Pressure is growing on NASA to speed up development of technologies that will allow astronauts to explore Mars, as envisioned by President George Bush鈥檚 Vision for Space Exploration. A new report echoes earlier concerns that sending astronauts to the Moon is dominating NASA鈥檚 agenda.
鈥淭he vision is about Mars 鈥� ultimately it鈥檚 about Mars and beyond,鈥� says , a space robotics expert at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, US. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about the Moon 鈥� that鈥檚 just step one.鈥�
Bush announced his in 2004. It directed NASA to eventually send astronauts to Mars, using the Moon as a stepping stone. Astronauts should return to the Moon by 2020 and establish an inhabited lunar base.
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In February, a group of former NASA officials and ex-astronauts urged the agency to downgrade its plans for the Moon and focus more on Mars. Now a (NRC) committee, chosen by the US National Academy of Sciences to review NASA鈥檚 efforts, has reached similar conclusions.
The 25-member committee, including Howard, was asked to review NASA鈥檚 (ETDP). The program is tasked with developing technologies for future human exploration missions.
Robot vehicles
The committee reviewed 22 technologies that the ETDP deems crucial for fulfilling the President鈥檚 mandate, including propulsion technologies, lunar dust mitigation and robot vehicles. outlines several concerns. One is that NASA鈥檚 current focus is primarily aimed at establishing a human presence on the Moon.
鈥淰ery few of the technologies have addressed what needs to be done to get to Mars,鈥� Howard told New 杏吧原创.
The committee also worried that NASA is playing it safe by fine-tuning tested technologies rather than tapping into cutting-edge research taking place in universities and other institutes.
Lunar simulations
It was also troubled by a perceived lack of adequate testing facilities, even for lunar technologies. Committee member Steven Howe of Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, US, says NASA should have more sophisticated facilities for simulating the lunar environment.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e talking about is a large-scale facility where you can drive your candidate rover around in that environment, where you have lights that simulate the Sun, and cold walls that simulate the cold in the night,鈥� says Howe.
Stephanie Schierholz, a spokeswoman for NASA, called the NRC鈥檚 report 鈥渋n-depth鈥� and 鈥渇air鈥�. She says the space agency will seriously consider the committee鈥檚 recommendations after the release of its final report this summer.
But Howe worries that if changes are not made soon, NASA could fall far short of its lofty goals: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not on track to get to the Moon on time and Mars is hardly even being considered.鈥�
Sputnik鈥檚 Legacy 鈥� Learn more about humanity鈥檚 first 50 years in space in our .
