Our next challenge: a human on Mars
"The European Space Agency will be the first space agency to reach
all planets in the inner solar system." That was the assurance of
Piero Messina, speaking for ESA's Aurora Exploration Programme at
the last Earth & Space Expo lunchtime seminar in
Brussels.
But is the exploration of space a race? Is NASA negligible? Messina
was not denying the leadership of the USA, but he pointed out that
today's NASA has only been interested in sending humans to new
frontiers in space since President Bush declared it his personal
goal just one year ago. "ESA has had humans in space on its mind
for much longer than that," he said. "Europe is second to
none."
Europe in space
The European Space Agency has had many technological successes in
its exploration of space. The names of the satellites and
spacecraft that have left Earth's orbit with the ESA logo on their
sides are well-known: Rosetta, Cassini-Huygens, and the Mars
Express. The next mission to Mars will be searching not just for
rock and dust samples, but for signs of life.
The Aurora Programme planned to land humans on Mars by 2033, but
Earth-bound politics since 2003 have already altered that
timescale. The space station that has only just begun to be
assembled should have been completed by now, so human footprints in
the dust of Mars are further away than ever.
But Messina was adamant that the programme would continue to
completion, with Mars as the primary, but not only, goal. The
schedule for the next twenty years includes trial return flights,
automated missions and a supplies dump. Robots and humans will work
together to make progress possible.
Why spend all that money?
The Aurora programme is driven by high ideals and worldly desires.
No one could argue with expanding human knowledge, the achievement
of an identity for Europe that would transcend national boundaries,
or inspiration to ignite the imagination, as was seen by rocketing
interest in science and space training after the 1960s Apollo
landings. The more pragmatic considerations behind sending the
ExoMars rover into the red dust focus on boosting competitiveness
by giving industry innovative advantages, and finding ways to
increase global security through international co-operation.
What are we looking for?
But what the Aurora scientists also want is evidence of life.
ExoMars will be equipped with sensors to look for signs of life
that may have existed and may still exist on Mars. Traces of
methane, which is produced by life forms and dissipates fast, will
do nicely to start with. And if the surface seems barren, ExoMars
will be equipped with a 2-metre-long drill to delve below the
planet's crust. ExoMars will have its own laboratory, so scientists
on Earth can run tests remotely on the samples without fear of
contamination. We don't want to introduce Earth-originated microbes
to alien samples or to the planet itself.
Who will be going?
When all the automated tests have been run, and the training is
complete, humans will be sent to Mars. The journey will take six
months, compared to the three-day journey to the Moon, so
pre-flight selection will be critical. Conflict resolution may be
one of the principal skills required in astronauts willing to spend
26 weeks in the most cramped and isolated conditions ever
experienced by humans. The women and/or men on the spacecraft will
be psychologically and physically fit, able to endure a testing
voyage in a hostile environment. They will need to grow their own
food and drink recycled water, and be their own space maintenance
crew as well as scientists and pilots.
What are we doing now?
A base in the Arctic is testing tissue and psychological responses
to extreme conditions. The study and development of life support
systems is well advanced, and the water recycling technology
developed by ESA for this purpose is now being used in the new
Airbus passenger liner. Microgravity conditions are showing
differences in the physiological responses between male and female
astronauts.
Importantly, as none of this could happen without information
sharing and co-operation, ESA and other space agencies around the
world are talking to each other. Contributing scientific knowledge
and technological expertise to the world space effort and keeping
Europe at the forefront of the global space race.