NASA Draws up Blueprint for Craft to Reach Moon and Mars

NATURE|Vol 436|18 August 2005 NEWS

MARS SOCIETY Follow the action from the meeting of Mars enthusiasts in Boulder, Colorado. www.nature.com/news NASA draws up blueprint for S. OGDEN/SPL craft to reach Moon and Mars

BOULDER, COLORADO a large Apollo-like capsule or a smaller, NASA last week revealed its plans for slimmer shuttle. NASA will pick the the next generation of space vehicles, winning design in 2006. designed to get humans back to the Moon Mars Society members were thrilled to and, eventually, to Mars. hear about the vehicle plans and they On 13 August, Christopher Shank, support Griffin in getting started. But they special assistant to NASA administrator object to the proposed timeline, and the Michael Griffin, described the agency’s size of the CEV. They want to see a 7-tonne future exploration machinery, which is vehicle being used as this could take proposed to replace the shuttle in 2010. humans directly to the Moon and back, His talk, given at the Mars Society and so accelerate lunar-base construction. Conference in Boulder, Colorado, precedes NASA’s 25-tonne CEV could carry six a full report scheduled for release this people as well as ISS supplies and parts. month, called the Exploration Systems But to reach the Moon it would need to Architecture Study. This will rendezvous with another, as lay out how NASA intends to “It will be a ‘go as yet undeveloped, vehicle in meet President George W. you can afford to pay’ lunar orbit before returning Bush’s goal of sending to Earth. humans back to the Moon approach. Let the “It’s a choice between by 2020 in preparation for long, hard slog begin.” having a Cadillac ISS a Mars mission. programme or a lunar “It will be a ‘go as you can afford to pay’ base,” says Robert Zubrin, society approach,” Shank told the 300 members of president. He argues that continuing to the Mars Society, a private group whose focus on the ISS does little to further the mission is to promote human exploration goal of getting to Mars. Shank counters and colonization of the red planet. “Let that NASA does not separate the ISS from the long, hard slog begin.” Moon and Mars missions, as the same So far, observers are giving synthetic biolo- That, he said, means deferring other components are integral to both. gists credit for tackling such issues. But some, programmes, such as future research on Zubrin and his fellow enthusiasts such as Paul Rabinow, an anthropologist at the the International Space Station (ISS) and applauded the plans for an HLV, which is University of California, Berkeley, think that lunar-base development, until the new critical for a martian journey. But some, the field needs to take a broader view than it space vehicles come online. The first such as David Schuman, a lawyer at has so far. He is speaking at the San Francisco vehicle will be a 25-tonne Crew NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in meeting this week and says he will tell atten- Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which will Greenbelt, Maryland, criticized the dees to pay more attention to the danger that ride into space on a modified shuttle decision to delay HLV development until synthetic biology could be abused for biowar- booster rocket; this will initially supply after 2010. fare or bioterrorism, something that is harder and return ISS crews. After 2010, work Without solutions to the shuttle’s to control than the risk of accidents. will begin on a 100-tonne Heavy Lift current safety issues, he notes, “we could “The field has been attempting to turn this Vehicle (HLV) that can carry heavier be left without any heavy-lift capability”. into a safety issue, but we’re living today in a payloads. The HLV will also use a rocket That would delay ISS completion, pushing security regime,” he told Nature. “Dealing with modified from the shuttle’s boosters and Moon and Mars timelines back another safety is good, but they’re fooling themselves if external fuel tank. decade. As it is 36 years since the first lunar they think that’s going to be the end of this Lockheed Martin and a team at landing, Zubrin and fellow exploration question.” Northrop Grumman–Boeing have proponents say that delay is not only Venter agrees, arguing that rather than reg- contracts to develop the three- to six- unbelievable — it is unacceptable. ■ ulating labs and companies, governments person CEVs. Potential designs include Kendall Powell need to use synthetic biology to develop ways to defeat bioterrorist attacks, such as produc- ing drugs and vaccines, or sensors to detect altered organisms in the environment. “If we’re TIN not concentrating 100% of our defensive effort One of the on countermeasures, I think we’re missing the designs for the big picture,” he told the NSABB in June. ■ Crew Exploration Vehicle, OCKHEED MAR

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