Friday, April 18, 2014

Wondering About a Trip to Mars.

They say that the person has already been born who will walk on Mars.  But what I wonder is why we just don't go there now with a manned mission.  We have the technology, and I am not talking about the old, slow chemical propelled rockets.  With today's technology, a trip to Mars would probably be death sentence.  First off, it would take at least six to nine months to get there and during that trip you would get dosed with the radiation equivalent to a whole body CT scan every five to six days.  Now that would sure increase your chances of cancer, wouldn't it?  Once you get there, you would have to then wait up to two years for Earth and Mars to be close enough for your return trip. 


A fellow named Franklin Diaz has come up with a better propulsion system.  He has built plasma rocket engines and these, he believes, will shorten the trip to the red planet to less than six weeks.  Now we are talking!!  That is a lot better than six to nine months that it would now take.

 
Once we get there, we will find that it isn't a very habitable or friendly place to be.  There is an extremely thin atmosphere and lots of red dust.  It looks like a red desert:
 
 
 
I think if I were to take such a long trip, I would prefer to go somewhere where there is trees, and grass, and flowers, and wildlife, and blue skies.  Of course, if I had a chance to go to Mars, or the Moon, or just up in an orbit around Earth, I would jump at the chance.  But at my age, I could never endure the rigorous training that astronauts go through.  So, if any of you get to go, please send me a post card, you hear?

12 comments:

  1. You can have it,,,i'll take our river any time.

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    1. I agree. I like rivers and I like to fish, so I will stay right here on Earth.

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  2. Wow! I quick google of "plasma rocket engines" shows there is a lot going on out there..


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_propulsion_engine

    http://www.space.com/23613-advanced-space-propulsion-vasimr-engine.html

    This stuff IS rocket science.... Thanks for bringing it up!

    I always marvel at the photos from the surface of Mars, pictures for another planet!! That's really something...

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    1. Yep, plasma, so far, is the best propulsion we have for a visit to our closest planet neighbors.

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  3. When I was younger I'd have jumped at the chance to go to Mars. Now . . . it looks too much like West Texas to me. :)

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    1. Yep, a mixture of west Texas sand and red Georgia clay.

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  4. I 'member one time....I was plan'n a fish'n trip. To Dead Lake in southern Ca. Some call it the Salton Sea. Go'n to a lake to catch fish what ain't got no fish is the same as go'n to a planet what ain't got no air....ya gonna die.
    I think different when we want to put people on planets. WHY????

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    1. I suppose that if you fish in a dead lake that doesn't have any fish in it, it gives one a good excuse to come home empty handed.

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  5. I enjoy traveling but a trip to Mars has never even crossed my mind... nope... not me. Heck, there's still so much to see here on my own planet that I won't have time to see but a tiny fraction. Nope.. not now, not back then... not ever!

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    1. I sure do agree. There are so many places on my bucket list that I know I will never get to see them all.

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  6. Those pictures look quite interesting, but I'd only allow those 'green' type people who love the earth and want to preserve it, to go and check out Mars. If you get those that don't give a 'monkey's' about anything, then I'm afraid it just might become another earth.

    I couldn't imagine sitting in some sort of rocket for so long either. Have a lovely weekend Dizzy-Dick.

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    1. It would take a long time to turn Mars green. The first astronaughts there should carry grass seed with them and plant it to see if it would grow. Need something to boost the ovygen levels there.

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