A bold collective, including three universities and the Mars Society, recently announced its plans to launch a “crew” of mice into orbit. The project’s goal is to study the long-term effects of being born and living in a low-gravity environment like that on the Red Planet. Dubbed the Mars Gravity mission, the endeavor is part of the Mars Society’s Translife Initiative to develop a support structure for a martian settlement. Student researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Washington
May 5th, 2002
Life on Mars Electronic Telegraph
In the red dust of the Utah desert, six scientists are dressed in home-made spacesuits and living in a large tin can. Their mission: to prove that sending man to Mars is easier than NASA thinks. Charles Laurence joins them in space The familiar landscape of planet Earth – trees, water, buildings, that sort of thing – has long since disappeared from my rear-view mirror, and so far there is not much evidence of life. The Mission Commander told me to follow the track across the stony red desert for about two-and-a-half miles, and keep looking carefully to the left for the “Hab”, or human habitation module. Mars, if this landscape is anything to go by, must be quite a place. The country here almost exactly matches the photographs of the Red Planet brought back by America’s Marina space probe. Narrow, flat-topped canyons known as mesas and shimmering plains stretch as far as the eye can see. Six top-drawer scientists are out here somewhere, living in a large, white tin can that looks like a stumpy grain silo with a conical roof, or a drawing of a spaceship in an old comic book, and dressing in spacesuits made from canvas and sticky tape. Whenever they venture out, they don helmets contrived from rubbish-bins and plastic light-fittings. Behind this odd behaviour lies a serious purpose (or at least an earnest one): to find out what it would be like to live on Mars, and whether humans could stand it.
April 30th, 2002
Fabrication of EuroMARS Begins!
The fabrication of the European Mars Analog Research Station (EuroMARS) has begun in earnest. The work, led by Project Architect Frank Schubert and funded by Starchaser Industries and the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA), is being done on the premises of the Rio Grande company in Denver, Colorado. Fabrication is expected to be complete by the end of May 2002, after which the station will be put on display in a major public exhibit in the United States. It will then be shipped to Europe for deployment in the field in the Spring of 2003.
April 24th, 2002
First Birth of Mammals in Space Planned
You knew it would be mice. They get tagged for doing everything first, usually even before the guinea pigs. And so it is with the first birth of mammals in space. The Translife Mars Gravity Biosatellite is being planned to explore how Mars’ reduced gravity will affect humans, from birth to death. Since the satellite will be too small to actually carry humans into space, mice will take the first shot at procreation ever (known to be) attempted by a mammal outside Earth and its atmosphere. The mission is a project of the private Mars Society, which first discussed it last fall and, earlier this month, announced a team of students from various universities to help build the spacecraft and conduct the experiments. Researchers hope the orbiting mice, aloft for two months, will survive and return to Earth as a new clan.
April 22nd, 2002
New Biosatellite To Study Life In Martian Gravity
The Mars Society has announced a landmark private space mission that willhelp researchers understand the long-term effects of living on Mars. MIT(Cambridge, MA), the University of Washington (Seattle, WA), and the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia) are leading the project. The privately funded, pioneering mission will study the effects of prolonged exposure to Martian gravity on mammals, a vital step on the road to human exploration of Mars. Student teams at three leading universities will design, construct, and launch a satellite with a payload of mice on board. The mice will experience Martian gravity— 3/8 that of Earth. While in space, some will give birth to a second generation, who will grow and develop entirely in this new environment. After nearly two months, the craft will return to Earth, where teams of scientists will study the crew and their offspring to obtain the first clues about life and development in reduced gravity.
April 17th, 2002
New Biosatellite To Study Life In Martian Gravity
The Translife Mars Gravity Biosatellite, as the mission will be called, will fly the mice aboard a spinning spacecraft that generates artificial gravity identical to that on the surface of Mars. The satellite is scheduled to launch in mid-2005, orbit for about 50 days, and then return the crew safely to Earth. The team is considering a number of launch vehicle options. The mission will conduct basic scientific research necessary before humans can safely explore Mars. Astronauts living in space stations have encountered serious health problems, such as bone loss, due to the weightless environment. The first crew on Mars could experience similar effects, and scientists do not yet know whether Martian gravity is sufficient to prevent these long-term health hazards. The mission’s crew of mice will provide the first answers to this important question, and the equally important question of whether higher life from Earth will ever be able to settle Mars. During the seven-week mission, their offspring will grow from birth to nearly adulthood in Martian gravity. At the end of the flight, the satellite will re-enter the atmosphere, bringing the original crew and their progeny safely back to Earth for scientific study.
April 11th, 2002
Postcards from Mars (Day 5) European Space Agency (ESA)
We have now established our normal sailing speed and life continues normally with lots of joy, discoveries and excitement. We have the pleasure to announce you the sprouting of 22 new little sprouts in the potting soil tray in our living room and their big brothers and sisters that we observed yesterday are doing fine as well (the longest is already longer than 10 mm). But it seems like their cousins that we installed in the greenhouse are not as fast: we observed only a few coming close to the surface.
April 10th, 2002
Group gets ready for human travel to Mars The San Diego Union-Tribune
Shannon Rupert, back in San Diego after two weeks in a simulated Mars laboratory in the Utah desert, was craving vegetables. The greenhouse outside the MARS Desert Research Station recently blew apart in 92 mph winter winds, so Rupert’s crew had had little fresh produce. Now, back at the San Diego chapter of The Mars Society, Rupert was munching on celery and carrots, describing for her colleagues an eerie Utah landscape of red and pink
April 10th, 2002
Postcards from Mars (Day 4) European Space Agency (ESA)
What an extraordinary day we had today. There was a lot of excitement this morning in our Research Station in the desert of Utah. Less than 48 hours after being planted, our seeds started to sprout! The miracle of life took place again. It is extraordinary. Of course, it happens everyday all around the world: watering a seed in the ground would eventually make it sprout. But here in our lab in this close isolated research Hab environment, it looks extraordinary. In fact, all the four kinds of seeds, the Alfalfa, the tatsoe sprouts, the arugela salad and the radishes, planted in a rock wool tray installed in the lab started to come out overnight. Nothing is visible yet from the seeds installed in potting soil trays, most probably because they are deeper in the soil. I will keep you informed of their growth. We hope to be able to eat them before the end of our rotation, in about ten days.
April 9th, 2002
Postcards from Mars (Day 3) European Space Agency (ESA)
Another great day in the Martian desert of Utah, USA. Our third day was another busy one. But first, I want to share a special moment with you. Three of my colleagues (Bill, Nancy and Andrea) are on an EVA; as I write, I am in the Hab with Jan and David. We are working on our computers, listening to an old American song (