Are manned missions to Mars feasible given current technology?

Question

I've misstated my question. Are interplanetary vehicles, such as the Orion or the BEACON feasible?

Orion: http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/orion.htm

BEACON: http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/39710/1/06-1803.pdf

Answer 1

From what I learned, it is not quite yet.  But we are slowly getting close, and in like 50 years from now, NASA may start doing manned missions to the red planet.  

Answer 2

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...

Answer 3

No, not quite there yet. The life support systems would probably be good for a year or more (round trip time) journey in space. But given current chemical rocket technology, the astronaut would also be in free-fall during most of the trip and exposed to a cumulatively high dose of radiation. Bone-mass loss would be significant because of the free-fall weightlessness. No one knows yet what the radiation effects would be, or whether the astronaut could be effectively shielded from them without increasing the vehicle mass beyond reasonable limits.

It also isn't clear what the minimum crew size should be, but a solitary astronaut is probably out of the question. More crew means bigger rockets and more life support for a successful mission.

We should probably wait until the technology can support a mission with a constant acceleration near one G. That will shorten the trip to just a few weeks and make manned missions, maybe even colonies on Mars, feasible. However, such a high boost will require nuclear power, not chemical power. A tested prototype "nuclear rocket" has been gathering dust on the shelf for more than thirty years, waiting for the rest of technology to catch up. See the NERVA program.

It would be better to build a permanent scientific base on the Moon, develop and test the nuclear engine technology there, and launch the first manned Mars mission from the Moon rather than directly from Earth.

The Appolo moon landings were basically publicity and propaganda stunts. There was no effort to establish a permanent presence in space and to go exploring the solar system with manned missions.

We now have another chance to do it right this time. But not with haste. Mars can wait until the human race gets its act together and we can visit in style. We'll land, take off, land again when and where we choose with nuclear engines roaring, just like real science fiction come to life.

Answer 4

A human mission to visit and land on the planet Mars has long been a subject for science fiction writers and a dream of space exploration advocates. Though various mission proposals have been put forth by multiple space agencies for such a mission, the logistical and financial obstacles are considerable, and many critics contend that such a mission would be a risky sub-optimal use of government resources. Regardless, preliminary work for such a mission is being undertaken by NASA and the European Space Agency, with each projecting a possible attempt in the 2030s.

There are several key challenges that a human mission to Mars must overcome: physical effects of exposure to high-energy cosmic rays and other ionizing radiation, physical effects of a prolonged low-gravity environment, psychological effects of isolation from Earth, social effects of several humans living under crowded conditions for over one earth year, inaccessibility of terrestrial medical facilities

Some of these issues were estimated statistically in the HUMEX study. Ehlmann and others have reviewed political and economic concerns, as well as technological and biological feasibility aspects.

While fuel for roundtrip travel could be a challenge, methane and oxygen can be produced utilizing Martian H2O (preferably as water ice instead of chemically bound water) and atmospheric CO2 with mature technology

Because of the distance between Mars and Earth, the Mars mission would be much more risky and more expensive than past manned flights to the Moon. Supplies and fuel would have to be prepared for a 2-3 year round trip and the spacecraft would have to be designed with at least partial shielding from intense solar radiation. A 1990 paper by Robert Zubrin and David A. Baker, then of Martin Marietta, proposed reducing the mission mass (and hence the cost) with a mission conceptual design using In Situ Resource Utilization to manufacture propellant from the Martian Atmosphere. This proposal drew on a number of concepts developed by the former "Case for Mars" conference series. Over the next decade, this proposal was developed by Zubrin into a mission concept, Mars Direct, which he developed in a book, The Case for Mars (1996). The mission is advocated by the Mars Society as a practical and affordable plan for a manned Mars mission.

United States President George W. Bush announced an initiative of manned space exploration on January 14, 2004, known as the Vision for Space Exploration. It includes developing preliminary plans for a lunar outpost by 2012 and establishing an outpost by 2020. Precursor missions that would help develop the needed technology during the 2010-2020 decade were tentatively outlined by Adringa and others. On Sep 24 2007, Michael Griffin, the NASA administrator, hinted that NASA may be able to launch a human mission to Mars by 2037. The needed funds are to be generated by diverting $11 billion from space science missions to the vision for human exploration.

The European Space Agency has the long-term vision of sending a human mission to Mars by 2030. Laid out in 2001, the project's proposed timeline would begin with robotic exploration, a proof of concept simulation of sustaining humans on Mars, and eventually a manned mission. However, objections from the participating nations of ESA and other delays have put the timeline into question.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/leag200...

Since 2005 the MarsDrive Organization has been working at a series of new human mission designs starting with Mars for Less. Their current design program under Director of Engineering Ron Cordes has discarded many of the Mars for Less elements and is a work in progress as of June 2008. Some of their design philosophy is focused on using current or near term existing launch vehicle systems, permanent human settlement, conceptual EDL systems and enhanced surface ISRU. Their proposed methods of funding the mission are also an alternative to the current plans with a private consortium approach being investigated. Their DRM 2.0 will be released later in 2008/early 2009.

We pretty much have a way to get there, we just need the will and the money.

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Well Orion is good for going to the moon or maybe a near Earth asteroid but they will probably need a bigger space craft for a trip the Mars.  But I think they are using it for that, but I'm sure they know what they are doing.