MARTIAN facts: minutes for a transmission to reach Mars from Earth when it is 140 million miles away. And data transmissions may need to be in the hundreds of megabits or gigabits per second. “We’ve typically been using radiofrequency technology for long distance, but if you need higher data rates, you need higher frequencies,” Dutch explained. “Laser communication systems close some of the gap, but having small, low-power lasers with extremely accurate pointing for two-way, high-rate communications from Earth and Mars still needs development.” Even with faster communications between Earth and a Mars outpost, the engineering challenges of one day sending astronauts and others to Mars are daunting—not to mention figuring out how to live and work in such a harsh and distant environment. Manyapu has begun work with the Florida Institute of Technology on how isolation affects crew dynamics, stress and cognitive performance. Meanwhile, at the Mars Desert Research Station, the Red Planet’s alien landscape doesn’t seem that distant. Observing the team’s space-suited figures, it’s easy to imagine the first human footprints on a distant planet. Every member of the Utah crew would like to make those footprints. Diaz was shortlisted last year by NASA to become an astronaut. The youngest member of the Utah crew, Josh Borchardt, an astrobiology graduate student from the University of North Dakota, holds out hope to begin the arduous process of creating Earth-like conditions on the Red Planet. He has shown in his Utah greenhouse that Mars’ soil is hospitable to plant life—important, because plants also would provide something more than basic human needs to those living on Mars, he said. “I did not expect how much I needed to see plants,” Borchardt said of his time spent at the Utah station. “We need little bits of Earth around us all the time—especially going to Mars.” He and the others on the Utah team know that creating a sustainable habitat on Mars would be a monumental undertaking. But that does not deter them from dreaming, while also working on solutions to the many challenges. “Space exploration fulfills an innate curiosity that I believe all humans have to explore our boundaries,” Diaz said. “All of the research we are doing now will hopefully help humans settle the next frontier—space.” n alexander.m.wilson@boeing.com View a related video at boeing.com/ frontiers/videos/july14 PHOTOS: Diaz, far left, with a simulated injured crew member on a modified stretcher, tests rescue operations. ALEX WILSON/BOEING GRAVITY IS 1/3 THAT OF EARTH THE CARBON-DIOXIDE-RICH ATMOSPHERE IS LESS DENSE THAN EARTH’S ON AVERAGE EARTH AND MARS ARE SEPARATED BY 140 million miles (225 MILLION KILOMETERS) 250 MILLION MILES: THE FARTHEST POINT 33.9 MILLION MILES: THE CLOSEST POINT ORBIT TAKES 687 EARTH DAYS THE MASS OF MARS IS 1/10 THAT OF EARTH, BUT SINCE EARTH IS TWO-THIRDS WATER, IT HAS NEARLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF LANDMASS TEMPERATURES RANGE (MINUS 50–60 C) -58–76 F Sources: Boeing, NASA, space.com and space-facts.com Frontiers July 2014 37 ~100 times
Frontiers July 2014 Issue
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