NASA's mission to Mars - Andrzej M Stewart (USA)

Andrzej Stewart, who was originally from the UK, reminded us that man had only left earth to travel to the moon and back under the Apollo programme. He showed several photos of earth taken at this time. He also showed pictures taken from the International Space station.

So far only robots have been to Mars. It takes around two and a half years to get there and back. He told us about 2 studies he had been involved in to see if it was possible to send humans to Mars. The crew members are placed in pods in hostile environments and have a whole year in isolation. Everything is made as realistic as possible. If a crew member wishes to go outside a space suit must be worn. They have limited power and fuel. A major problem astronauts would have on Mars is that radio signals take anything from 3 to 20 minutes, depending on their relative positions, to travel from Mars to Earth. This make communications extremely difficult. There is no way round this problem.

Filling their time was a problem. They watched films, played instruments and even learned foreign languages to pass the time. Food was very monotonous, but they did grown some of their own in the very limited space available.

Altogether it was a fascinating talk. Following questions the club’s vote of thanks was given by Lindsay Craig.