Author Topic: Dennis Tito's Inspiration Mars Foundation Pre Announcement Thread  (Read 165679 times)

Offline Chris Bergin

Heard bits about this, another exciting but probably needs a load of money, drive:

MEDIA ADVISORY & INVITATION

Feb. 20, 2013                                                                                     

 

The Planets are Aligning for a Once-in-a-Generation Space Journey

Join us for a special press conference at The National Press Club

 

WHAT:

The Inspiration Mars Foundation, a newly formed nonprofit organization led by American space traveler and entrepreneur Dennis Tito, invites you to attend a press conference detailing its plans to take advantage of a unique window of opportunity to launch an historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days, starting in January 2018. This “Mission for America” will generate new knowledge, experience and momentum for the next great era of space exploration. It is intended to encourage all Americans to believe again, in doing the hard things that make our nation great, while inspiring youth through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and motivation.

 

The Inspiration Mars Foundation is committed to accelerating America’s human exploration of space as a critical catalyst for future growth, national prosperity, new knowledge and global leadership.

 

WHO:               

·         Miles O’Brien, moderator

·         Dennis Tito, chairman of Inspiration Mars Foundation and the first private space traveler

·         Taber MacCallum, chief executive officer and chief technology officer of Paragon Space Development Corporation and crew member for two-year mission in Biosphere 2

·         Dr. Jonathan Clark, associate professor of Neurology and Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and space medicine advisor for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute

·         Jane Poynter, president and chairwoman of Paragon Space Development Corporation and crew member for two-year mission in Biosphere 2

 

WHEN:

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 at 1 p.m.

·         45-minute press conference, followed by Q&A period

 

WHERE:

The National Press Club

529 14th St NW, 13th floor

Washington D.C.



« Last Edit: 02/27/2013 11:30 am by Chris Bergin »
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Offline apace

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #1 on: 02/20/2013 10:22 pm »
Sounds like a Mars Orbit mission. Possible to create such a mission plan and the needed hardware until start in 2018? I have my questions, but hey, party time!

Offline ciscosdad

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #2 on: 02/20/2013 10:43 pm »
I think they should aim for a lunar orbit mission first. (assuming its manned). Mars is far too ambitious in the time frame.
However they may have something new. The press conference will tell.

Edit: On reflection, perhaps its a non stop with Venus and Mars flyby, maybe probe dropoffs at Mars and Venus. That would be much less demanding propulsively, and could be done with ISS technology.
« Last Edit: 02/21/2013 12:48 am by ciscosdad »

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #3 on: 02/21/2013 03:25 am »
Figure out the initial mass in LEO required for a human mission to Mars.

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #4 on: 02/21/2013 03:49 am »
Figure out the initial mass in LEO required for a human mission to Mars.
Huge dependence on number of astronauts, what kind of orbit you enter, what kind of ECLSS, what kind of space you think they'll need, and mission mode (long-stay, short-stay, fast-transit, etc).

For minimum, I'd say look at what it'd take to push Salyut 7 (just the main module, plus an attached Soyuz) through the delta-v of barely entering Mars orbit (perhaps with slight aerobraking), then leaving Mars orbit ~500-600 days later for trans-Earth insertion. 1kg/astronaut (very calorie-dense food, efficient ECLSS) for 1100 days for 2 astronauts. And lets say the whole stack starts at EML2.

In that case, there's about 1km/s until trans-Mars insertion, 1km/s .9km/s for Mars capture, 1km/s .9km/s for Mars departure (and reentry at Earth) for a total of 2.8km/s delta-v. Assuming something equivalent to Block-D (stretched, having a dry mass of 4000kg), maybe slightly better (EDIT:hypergolic), we have an exhaust velocity of 3.4km/s3.2km/s.

Soyuz is ~7000kg.
Consumables maybe 2000-4000kg (we need some margin here, 1kg/day is pretty optimistic...).
Salyut 7 is 20000kg.
Dry stretchedBlock D used for all large maneuvers: 4000kg
Total: 35000kg.
35*e^(2.8/3.2)=~85.

So, about 85 tons for two astronauts at EML2. Obviously much more for the actual IMLEO, but that's dependent on propulsive technology used to get there. 85 tons isn't bad.

EDIT: I think full hypergolic would be better than using kerolox, simply because we know how to store hypergolic fuels for decades. To counter-act, we can assume .9km/s each way into/out of mars capture, to get basically the same total mass at EML2. I had forgotten at first that Blok D was kerolox.
« Last Edit: 02/21/2013 04:11 am by Robotbeat »
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #5 on: 02/21/2013 04:37 am »
(assuming its manned).

They are sufficiently vague about that aren't they?

Maybe it's something else...
Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #6 on: 02/21/2013 04:41 am »
(assuming its manned).

They are sufficiently vague about that aren't they?

Maybe it's something else...
I'd actually welcome that, since it'd be evidence they might be able to actually pull it off.
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

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Offline Hauerg

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #7 on: 02/21/2013 04:54 am »
IF it is a manned mission and IF it is 2018 the only thing I can think of is a ONE man FLYBY mission. Mars (plus maybe Venus). I do not think there is any chance of going into orbit this time around.
Shoukd be doable w F9H (2 of them?)

Get Red Bull as sponsor and design a mission logo that can be seen on TV when watching racing cars.
Their image can handle LOC

Offline Bubbinski

Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #8 on: 02/21/2013 05:07 am »
Is there existing tech that would allow them to land someone on Mars and get them back to the ship?  Would the Dragon capsule be capable of land touchdowns by then?  Or as others have mentioned would this be a Mars flyby mission?  Maybe a Phobos landing?

A crewed Mars mission 5 years from now sounds to me kind of "adventurous", I don't know if they'd be able to pull something like that off in that timeframe, after all it wouldn't be till at least 2030 till NASA gets there, if they get funded.  But I wish Inspiration Mars luck!
I'll even excitedly look forward to "flags and footprints" and suborbital missions. Just fly...somewhere.

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #9 on: 02/21/2013 05:37 am »
Landing and ascent is out of the picture for 2018, manned or unmanned.
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

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Offline RocketmanUS

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #10 on: 02/21/2013 06:08 am »
Landing and ascent is out of the picture for 2018, manned or unmanned.
Why?

Edit:
Just a 2 cent guess. ( one person from Biosphere 2 )
Green house on Mars surface ( unmanned ).
Grow vegetables that mature quickly.
Return them to Earth.
« Last Edit: 02/21/2013 06:17 am by RocketmanUS »

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #11 on: 02/21/2013 06:17 am »
Landing and ascent is out of the picture for 2018, manned or unmanned.
Why?
The technology isn't developed (well, i suppose you could do an unmanned landing and ascent, but it'd mean using the enormously expensive Skycrane technology). Surprisingly, we do actually have the technology already for a manned orbital mission. So do the Russians.
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Offline R7

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #12 on: 02/21/2013 09:38 am »
So, Mars flyby huh? Where's the pretty website and indiegogo fundraiser?
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Offline apace

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #13 on: 02/21/2013 10:00 am »
May I ask one of our gurus here to make some calculations how a voyage of 501 days looks like with a start in 2018? Fly-by? Mars orbit? Anything else?

Second, if paragon is involved and they really like to start in 2018 they need already be finished with a long duration ECLSS and have tested it for the last 500 days or so.

Missing link will be a return capsule, a habitat, a rocket and the complete mission package, like planing, communication, etc.

Offline Ben the Space Brit

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #14 on: 02/21/2013 10:28 am »
It's actually quite simple, when you think of it:

* Bigelow hab module;
* Hydrolox kick stage (maybe a dual-engine Centaur as per Golden Spike's idea);
* SEP sustainer;
* Remote assembly at EML-2;
* CST-100 or Dragon CRV, launched to EML-2 by Falcon Heavy.

This is completely sufficient for a free-return Mars flyby; heck you could use a different trajectory and include a Venus flyby too! It's still amazingly dangerous but, and let's be clear here, it's their lives and money to risk.
« Last Edit: 02/21/2013 10:29 am by Ben the Space Brit »
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Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #15 on: 02/21/2013 10:30 am »
Think of 2x Dragons docked to a central 'Node' module (aluminium or kevlar) that has a life support system, at least 1000 cubic feet of habitable volume, internal 'walls' lined with water tanks and high-density polyethylene, lots of spare parts for the life support system, lots of rehydratable and canned goods... The back end of one or both Dragons is attached to a large storable-fueled propulsion module with extra solar panels. Keep the crew down to two Astronauts and launch the stack of modules out of low Earth orbit with a 'ganged' set of LOX/kerosene propulsion stages - perhaps based on the Falcon 9 second stage.

The above list of hardware would be good enough for a flyby Mars mission - perhaps quite close to the surface during at least a partial daylight pass to relay back high-definition television pictures and commentary from the crew. When the module stack nears Earth, the crew casts off for a high-speed Earth direct re-entry with the rest of the hardware discarded into solar orbit...

Such a mission could be perceived as a stunt, yes. But it would also be a very bold and exciting mission, at least the historical equal of Apollo 8. To Mr Tito and his partners - GO!! Give this a shot. If it fails at least it will be a MAGNIFICENT failure.

Note: My drawings for the mission elements - anyone wanna have a go at linking them together in Photoshop into a 'train' of mission modules? I don't have Photoshop...
« Last Edit: 02/21/2013 10:32 am by MATTBLAK »
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Offline thomson

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #16 on: 02/21/2013 11:02 am »
What if that is one way one person mission? It would decrease the weight budget a lot and make it easier to pull off.

Think about a multi-millionaire that is diagnosed with a a cancer (or other terminal illness) and has only couple years left. There are couple of reasons one would decide to do such a thing.

First would be to fulfill a childhood dream.

Second, you can't take your money to your grave, so you may spend it on something.

Third would be ego based. You managed to have multi-million fortune? Thousands other folks did that as well, you're not special. You want to be remembered forever and have your name in every history book? Here's a trip for you.

Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #17 on: 02/21/2013 11:06 am »
A one-person mission might not even need the Node Module I mentioned above - maybe just two Dragons (for redundancy) docked nose-to-nose or maybe one Dragon and one Node/supply module, along with a couple of propulsion stages using hypergolic propellants. Elon's engineers could engine them with pairs of multi-restart Super Dracos.
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Offline aquanaut99

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #18 on: 02/21/2013 11:44 am »
A one-person flyby mission is certainly doable. Incredibly dangerous, yes, but doable. But if you are a billionaire with a huge ego and maybe not much left to live for on Earth, then why not. Either way, your name in the history books forever; in essence it would be today's version of buying your way to immortality. Heck, if I had billions and knew that I only have a few years left to live, I'd probably do it myself. As noted, I can't take my money into the Afterlife anway. But to be the first human to fly past Mars! Ego trip if there ever was one.

Biggest issue and difficulty would probably be to not go insane out there all by myself during the loooooong trip...
« Last Edit: 02/21/2013 11:47 am by aquanaut99 »

Offline R7

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Re: Inspiration Mars Foundation Press Conference
« Reply #19 on: 02/21/2013 12:09 pm »
* Bigelow hab module;
* Hydrolox kick stage (maybe a dual-engine Centaur as per Golden Spike's idea);
* SEP sustainer;
* Remote assembly at EML-2;
* CST-100 or Dragon CRV, launched to EML-2 by Falcon Heavy.

...  it's their lives and money to risk.

Can Tito afford even one item from that list? Rich man but IIRC not a billionaire.

inspirationmarsfoundation.org and .com were registered .. today .. by a norwegian fellow. Member of Mars expedition or fast domain name entrepreneurship?
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