March 2004
From RmmsWiki
General Meeting - March, 2004
Discussion started off with Aviation Weekly's article re: high temperature tabletop fusion and possible implications for long-term development. We then discussed what the purpose of the President's stated moon program would be especially in furthering space exploration with its possible siphoning off of needed resources for a lunar base development at the expense of other programs and the fact that the Moon as a launch base for Mars is not very sensible. As a test base for low gravity long term biological studies, crew-in-isolation dynamics, and EVA programs it could be useful, but to build a Cape Canaveral-type equivalent base on the moon would be prohibitively expensive and ultimately silly. The resources claimed for the moon are overstated and undersimplified in regards to extraction and utilization capacity, and the moneys could be far more profitably spent on Mars for greater effect and efficiencies with a much stronger and proven resource base with less environmentally harsh conditions.
Considerable debate followed about what the RMMS's recommendations to the Mars International Society should be regarding feedback about the Plan to the Commission in trying to both support the idea of the plan for human-space exploration while at the same time trying to modify some of the Plan's nonsensical components to a more Mars Direct and ultimately timelier and cheaper achievment of those goals. The necessity of appealing to the public for these plans thru economic self-interest, power and prestige considerations and planetary safety and preservation goals were to be particularly stressed. After much lively discussion and clearing of misunderstandings, the RMMS came up with these four points:
- Completing the ISS and using it for long term low gravity and crew dynamics studies should continue and for the fostering of greater international cooperation for future joint-effort explorations;
- Continued use of the Shuttle while developing a heavy-lift system and accelerating the development and completion of the Crew Exploration Vehicle, all of which should be heavily modularized for use in LEO, ISS, HEO and interplanetary lifts for maximal efficient use of said modular configurations.
- Going for the moon well before the current late 2010's target date and for the purpose of use as a test base for exploration technologies, hab and base equipment studies and crew program development, rather than a full scale base with launch capabilities.
- The use and full integration of robotics in manned exploration as both automatic and real-time telemetrically-controlled systems to maximize use of manned time and flexibility in on-planet exploration and research.
- Encouraging the adaptation of some Mars Direct-type plan to get us to Mars sooner rather than later, both to avoid unnecessary delays, possible loss of funding or political will, cost overruns and pork-barreking and to sustain high public interest and support in manned space exploration.
These recommendations were to be sent on to the Mars Society's Political Committee for further study and inclusion in the Society's feedback to the Commission as deemed appropriate. Next meeting to be 4-19-04.
