Mid Day Daily

Saturday, January 23, 2021
Log in
  • Home
  • National & International
  • Business & Financials
  • Technology
  • Health
  • Science
  • About Us
    • Our Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
    • Terms of Use
  • Latest News
    • Sloths Were Declared the Slowest Animals on Earth
    • Facebook’s Messenger Will Give You the 411 on Non-Friends
    • Fun Facts About the Coconut Crab
    • The Coyote Hunting in Wisconsin might be Banned
    • Autism Was Genetically Introduced In Monkeys
    • Tully Monster Has Many More Mysteries Left To Offer
    • Mom Claims Daughter Was Forced To Get Naked To Pass Exam In School
    • What Happens When Two Planets Collide?
    • FDA Approves the BrainPort Vision Device That Gives Hope To The Blind
    • Two Cretaceous Plankton-Eating Fish Species Were Discovered
    • Columbia University Researchers Store Computer Information on DNA Strand

Pages

  • About Midday Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Our Staff
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Indiana Jones 5 Won’t Open in 2020 After All June 29, 2018
  • ‘Oumuamua is Actually a Comet, Not an Asteroid (Study) June 28, 2018
  • Best Evidence of Alien Life on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus, Found (Study) June 28, 2018
  • Jeremy Irons to Star in HBO’s Watchmen Reboot June 27, 2018
  • The Fermi Paradox: We Might Be Alone in the Universe (Study) June 26, 2018
  • The Strawberry Moon and Who It Will Affect June 26, 2018
  • Tom Holland Reveals Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel Title June 25, 2018
You are here: Home / Archives for U.S. space agency

NASA’s Mars Plans Were Shattered During the Congressional Hearing

February 4, 2016 By Dean Lamori Leave a Comment

Journey to Mars

According to the attendees, NASA needs to work on the Journey to Mars as the initiative lacks substance beyond the lofty ideals it puts forward.

NASA’s Mars plans were shattered during the Congressional hearing taking place on Wednesday. Members in the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology discussed all aspects of the Journey to Mars initiative, as well as its far from solid foundations.

According to the attendees, NASA needs to work on the Journey to Mars as the initiative lacks substance beyond the lofty ideals it puts forward. Budget discussions took center stage, as measurable milestones and technological leaps sidelined the arguments.

NASA’s currently approved year-to-year budget is insufficient to fund all aspects related to its Journey to Mars initiative. The final result of all investments would a trip to the surface of the Red Planet. A mighty costly result as well, one not justified by the vague milestones currently set by the U.S. space agency.

Due to all arguments brought to the table, some attendees at the Congressional hearing suggested that a more profitable and achievable goal would be the return to the Moon. As other space agencies such as the European Space Agency are directing their attention towards the lunar surface, perhaps it would be wiser for NASA to follow in their footsteps while establishing itself as a leader in the efforts.

The main stump in NASA’s planned Journey to Mars is the lack of clear and achievable milestones. According to Tom Young who is the former director of the U.S. space agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA doesn’t have any planned strategy at the moment. No ambitious, detail-ridden strategy has been laid out.

What NASA has at this time is the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, as well as the Orion crew capsule. Both the SLS rocket and the Orion crew capsule have been designed specifically for manned missions to Mars. Nonetheless, other technological stunts must be pulled out for the Journey to Mars to prove feasible.

Some of these are performant landing systems, launch systems and habitat modules. Regarding these much-needed extras, the chair of the National Academy of Sciences, John Sommerer declared that none of the piece puzzles benefit from clear definitions.

With these in mind, NASA’s Mars plans were shattered during the Congressional hearing. Other voiced opinions questioned the timeline of the Journey to Mars initiative. On paper, the SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule should undergo their first test flight in 2018. Beyond this deadline, there are no further specifications.

One more deadline set by the U.S. space agency is the first tentative manned mission using the SLS rocket and the Orion crew capsule in 2023. Several other missions have been proposed for the SLS rocket. However, NASA only approved it for the Asteroid Redirect Mission prior to anything else. The plan for the Asteroid Redirect Mission is that the spacecraft tracks an asteroid piece and drags it to lunar orbit. Here, the SLS rocket crew can visit it more easily. The aim of the Asteroid Redirect mission is supposedly to prove solar electric propulsion necessary for the Mars mission.

However, during the Congressional hearing, the mission was called a complicated and expensive stunt, the results of which could have well been demonstrated otherwise.

NASA’s Mars plans were shattered during the Congressional hearing. Attendees also mentioned that with a presidential election coming right up, the U.S. space agency needs to refine its plan if the Journey to Mars is to ever become reality.

Photo Credits: Wikimedia

Filed Under: Science Tagged With: achievable milestones, Congressional hearing, Journey to Mars, Orion Crew capsule, SLS rocket, U.S. space agency

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 10 other subscribers

Recent Articles

USPS van

Chinese Drug Dealers Shipping Drugs to U.S. via Postal Service

January 28, 2018 By Dean Lamori

Marlboro cigarette packs

Philip Morris Wants to Help You Quit Smoking

January 6, 2018 By Dean Lamori

Drugs and money

Drug Company Sued for Bribing Doctors to Prescribe Potent Opioid

December 24, 2017 By Dean Lamori

Smartphone user sitting on sidewalk

Calif. Health Dept: Excess Smartphone Use Can Cause Brain Cancer

December 17, 2017 By Dean Lamori

jared kushner

Kushner Plans to Revamp 666 Fifth Avenue Skyscraper, Partner Isn’t Supportive

November 2, 2017 By Tom Hager

elon musk

Elon Musk Shares Progress He Made with Boring Company on Twitter

October 30, 2017 By John Cooper

starbucks mugs

Starbucks Takes Halloween Seriously with New Zombie Frappuccino

October 28, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

ecigarette

New York to Treat eCigarettes Same Way as Regular Cigarettes in Public Indoor Areas

October 26, 2017 By Tom Hager

amazon box

Amazon Warehouse Delivered Couple’s Requested Storage Containers with 65 Pounds of Weed

October 25, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

ibm offices

IBM’s Q3 Report Encourages Greater Sales Expectations for the First Time in Years

October 19, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

dubai police supercars

Dubai Police to Patrol the City from Above Thanks to Multirotor Hoverbikes

October 16, 2017 By John Cooper

marketing stunt for rick and morty

Woman Received Volkswagen Car for One Legendary Szechuan Sauce Pack from McDonald’s

October 14, 2017 By Amanda Lane

honeywell center

Honeywell to Turn Two Units into Publicly Traded Companies by 2019

October 12, 2017 By Tom Hager

self-driving car

New AI Project Will Help Autonomous Cars See What’s Around Corners

October 11, 2017 By Sam Doliente

Categories

  • Business & Financials
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National & International
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Technology
  • U.S.
  • World

Copyright © 2021 MidDayDaily.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.