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"Create ships and sails
capable of navigating the celestial atmosphere, then you
will find men to man them, men not afraid of the vast emptiness
of space."
- Johannes
Kepler, astronomer and mathematician, 1617
"The human
factor is three quarters of any expedition."
- Roald
Amundsen, polar explorer
In this lesson you will begin
to assess the physical and psychological impact of long-duration
space voyages. Some of the questions you will answer in
this lesson include: How long will it take to get to Mars?
How much time will be spent on the surface? How long will
it take to get home?
You will use a
variety of 3-D and virtual models, interactive games and
tutorials, videos, audios, and images to explore the red
planet Mars.
This unit is intended
to help you get an overall picture of the total health issues
involved in long-duration spaceflight. Ask yourself, "How
does human spaceflight differ from unmanned spaceflight?
What are the risks and what are the benefits? Do the risks
outweigh the benefits?"
The physical and
psychological impacts on humans traveling for such long
periods over such long distances are unknown. There are
many questions that need to be answered before we take the
risk of sending humans to Mars.
- What are the physical dangers involved during the flight?
- What dangers might you meet on the surface of Mars?
- How can we ensure the total health of crews?
- How can you ensure the well-being of a crew 400 million
kilometers from home?
- What types of communication will astronauts need to
have with their families and friends on Earth?
- How do we keep time on the planet Mars?
- What types of recreation and entertainment will crews
need during the mission?
- How can we assure that the team gets along during the
mission?
In this lesson
you will determine the actual requirements of a manned mission
to the planet Mars.
You will explore
the answers to the following questions:
- Why are plans being made for a return to the Moon before
we go to Mars?
- What are the benefits of prototyping systems at a Moon
base?
- What are some of the scenarios that have been developed
for Mars missions?
- What are the requirements of a spacecraft to take humans
to Mars?
- What is in-situ resource utilization, and how
will it help us to survive on and return home from Mars?
- What are some of the features of Mars habitats and laboratories?
- What are the current designs for plant growth chambers
while in flight and for surface stays?
- What are the features of the rovers Mars explorers will
use to investigate the planet's surface?
- What are the constraints and concerns for Mars suit
designers?
For your assignment
you will write an essay on the Human Factor and answer a
math problem.
In the Liftoff
section are sections to read and enjoy. There are
many images, links, videos and interactive models and games
to link to on the internet. The Mission
section is the activity that you need to turn in via the
Comm
Link. Don't forget to do the Quick
Quiz after you have done the reading. The Extended
Mission is a collection of links on the topic that you
can use for further information, it is divided up into Activities
and Research. When deciding on a final project,
the extensions are a good way to begin.
Chapters include:
NOTE:Some
of the links in these lessons require these:
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the links to get these plug-ins for your browser installed
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with this course.
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use only Internet
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Next...
Mission
to Mars (pg. 2 of 17) |
