The Mars Society
Dr. Robert Zubrin, President
P.O. Box 273
Indian Hills, Colorado 80454
TESTIMONY TO THE SENATE VETERANS, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE REGARDING THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION BUDGET FOR FY 2002
May 31, 2001
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:
My name is Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of The Mars Society. I would like to thank you for this opportunity to offer comments regarding the Fiscal Year 2002 budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ("NASA"). As detailed below, we strongly believe that NASA's budget should include a program funded at a level of at least $140 million per year (about 1% of NASA's current budget) within the NASA Human Exploration and Development of Space ("HEDS") organization to develop the technologies necessary to lay the groundwork for future human Mars exploration missions.
I. The Mars Society.
The Mars Society is an international grassroots organization created to further the goal of the exploration of the planet Mars. Our efforts to further this goal have involved broad public outreach to instill the vision of pioneering Mars, support of ever more aggressive government funded Mars exploration programs around the world, and conducting Mars related research on a private basis. Our first major project was building the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in the Canadian Arctic last year to serve as a test-bed for technologies and practices that will be needed for human Mars exploration. We recently secured funding for, and are in the process of building, a second research station, which will be located in the American Southwest.
I am the author of The Case for Mars and Entering Space, as well as dozens of technical papers and articles. In the early 1990s, I developed a plan ("Mars Direct") that showed how a robust mission to Mars could be achieved for $20-30 billion and in 10 years or less, by maximizing the use of existing technologies and resources found on Mars.
II. Need for Technology Development Funding.
We believe there is no question that eventually this Nation's scientific curiosity and pioneering spirit will lead to a decision to send people to Mars -- a world of spectacular mountains three times as tall as Mount Everest, canyons three times as deep and five times as long as the Grand Canyon, vast ice fields, and thousands of kilometers of mysterious dry riverbeds. The planet's unexplored surface may hold unimagined riches and resources for future humanity, as well as answers to some of the deepest philosophical questions that thinking men and women have pondered for millennia. The discovery last year of surface features that may have been produced by the recent flow of liquid water further supports the idea that Mars once had (and may still have) conditions conducive to life. To find evidence life, though, will likely take more than robotic eyes and remote control. In fact, all that Mars holds will remain beyond our grasp until men and women--agile, autonomous, intuitive beings--walk upon its surface.
Whether the decision to send people to Mars is made tomorrow or in 10 years, there are many technologies that need to be developed in order to conduct such a mission in a safe and cost-effective manner. By investing a modest amount of money now to develop these technologies, both the ultimate cost and the time needed to assemble such a mission could be significantly reduced. In addition, such a program would provide the core of the talent and expertise that will be required to achieve such an ambitious goal.
Until a few months ago, a very modest amount of NASA funds (primarily agency discretionary funds) were used to fund such a program. However, after the recent disclosure of Space Station cost overruns, an order was issued to stop or eliminate all technology development projects supporting eventual human Mars exploration. While The Mars Society is in full agreement that many hard choices have to be made to remedy the cost overruns relating to the Space Station, we believe that this technology development program is too important to this Nation's future in space to be sacrificed to feed Space Station overruns. In our opinion, Space Station overruns must be dealt with within the Space Station's own budget.
Rather than shut down the tiny amount of human Mars technology development work that was underway, such funding should be significantly expanded. A program should be funded at a level of at least $140 million per year (about 1% of NASA's current budget) within the NASA HEDS organization, to develop the technologies necessary for human Mars exploration missions. When our Nation is ready to make a commitment to send humans to Mars, this modest program will have already laid a portion of the technological groundwork for the mission, saving both time and money.
Below are some of the technologies that should be investigated in such a program.
1. In-Situ Resource Utilization: Cost effectiveness is a necessity for future human space exploration. Mars provides us with a tremendous opportunity to lower the cost of exploration by “living off the land.” The atmosphere of Mars, composed largely of carbon dioxide, is the resource that makes this possible. Using a century-old technology, it should be possible to use the Martian atmosphere, as well as a relatively small amount of hydrogen brought from Earth, to create oxygen, water, and all of the fuel (methane) for the return trip. This would dramatically reduce the mission mass and save billions of dollars in mission costs. The cost-cutting potential of this technology certainly justifies further investigation and development.
2. Propulsion: Using current chemical rocket technology, it would take at least six months for a crew to reach Mars and at least another six months for them to return after their stay on the surface. With improved propulsion systems, transit times could be reduced, which would increase the safety and reduce the cost of human missions to Mars. In addition to improved chemical propulsion systems, we should look at new propulsion ideas, such as plasma technology, ion drives, nuclear rockets, and many other possibilities that have the potential to take months off the voyage. Creating a technology research program would allow us to examine the best way to approach this technological problem.
3. Life support: Without proper life support systems, any future Mars explorers could not survive. We should build on the systems already developed for the Space Station to achieve systems that can more fully recycle wastes and withstand the rigors of a long-duration mission where re-supply from earth is not feasible.
4. EVA suits: We currently do not have space suits that would be useful on Mars. Our current EVA suits are designed for zero gravity conditions. They would be far too heavy and unwieldy on the surface of Mars. A Mars EVA suit must be light, durable, and allow its occupant to move around freely and perform such simple tasks as bending over and getting back up without difficulty. Without a new EVA suit design, the astronauts would not be able to leave their habitat.
5. Human habitats for interplanetary transit and surface use: As noted above, The Mars Society is currently using private funds to investigate various aspects of this technology. Although we hope to make significant contributions to habitat design, our projects will not address many of the technological requirements for these habitats. In addition, The Mars Society does not have the means to examine the needs for a habitat during interplanetary transit. A technology program would be able to focus on these critical issues.
6. Human surface mobility systems (manned rovers): While the first humans on Mars would be able to make innumerable discoveries on foot, their range would be limited. Because of this, it would be prudent to study various options for a pressurized rover, which would give the astronauts a vastly larger exploration range, allowing them to explore tens or even hundreds of kilometers from their habitat module.
7. Heavy lift vehicles: Such a mission would be much more expensive without heavy lift capabilities. Our Nation has not had a heavy lift vehicle capable of launching such a mission since the Saturn 5 rocket. In addition to a Mars mission, such a vehicle would be useful in numerous civilian and military space-related endeavors. Such a vehicle could be designed to make use of existing Space Shuttle facilities and hardware.
8. Advanced power systems, both nuclear and non-nuclear: We need to determine the best source of power during Mars surface habitation. This is more challenging than any power issue we have had to deal with in the history of the space program. We will be on the surface of Mars for at least a year, so a reliable power supply is a critical technology that will need to be developed.
III. Some Reasons to Support Human Mars Exploration
1. Economic/Social/Technology: Some will say that we need to solve problems at home before we invest in space exploration. In reality, it is just the opposite. Dollar for dollar, the space program has provided more benefits to our Nation and the world than any program in United States history; the largest number of benefits coming as a result of the Apollo program. A Mars exploration program will likely accelerate economic and social benefits as Apollo did. By investing in space, we benefit Earth.
2. Education: Apollo inspired children around the country to pursue science and math careers. They saw that they could participate in events larger than themselves. A human mission to Mars will certainly have the same impact. Inspiring our children to learn is the best education program.
3. Science: The scientific ramifications of a human mission to Mars are enormous. The study of Martian geology and atmospheric conditions will not only teach us much about the future habitability of Mars but also about our own planet. By sending humans to Mars, we will be much more likely to answer the question of whether there was ever life on Mars. In the search for signs of fossilized life on Mars, a human crew could likely achieve in their first few days more than what could be accomplished in many years by any series of robotic probes.
4. Exploration: Without a great history of exploration the United States would not exist. We need to continue our great heritage of exploring the unknown so that we can guarantee that our society will remain vital and will not fall into stagnation. Mars is not just a scientific curiosity; it is a world with a surface area equal to all the continents of Earth combined, possessing all the elements that are needed to support not only life, but technological society. With the International Space Station operational, it is time to lay the groundwork for the next logical step -- the human exploration of Mars.
5. National Optimism: We need to rekindle the national optimism that made the United States the greatest country on Earth. A human mission to Mars is the natural vehicle for this revitalization. A strong sense of national optimism is the best vehicle for continued prosperity.
6. Public Support: A recent Roper poll shows that about two-thirds of the American public support sending a human mission to Mars. The American public has had an enormous appetite for Mars for years. This appetite has fueled countless science fiction accounts of Mars and unprecedented interest in NASA exploration missions to Mars. When Mars Pathfinder landed in 1997, there were over 100 million hits on the Pathfinder website in the first day. There have been well over half a billion hits since. All together, NASA's Mars related websites have received over 1.2 billion hits since 1997.
7. Self Definition: A humans to Mars program would be a forceful reaffirmation of the fundamental nature of America as a nation of pioneers. We Americans owe everything we have today to our predecessors who were willing to go to a wilderness and build where no one had built before, to take on challenges that had never been faced, and to do what had never been done. Were we to abandon that tradition, we would become something less. That is a form of decline that we cannot afford and cannot accept. Ultimately the issue of whether we embrace the challenge of Mars is one of who we are.
IV. A New Direction
Our space program has been literally and figuratively going around in circles since the end of the Apollo Program. Few people under the age of 40 have any direct recollection of our Nation's greatest technological and exploration achievement; landing humans on the Moon. In addition, more people are even beginning to deny that the Moon landing ever took place. While this opinion used to be limited to fringe elements of our society, it has now become main stream.
Should we be surprised by this phenomenon? Absolutely not! In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the possibilities in space exploration looked limitless. What should have been “one giant leap for mankind,” the Moon landings have turned out to be just a few “small steps.” After launching the Nation, and the world, into what looked like our greatest age of exploration and learning, we retreated and have never returned. We now need to engage in a new and great age of exploration and discovery -- an age that will again inspire our Nation and the world.
Conclusion:
As the past few years have demonstrated, Mars is an extraordinary planet that yields her mysteries only grudgingly. If we are ever to gain a complete understanding of its complexities, we will need to send human explorers to that world to fill in the enormous gaps in knowledge left by our robotic probes. We urge Congress to establish a modest program (at least $140 million per year) to develop the technologies necessary to lay the groundwork for what will certainly be the next great Age of Discovery.
Once again, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony.