Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Humans to Mars: fifty years of mission planning, 1950–2000/by David S. F. Portree.

I have mentioned David's monograph before but eight years has gone by since it was published and maybe you haven't taken the opportunity to see what had transpired in the 50 years before that.

I mention Moon, Mars, and Beyond, and some would just like to get humans on Mars and set up housekeeping.

It hasn't turned out all that easy, often just because of the lack of money.
Lack of money is bound to come up again as the US Congress okays a $700 billion rescue of the Wall Street financial melt down.

That melt down is affecting the global economy as well so everyone that is looking up may want to reload their guns with ammunition to support exploring space.
- LRK -

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http://history.nasa.gov/monograph21.pdf (2.471 KB)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Portree, David S. F.
Humans to Mars: fifty years of mission planning, 1950–2000/by David S. F. Portree.
p. cm.–(Monographs in aerospace history; no. 21) (NASA publication SP)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Space flight to Mars–Planning. 2. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I. Title. II. Series. III. NASA SP ; no. 4521.
TL799.M3 P67 2000
629.45'53–dc21 00—062218

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If you don't want to down load the whole file you can view in sections on the Internet.
- LRK -

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http://history.nasa.gov/monograph21/humans_to_Mars.htm

Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950-2000 (NASA SP-2001-4521) by David S. F. Portree. A complete PDF version of Monograph 21.

Humans to Mars is also available to be downloaded by chapter. The low-res version is best for Web viewing. The hi-res version is best for printing.

· Front Matter (Title Page, Table of Contents, Foreword, Preface) low high

[See complete list below. - LRK -]

snip
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David S. F. Portree's blog site.
Altair VI - http://altairvi.blogspot.com/

Sooooh, you think you have a great way to get to Mars.
Hmmm, me thinks there is a good chance someone has already had the idea.

Getting ideas turned into metal is the hard part.
Flight 4 of Falcon 1 was successful but there were three failures before.

Someone asked why they flew a dummy load.
Maybe the insurance rates would be a bit higher if you had to guarantee someones spacecraft would make orbit.
Who puts up the cash to make it work, some government or someone with deep pockets, or a group of folks that are willing to take the risk and invest?
Having a few good flights will make it easier to secure future funding from whatever the source.
Having the persistence to pick up after a failure shows just how strong your belief system is.

IT WILL WORK, not, I think it might work, maybe, don't you think?

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://history.nasa.gov/monograph21.pdf (2.471 KB)
Humans to Mars: fifty years of mission planning, 1950–2000/by David S. F. Portree.

I hope David won't mind my copying four paragraphs from his Preface.
- LRK -

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snip
In the past half century, visionary engineers have made
increasingly realistic plans for launching astronauts to
Mars to explore the planet. This monograph traces the
evolution of these plans, taking into account such factors
as on-going technological advancement and our
improving knowledge of the red planet.

More than 1,000 piloted Mars mission studies were conducted
inside and outside NASA between about 1950
and 2000. Many were the product of NASA and industry
study teams, while others were the work of committed
individuals or private organizations. Due to space
limitations, only 50 mission studies (one per year, or less
than 5 percent of the total) are described in this monograph.
The studies included are believed to be representative
of most of the technologies and techniques associated
with piloted Mars exploration.

In addition to tracing the evolution of mission concepts,
this monograph examines piloted Mars mission planning
from a policy standpoint. Mars plans are affected
by their societal context and by the policies that grow
from that context. When the human species eventually
decides to send a piloted mission to Mars, the political
environment in which it develops will have at least as
much impact on its shape as technology, human factors,
and the Martian and interplanetary environments.
Hence, it stands to benefit the space technologist to
study the ways in which policy has shaped (and thwarted
past Mars plans. This idea may seem obvious to
some readers, yet the history of piloted Mars mission
planning shows that this truism has often been ignored
or imperfectly understood, usually to the detriment of
Mars exploration.

This history should be seen as a tool for building
toward a future that includes piloted Mars exploration,
not merely as a chronicle of events forgotten and plans
unrealized. The author hopes to update and expand it
in 15 or 20 years so that it tells a story culminating in
the first piloted Mars mission. Perhaps a university
student reading this monograph today will become a
member of the first Mars mission crew tomorrow.

snip
David S. F. Portree
Houston, Texas, September 2000
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snip
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Humans to Mars

Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950-2000 (NASA SP-2001-4521) by David S. F. Portree. A complete PDF version of Monograph 21.

Humans to Mars is also available to be downloaded by chapter. The low-res version is best for Web viewing. The hi-res version is best for printing.

· Front Matter (Title Page, Table of Contents, Foreward, Preface) low high
· Chapter 1 low high
· Chapter 2 low high
· Chapter 3 low high
· Chapter 4 low high
· Chapter 5 low high
· Chapter 6 low high
· Chapter 7 low high
· Chapter 8 low high
· Chapter 9 low high
· Chapter 10 low high
· Acronyms low high
· Endnotes low high
· Bibliography low high
· About the Author low high
· Index low high
· NASA History Monographs low high

snip
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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