Red dreams

Mars has always been Shangri-La for space buffs. Two new
private missions show that its lure is as strong as ever
The Economist, Jun 1st 2013
ON JULY 20th 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Bu Aldrin !!!1!!! "oot on the #oon, it $a%%ed
hal" a $entur& o" e'traordinar& %rogress in a(iation) *n the si' and a hal" de$ades !!!2!!! the +right
,rothers- Flyer had staggered into the air near .itt& /aw0, North 1arolina, aero%lanes had shrun0
the world, re(olutionised war"are and $reated the modern tra(el industr&) 2e$hni$al re$ords "or
altitude, s%eed and enduran$e had "allen helter3s0elter)
4or that reason, man& o" those !!!3!!! the two astronauts on their ,la$03and3white tele(isions $ould
ha(e ,een "orgi(en "or thin0ing that going to the #oon was sim%l& the "irst ste% in a human
e'%ansion into the solar s&stem) !!!5!!! , that had long ,een the dream o" the s%a$e ,u""s who made
the #oon missions %ossi,le) +ernher (on Braun, the genius who designed the 6aturn 7 #oon
ro$0ets8and who had ,een %lanning #ars e'%editions sin$e the %u,li$ation, in 1959, o" his ,oo0
:;as #ars%ro<e0t=8%it$hed a $rewed #ars mission to then3>resident ?i$hard Ni'on soon !!!@!!!
Armstrong and ;r Aldrin landed)
But it was not to ,e) 2he A%ollo #oon %rogramme was shut down earl&, and the world-s astronauts
ha(e s%ent the %ast 51 &ears %ootling around in low3Aarth or,it) Now, !!!6!!!, s%urred ,& the rise
o" the ,u$$aneering, %ri(ate3se$tor :New 6%a$e= industr&, whi$h is o""ering a$$ess to the $osmos at
%ri$es !!!B!!! lower than go(ernment3,a$0ed ro$0ets $an manage, the old dream is en<o&ing a
resurgen$e) Alon #us0, whose ro$0et "irm 6%a$eC alread& "lies $argo to the *nternational 6%a$e
6tation D*66E, ma0es no se$ret o" his #artian am,itions) 2wo %ri(atel& run organisations in %arti$ular
8*ns%iration #ars, ,rain$hild o" ;ennis 2ito, an Ameri$an t&$oon who ,e$ame the world-s "irst
s%a$e tourist in 2001, and #ars One, run ,& Bas Lansdor%, a ;ut$h entre%reneur8!!!9!!! %lans to
send %eo%le to #ars without rel&ing on the resour$es o" a state)
#r Lansdor% admits that, on hearing a,out his %lans, %eo%le-s "irst res%onse is that he must ,e $ra&)
But ,oth he and #r 2ito Dwho started his $areer as an engineer at the Jet >ro%ulsion La,orator&, J>L,
in >asadena, whi$h runs NA6A-s unmanned #ars missionsE insist the& are serious) 2e$hni$al studies
ha(e ,een done, astronaut a%%li$ations are ,eing %ro$essed and deals are ,eing signed with the "irms
that !!!9!!! the s%a$e$ra"t)
Both men are moti(ated ,& "rustration with go(ernment e""orts, whi$h ha(e gone around in $ir$les8
and not or,ital ones8!!!10!! de$ades) *t is the stated %oli$& o" Bara$0 O,ama-s go(ernment to
send a $rewed mission to #ars in the 2030s) But gi(en the re$ent histor& o" NA6A as a %oliti$al
"oot,all Dthe Feorge Bushes senior and <unior ,oth %ro%osed similar missions that went nowhereE,
and gi(en looming $uts to its ,udget, "ew thin0 su$h a mission will !!!11!!! ha%%en) As #r 2ito
!!!12!!! when he announ$ed *ns%iration #arsG :the wa& we-re going, we-ll ne(er get started)=
1an3do tal0 !!!13!!!, there are good reasons "or s$e%ti$ism) 6ending %eo%le to #ars will ,e
e'tremel& di""i$ultH "ar harder than sending them to the #oon) 4or one thing, #ars is !!!15!!!
"arther awa&) 2he A%ollo missions too0 three da&s to get there, ,ut "light times to #ars are measured
in months) 2hat would reIuire an !!!1@!!! relia,le s%a$e$ra"t) 2he (ast distan$e im%oses a
$ommuni$ation dela&, too) !!!16!!!the A%ollo astronauts $ould tal0 to their ground3,ased
$ontrollers more or less in real time, #artian astronauts would "a$e dela&s o" u% to 50 minutes
,etween as0ing a Iuestion and getting an answer)
And s%ending months in dee% s%a$e would e'%ose a $rew to a $hun0& dose o" radiation) *n"ormation
"rom the Curiosity ro(er-s "light to #ars, !!!1B!!! in Science, suggests a $rew $ould e'%e$t a
radiation dose $lose to the ma'imum li"etime limit "or NA6A-s astronauts) *" the sun !!!19!!! one
o" its regular tem%er tantrums, 0nown as $oronal mass e<e$tions, whi$h %rodu$e huge ,ursts o"
ionising radiation, that limit !!!19!!! "ar e'$eeded)
:2here is nothing te$hni$all& in"easi,le a,out 2ito-s %lans,= sa&s ?o,ert Ju,rin, who runs the #ars
6o$iet&, whi$h lo,,ies "or human tri%s to #ars, and who has s%ent de$ades thin0ing a,out e'a$tl&
how su$h missions might ,e e'e$uted) #r 2ito-s team has %lent& o" te$hni$al nous, as well as a deal
with NA6A to de(elo% te$hnolog&) *t %lans to re$&$le as mu$h 0it as %ossi,le "rom the *66, whose
li"e3su%%ort s&stems !!!20!!! relia,le "or more than a de$ade)
1. a) put b) stepped c) set d) landed
2. a) since b) from c) that d) which
3. a) watch b) to watch c) watched d) watching
4. a) Therefore b) Indeed c) So d) Likewise
. a) after b) later c) since d) from
!. a) although b) though c) despite d) unlike
". a) more b) further c) far d) high
#. a) announcing b) has announced c) ha$e been announced d) ha$e
announced
%. a) will be built b) is to be built c) will build d) going to
build
1&.a) since b) from c) during d) for
11.a) ne$er b) alwa's c) actuall' d) not
12.a) said it b) got it c) told d) put it
13.a) aside b) apart c) awa' d) astra'
14.a) too b) high c) much d) too much
1.a) merel' b) barel' c) scarcel' d) utterl'
1!.a) (owe$er b) )e$ertheless c) *hereas d) +espite
1".a) has published b) to publish c) has been published d) ,ust
published
1#.a) ha$e b) had had c) were to ha$e d) be to ha$e
1%.a) had been b) would c) might be d) had
2&.a) ha$e pro$ed themsel$es b) ha$e themsel$es pro$ed
c) are pro$ed themsel$esd) ha$e been themsel$es pro$ed
ke'
1. a) put b) stepped c) set d) landed
2. a) since b) from c) that d) which
3. a) watch b) to watch c) watched d) watching
4. a) Therefore b) Indeed c) So d) Likewise
. a) after b) later c) since d) from
!. a) although b) though c) despite d) unlike
". a) more b) further c) far d) high
#. a) announcing b) has announced c) ha$e been announced d) ha$e
announced
%. a) will be built b) is to be built c) will build d) going to
build
1&. a) since b) from c) during d) for
11. a) ne$er b) alwa's c) actuall' d) not
12. a) said it b) got it c) told d) put it
13. a) aside b) apart c) awa' d) astra'
14. a) too b) high c) much d) too much
1. a) merel' b) barel' c) scarcel' d) utterl'
1!. a) (owe$er b) )e$ertheless c) *hereas d) +espite
1". a) has published b) to publish c) has been published d) ,ust
published
1#. a) ha$e b) had had c) were to ha$e d) be to ha$e
1%. a) had been b) would c) might be d) had
2&. a) ha$e pro$ed themsel$es b) ha$e themsel$es pro$ed
c) are pro$ed themsel$esd) ha$e been themsel$es pro$ed