discover it is the largest in the solar system. It was 300 miles across at the base with a crater in the top 45 miles wide. Rising 20 miles from the surrounding plane, Mons Olympus was three times the height of Mt.Everest. In addition, other pictures showed a canyon, Valles Marineris, 2,500 miles long and 3.5 miles deep. Later, as the dust settled, meandering “rivers” appeared indicating that, at some time in the past, fluid had flowed on Mars. Suddenly, Mars fascinated scientists, reporters, and the public.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was specifically designed to pursue the “follow the water” strategy at Mars. Its science instruments monitor the present water cycle in the Mars atmosphere and the associated deposition and sublimation of water ice on the surface, while probing the subsurface to see how deep the water ice reservoir detected by earlier missions. At the same time, MRO searched for carbonates and sulfates that may signal the extended presence of liquid water on the planet’s surface earlier in its history. The instruments involved are the shallow radar SHARAD, the CRISM spectrometer, the MARCI weather camera, the HiRISE high-resolution camera, the CTX context camera, and the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS). In addition to surface imagery in a variety of resolutions, these instruments are critical to analyzing the current climate and surface of Mars, recording variations in temperature, humidity, ice clouds, dust clouds and hazes, and ozone distribution, producing daily global maps in multiple colors to monitor daily weather and seasonal changes.

The most exciting discovery on Mars is the now well accepted consensus that it was once a watery planet that held the building blocks of life. Mars remains an inviting target, however; all the more so because of extraordinary findings from Mars Global Surveyor, which began orbiting and mapping the Martian surface in March 1998. It imaged gullies on Martian cliffs and crater walls, suggesting that liquid water has seeped onto the surface in the geologically recent past. This was confirmed by Mars Odyssey 2001, another NASA orbiter, which found that hydrogen-rich regions are located in areas known to be very cold and where ice should be stable. This relationship between high hydrogen content with regions of predicted ice stability led scientists to conclude that the hydrogen is, in fact, in the form of ice. The ice-rich layer is about two feet beneath the surface at 60 degrees south latitude, and gets to within about one foot of the surface at 75 degrees south latitude. This evidence suggests that the planet was once significantly more habitable than it is today. Of course, it remains unknown if living creatures ever existed there. Only time and more research will tell if these findings will prove out. If they do, then human opportunities for colonization of Mars expand exponentially. With water, either in its liquid or solid form, humans might be able to make many other necessary compounds necessary to live and work on Mars.

During the period between 1971 and the present a total of 19 missions have undertaken orbital flights of Mars, some of them with landers attempting to reach the surface. Not of all them were successful, and predictably several of the early orbiters failed. While the prospects have improved over time, Mars has long proven a difficult challenge for robotic spacecraft and as recently as 1999 NASA lost its Mars Climate Orbiter without receiving any useful scientific data. The following is a synopsis of each of these missions and the results coming from them:

• Kosmos 419 – USSR Mars Probe – (10 May 1971): Failed to leave Earth orbit. (Unsuccessful)
• Mars 2 – USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander – 4,650 kg – (19 May 1971): The Mars 2 lander was released from the orbiter on 27 November 1971. It crashed-landed because its breaking rockets failed – no data was returned and the first human artifact was created on Mars. The orbiter returned data until 1972. (Partial Success)
• Mars 3 – USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander – 4,643 kg – (28 May 1971): Mars 3 arrived at Mars on 2 December 1971. The lander was released and became the first successful landing on Mars. It failed after relaying 20 seconds of video data to the orbiter. The Mars 3 orbiter returned data until August 1972. It made measurements of surface temperature and atmospheric composition. (Partial Success)
• Mariner 9 – USA Mars Orbiter – 974 kg – (30 May 1971 – 1972): Mariner 9 arrived at Mars on 3 November 1971 and was placed into orbit on 24 November. This was the first U.S. spacecraft to enter an orbit around a planet other than the Moon. At the time of its arrival a huge dust storm was in progress on the planet. Many of the scientific experiments were delayed until the storm had subsided. The first hi-resolution images of the moons Phobos and Deimos were taken. River and channel like features were discovered. Mariner 9 is still in Martian orbit. (Successful)
• Mars 4 – USSR Mars Orbiter – 4,650 kg – (21 July 1973): Mars 4 arrived at Mars on February 1974, but failed to go into orbit due to a malfunction of its breaking engine. It flew past the planet with in 2,200 kilometers of the surface. It returned some images and data. (Unsuccessful)
• Mars 5 – USSR Mars Orbiter – 4,650 kg – (25 July 1973): Mars 5 entered into orbit around Mars on 12 February 1974. It acquired imaging data for the Mars 6 and 7 missions. (Successful)
• Mars 6 – USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander – 4,650 kg – (5 August 1973): On 12 March 1974, Mars 6 entered into orbit and launched its lander. The lander returned atmospheric descent data, but failed on its way down. (Partial Success)
• Mars 7 – USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander – 4,650 kg – (9 August 1973): On 6 March 1974, Mars 7 failed to go into orbit about Mars and the lander missed the planet. Carrier and lander are now in a solar orbit. (Unsuccessful)
• Viking 1 – USA Mars Orbiter/Lander – 3,399 kg – (20 August 1975 – 7 August 1980): Viking 1 was launched from the KennedySpaceCenter, on 20 August 1975, the trip to Mars and went into orbit about the planet on 19 June 1976. The lander touched down on 20 July 1976 on the western slopes of Chryse Planitia (Golden Plains). The lander had experiments to search for Martian micro-organism. The results of these experiments are still being debated. The lander provided detailed color panoramic views of the Martian terrain. It also monitored the Martian weather. The orbiter mapped the planet’s surface. The orbiter weighed 900 kg and the lander 600 kg. The Viking project’s primary mission ended on 15 November 1976, eleven days before Mars’ superior conjunction (its passage behind the Sun), although the Viking spacecraft continued to operate for six years after first reaching Mars. The Viking 1 orbiter was deactivated on 7 August 1980, when it ran out of altitude-control prop
  
  ]]> http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/the-lure-of-the-red-planet-orbiting-mars/feed/ 0 launiusr Mars Odyssey-300dpi Follow the Water-118809main_multispectral-browse http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/orphans-of-utopia-spaceflight-advocacy-and-the-rise-of-neoliberal-elements-in-human-space-colonization/ http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/orphans-of-utopia-spaceflight-advocacy-and-the-rise-of-neoliberal-elements-in-human-space-colonization/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:43:52 +0000 launiusr http://launiusr.wordpress.com/?p=2629 Continue reading →]]> I have been working on a study of the relationship between spaceflight advocacy, especially in the 1970s, and the rise of the neoliberal philosophy in American society. These ideas are nowhere near fully developed yet, but I am working toward the preparation of a scholarly paper on the subject. The following are my thoughts at present. Any ideas and comments are most welcome.
  

  Shimizu Space Hotel

  This study explores four related themes that come together beginning in the 1970s and have influenced the course of human space activities in the United States since that time. First, those who embraced human space exploration in the 1960s did so in part because of a belief that they could create a new, supposedly perfect society there. At some level, therefore, the efforts aimed at social transformation in the U.S. during the 1960s and early 1970s is also present among space enthusiasts.

  This was not something that NASA officials embraced, perhaps, but it was a part of the larger milieu. This makes those supporting human spaceflight very much like many in America from the Puritans who came to New England to establish the perfect “Citty on a Hill” to the countercultural experiments with communes and farming villages founded by hippies and others in the 1960s-1970s.

  This leads to my second theme in this discussion, the gradual rejection of government programs as the means for achieving such a broad-based utopian space colonization effort. While enthusiasts were supportive of NASA in the 1960s, many of them lost faith in the government as a means for achieving their ends of colonizing other places beyond Earth.

  Gerard O’Neill, specifically, tapped into this reservoir of discontent with his advocacy of colonies in space. This effort was overtly utopian in emphasis, with advocates explicitly talking about how they could create new more perfect worlds, and the multiplicity of those opportunities ensured that anyone could find one that fit their needs. This led also to explicit use of such theories as Frederick Jackson Turner’s “Frontier Thesis” to explain how everything would be better with a space frontier. In addition, 1970s organizations such as the Committee for the Future, the L5 Society, and even the National Space Institute reflected these utopian beliefs. At first, these were groups focused on lobbying on behalf of NASA but over time they splintered into factions. Some of those factions were overtly anti-governmental, emphasizing that government was part of the problem rather than the solution and accordingly they believed individual efforts were the only ones that would be successful in opening space to broad activities.

  This leads to a third theme, the rise of astropreneurs—mostly since the end of the Cold War but a few earlier—who wanted to change the nature of spaceflight into an overtly private enterprise. I believe there is a close relationship between this cadre of space enthusiasts and neoliberal ideas that have been advancing in the U.S. They view, at every turn, government as a problem and this anti-governmental bias reflects everything they do and say. Also, like neoliberal thinkers in other arenas, they have come to believe that everything is a commodity to be bought and sold. Consequently, the Moon must be exploited, solar power satellites have to be built to sell power to Earthlings, etc. It is a given that this is the case; it cannot even be questioned and we see this in many sectors of the current space community. I think there is an interesting connection between counterculture ideas in the 1960s and 1970s and more recent neoliberal thinking among space enthusiasts, I don’t know if I can satisfactorily demonstrate this but I would like to try.

  As a final theme, this study would explore the efforts of a growing chorus of people who seem to believe that humanity has a finite period of time to colonize other worlds before the resources on Earth are unable to sustain human migration. Some space advocates have asserted that resource depletion—and perhaps environmental degradation and climate change as well—will ensure that resources on Earth necessary for interplanetary travel will become more precious in future years. Because of this in 1970 some members of this community formed the Committee for the Future (CFF) with the central purpose, as stated in its charter: “To survive and realize the common aspiration of all people for a future of unlimited opportunity, this generation must begin now to find the means of converting the planets into life support systems for the race of Men.” The CFF evolved over the years and eventually ceased to exist but its central ideas have remained. In 1988 some inheritors of its legacy formed the Space Frontier Foundation “To advocate expansion of human presence to other parts of the solar system” as a counter to “the image held by many young people that the future will be worse than the present, and [to] reject the idea that the world’s greatest moments are in its past.” This sense of impending societal decline—perhaps even collapse—is certainly present in the spaceflight community and escape is the option most often advocated. Accordingly, emphasis on human spaceflight for a positive future beyond Earth is juxtaposed with belief in the potential of doom for those on this planet.

  
  ]]> http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/orphans-of-utopia-spaceflight-advocacy-and-the-rise-of-neoliberal-elements-in-human-space-colonization/feed/ 16 launiusr Shimizu Space Hotel http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/considering-spaceflight-in-russia-china-and-india/ http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/considering-spaceflight-in-russia-china-and-india/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:58:55 +0000 launiusr http://launiusr.wordpress.com/?p=2610 Continue reading →]]> On Thursday, December 1, 2011, I helped to organize, along with Nathan Bridges, the second meeting of the informal “Space History and Policy Forum.” This group met at the Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, and our featured speaker and discussion leader was Marcia Smith, a longstanding observer, analyst, and commentator on all issues relative to space policy. She operates Space Policy Online, certainly my first stop when seeking information about space policy issues.

  She presented at the forum an “Update on Russia, China, and India,” and asked the following three core questions:

  • Are we too dependent on Russia?
  • Should we cooperate with China?
  • Could regional rivalry between India and China spur a new arms race in space?

  The discussion was lively, stimulating, and insightful. While the discussion was not recorded, Marcia has posted on her web site her discussion slides. These are located here.

  My thanks to everyone who participated and for those who didn’t, I’d very much like to hear your responses to the questions she posed.

  The next meeting of the “Space History and Policy Forum” will be in March 2012, although the exact date, speaker, and venue have yet to be determined. If you would like to receive updates about the forum and its meetings please let me know and I will add you to the e-mail distribution list.

  
  ]]> http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/considering-spaceflight-in-russia-china-and-india/feed/ 1 launiusr http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/the-lure-of-the-red-planet-early-flyby-missions-to-mars/ http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/the-lure-of-the-red-planet-early-flyby-missions-to-mars/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:36:12 +0000 launiusr http://launiusr.wordpress.com/?p=2573 Continue reading →]]>

  This image of Mariner 4 superimposed on an image of Mars was used to advertise the 1965 mission.

  Robotic exploration of Mars has been one of the persistent efforts of the space age. It began, just as lunar exploration had, in a race between the United States and the Soviet ­Unionto see who would be the first to place some sort of spacecraft near Mars. After four unsuccessful launches of what were believed to be Mars probes in 1960 and 1962, the Soviets successfully flew a spacecraft within 120,000 miles of Mars on June 19, 1964.  Unfortunately, a communications failure several months before the flyby prevented the spacecraft from sending any data to Earth. The Americans were more successful.

  This endeavor was not just an opportunity to best the rival in the Cold War; scientists in both the United States and the Soviet ­Union recognized the attraction of Mars for the furtherance of planetary studies. Smaller than Earth, but observed by astronomers for centuries and seen to have what appeared as climate changes on its surfaces, Mars had long been viewed as an abode of life. These observations brought myriad speculations about the nature of Mars and the possibility of life existing ­there in some form. 

  

  Dr. William H. Pickering, (left) Director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory presents Mariner spacecraft photos to President Lyndon B. Johnson in July 1965. The presence of craters on the Martian surface dashed many scientists’ hope of finding a planet conducive to life.

  Of the two U.S. spacecraft launched to Mars in 1964, only one successfully found its way to its intended target. On July 15, 1965, Mariner 4 flew within 6,118 miles of Mars. The spacecraft returned 21 close-up photographs that showed lunar-style craters on the surface. Data returned also included measurements of the planet’s ionosphere and atmosphere, as well as surface temperature readings. These photographs dashed the hopes of many that life might be present on Mars, for the first ­close-up images showed a cratered, ­lunar-­like surface. ­They depicted a planet without structures and canals, nothing that even remotely resembled a pattern that intelligent life might produce.

  Mariner 6 and Mariner 7, launched in February and March 1969, each passed Mars in August 1969, study­ing its atmo­sphere and surface to lay the groundwork for an eventual landing on the planet. Their pictures verified the ­moon-­like appearance of Mars and gave no hint that Mars had ever been able to support life. ­Among other discoveries from these probes, they found that volcanoes had once been active on the planet, that the frost observed seasonally on the poles was made of carbon dioxide, and that huge plates indicated considerable tectonic activity in the planet’s history. There was still hope, however, that we might yet find signs of life. NASA administrator James C. Fletcher, for example, commented on this possibility in 1975: “It is hard to imagine any­thing more important than making contact with another intelligent race. It could be the most significant achievement of this millennium, perhaps the key to our survival as a species.”

  Between 1965 and 1969, NASA sent three Mariner probes on initial investigations of Mars. All of these were flyby missions that returned important scientific data about the planet:

  • Mariner 4 – USA Mars Flyby – 260 kg – (28 November 1964 – 20 December 1967): Mariner 4 arrived at Mars on 14 July 1965 and passed within 6,118 miles of the planet’s surface after an eight month journey. This mission provided the first close-up images of the red planet. It returned 22 close-up photos showing a cratered surface. The thin atmosphere was confirmed to be composed of carbon dioxide in the range of 5-10 mbar. A small intrinsic magnetic field was detected. Mariner 4 is now in a solar orbit. (Successful)
  • Mariner 6 – USA Mars Flyby – 412 kg – (24 February 1969): Mariner 6 arrived at Mars on 24 February 1969, and passed within 3,437 kilometers of the planet’s equatorial region. Mariner 6 and 7 took measurements of the surface and atmospheric temperature, surface molecular composition, and pressure of the atmosphere. In addition, over 200 pictures were taken. Mariner 6 is now in a solar orbit. (Successful)
  • Mariner 7 – USA Mars Flyby – 412 kg – (27 March 1969): Mariner 7 arrived at Mars on 5 August 1969, and passed within 3,551 kilometers of the planet’s south pole region. Mariner 6 and 7 took measurements of the surface and atmospheric temperature, surface molecular composition, and pressure of the atmosphere. In addition, over 200 pictures were taken. Mariner 7 is now in a solar orbit. (Successful)

  In addition there were several unsuccessful missions that attempted to flyby Mars in the early era:

  • Mars 1960A – USSR Mars Probe – (10 October 1960): Failed to reach Earth orbit. (Unsuccessful)
  • Mars 1960B – USSR Mars Probe – (14 October 1960): Failed to reach Earth orbit. (Unsuccessful)
  • Mars 1962A – USSR Mars Flyby – (24 October 1962): Spacecraft failed to leave Earth orbit after the final rocket stage exploded. (Unsuccessful)
  • Mars 1 – USSR Mars Flyby – 893 kg – (1 November 1962): Communications failed en route. (Unsuccessful)
  • Mars 1962B – USSR Mars lander – (4 November 1962): Failed to leave Earth orbit. (Unsuccessful)
  • Mariner 3 – USA Mars Flyby – 260 kg – (5 November 1964): Mars flyby attempt. Solar panels did not open, preventing flyby. Mariner 3 is now in a solar orbit. (Unsuccessful)
  • Zond 2 – USSR Mars Flyby – (30 November 1964): Contact was lost en route. (Unsuccessful)
  • Mariner 8 – USA Mars Flyby – (8 May 1971): Failed to reach Earth orbit. (Unsuccessful)
  • Kosmos 419 – USSR Mars Probe – (10 May 1971): Failed to leave Earth orbit. (Unsuccessful)
  

  This view of the entire planet of Mars from Mariner 7, showing NIX Olympia (later identified as the giant shield volcano Olympus Mons) and polar caps, was photographed from 200,000 miles away as the spacecraft approached the planet. The Mariner 7 spacecraft and its twin, Mariner 6, were designed specifically to concentrate on Mars. Better quality imaging was planned to give a more complete picture of the Martian surface to help in planning future missions to Mars to search for signs of life. Mariner 7 was launched on March 27, 1969 and arrived on August 4, 1969.

  
  ]]> http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/the-lure-of-the-red-planet-early-flyby-missions-to-mars/feed/ 0 launiusr Mariner at Mars-Small Mariner 4 Images presented to LBJ-GPN-2000-000480 c