Manned Mars Mission Scheduled For 2026

Dutch Company Creates Concept Spacesuit For Mission

A spacesuit has been designed for a manned mission to Mars

By JIM PURCELL

Reportedly, a robotic lander will be launched to Mars in 2020 and human's will follow in a mission now scheduled for 2026.

According to an article written by World of Tech Staff Writer Duncan Greere, a Dutch company, Mars One, has completed a study into what "potential colonists" would wear as they live on the surface of Mars.

The suit designed by Mars One would be pressurized, with an impact-resistant helmet and a modular system that allows for individual parts to be 3D-printed and actually replaced on the Martian surface. The suit could be put on a colonist in 10 minutes, if they had help, or 30 minutes, if unassisted.

The suit would allow Martian colonists to operate outdoors for at least eight hours without plugging into other systems. In addition, it would offer, at a minimum, 45 minutes of emergency life support. Reportedly, it will take the suit four hours to recharge and it would be able to operate in temperatures ranging from -128 degrees Celsius to 77 degrees Celsius.

Most importantly, the suit would shield the wearer from solar radiation and the planet's red dust. A water source and high-energy food will be included in the suit. In addition, the suit would collect human waste.

The study was carried out by Paragon Space Development Corporation, which was contracted in 2013 to develop a spacesuit for a Mars mission. Paragon's chief engineer, Barry Finger, said the suit is designed to make maximum use of Martian resources to provide a safe and comfortable environment for crew members.

Martian 'Ice Cauldron' Could Hold Secrets of Life

By JIM PURCELL

In a story by staffer Kathy Fay of The Space Reporter today, November 12, 2016, it was revealed that scientists have discovered funnel-shaped features on Mars that may, indeed, hold the ingredients needed for life to exist there.

According to EurekAlert, deep depressions on the surface of Mars were most likely created by volcanic activity beneath a glacier. Consequently, that could create a warm, wet and chemical-rich environment that could lead to microbial life.

Author Joseph Levy, who works at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, said the site could host some of the key ingredients for habitability. The largest depression is located within a crater on the edge of the Hellas basin on Mars, and it is one of a few spotted on the world's surface.

The term being given to these depressions is "ice cauldrons," which are similarly found on the earth in icy, volcanic areas like Iceland and Greenland. Levy said they are concentrically fractured so they appear like bulls-eyes.

Further analysis by researchers has reportedly shown that the formations were likely made by subsurface activity. The study was published by Icarus, the International Jounral of Solar Systems Studies.