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By Jonny Lupsha, news writer
The International Space Station celebrated its 20th birthday on November 2, The New York Times reported. Since 2000, it has been a symbol of global cooperation in humanity’s efforts to reach the stars. Unfortunately, space exploration is expensive and slow.
How The New York Times he pointed out, the International Space Station has had an exciting 20-year history. “Humanity has never built anything like the outpost that orbits the Earth about 240 miles above the planet,” the article states. “These are some of the moments that have defined the two decades it has been our home in space.”
The article therefore presents a timeline that includes the “move day” on November 2, 2000; Peggy Whitson becoming her first female commander in 2007; and its first delivery received by SpaceX in 2012. If that sounds like a lot, it is. Space travel is a complex feat of science and math that comes with a high price and a long wait.
A balance of astronomical proportions
Space travel is a noble undertaking, but one that requires a lot from a nation’s wallet.
“Space is expensive, especially human spaceflight,” said Dr. David M. Meyer, professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, where he is also director of the Dearborn Observatory and co-director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics.
“To send humans into space, they need air to breathe, they need water to drink and they need protection from space radiation, high-energy radiation in the form of high-energy protons and charged particles from the sun.” .
Furthermore, the political landscape of space exploration is different than in the 1950s and 1960s. Dr Meyer pointed out that during the Cold War, there was considerable political motivation to fund NASA in hopes of beating Russia in the “Space Race”. At the time, he said, NASA accounted for more than 4 percent of the federal budget, while today it makes up just one eighth.
So what happens next when we decide to send a space exploration program to Mars?
Martiano Time-Slip
One problem involving the expense of continuing space exploration is the time it takes to get to Mars.
“It would be a six-month trip in every direction, and that raises all kinds of problems,” said Dr. Meyer. “Specifically, how can we protect astronauts from radiation for so long? And when you add all the weight you need into your supplies and radiation protection and all that was put together, the realistic cost of a round trip mission that sends people to Mars and brings them back would be well over $ 50. billions. “
A one-way trip would be less expensive, but as Dr. Meyer said, NASA doesn’t like doing it. Another way to reduce the expense of going to Mars is to continue exploring it with unmanned spacecraft.
“The factor that comes into play is the amount of time it takes for light, in the form of radio, TV and optical signals, to get from Mars to Earth,” said Dr. Meyer. “At the closest point, the distance between Earth and Mars is 80 million kilometers, because both planets orbit the Sun, they are at different distances at different times, but when they are closer, they are 80 million kilometers apart. distance.
“The speed of light is about 300,000 kilometers per second, which means that when Earth and Mars are closer, it takes light four and a half minutes to get from Mars to Earth.”
In other words, once a Mars rover acquires an image to send to Earth, the image begins a nine-minute round trip, at least, for scientists to see what the rover sees, before they can tell. to the rover where to go. The next. When all is said and done, it is an effort of time and money. However, scientific interest in Mars replaces political interest in the Moon and other rovers are on their way to the “Red Planet”.
This article was proofread and edited by Angela Shoemaker, proofreader and copy editor for The Great Courses Daily.
Dr David M. Meyer contributed to this article. Dr. Meyer is a professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, where he is also director of the Dearborn Observatory and co-director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics. He received his BA in astrophysics from the University of Wisconsin and his master’s and doctoral degrees in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles.
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