US unveils Orion spacecraft to take crew to Mars

NASA gave visitors to the National Mall in Washington a peek at a full-size mock-up of the spacecraft designed to carry U.S. astronauts back to the moon and then on to Mars one day.

The U.S. Navy-built Orion crew exploration vehicle will replace the space shuttle NASA plans to retire in 2010, and become the cornerstone of the agency's Constellation Program to explore the moon, Mars and beyond.

"We're just very proud to build this, do some testing and demonstrate to America that we're moving beyond the space shuttle onto another generation of spacecraft," said Don Pearson, project manager for the Post-Landing Orion Recovery Test or PORT.

NASA plans to use Orion to carry astronauts to the International Space Station by 2015. The capsule will rotate the crew at the station every six months "to work out the kinks" before heading to the moon and Mars, Pearson said.

Trips to the moon are scheduled for 2020, while a journey to Mars is believed possible by the mid-2030s.

The design of Orion was based on the Apollo spacecraft, which first took Americans to the moon. Although similar in shape, Orion is larger, able to carry six crew members rather than three, and builds on 1960s technology to make it safer.

'WE WANT TO GO TO MARS'

Orion is named for a bright constellation that got its designation from a hunter in ancient Greek mythology.

"The reason we're doing all of this is because we want to go to Mars," Pearson said.

But a round trip to the red planet would require three years -- six to nine months to get there and much of the rest of the time waiting for the planets to realign to allow for entry back to Earth.

"We're not confident in our technology yet to be able to last for three years without things breaking that are unrepairable," Pearson said.

So NASA plans to first take several trips to the moon, a journey of just three days. Each visit will last six months while astronauts set up a campsite and practice the things they want to do on Mars.

"That's really the goal -- to put humans on Mars, and going to the moon is our testing ground in order to do it," Pearson explained.

The $2 million PORT project will make sure that crew members can be rescued from the choppy waters of the Atlantic in case of an emergency requiring an aborted launch, using the full-scale, 18,000-pound (8,000 kg) model of Orion.

On April 6, the capsule will be dumped into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, using one of the ships that usually recover rocket boosters from shuttle launches. Instruments within the capsule will measure the acceleration and tilting astronauts would experience upon landing in waves

Six people selected for Mars flight simulation experiment

Six people have been selected by scientists at the Moscow-based Russian Institute of Medical and Biological Problems. They will take part in a 105-day experiment to simulate a flight to Mars.

Four Russians - astronauts Oleg Artemyev, Sergei Ryazansky, Alexei Baranov, a doctor, and sports physiologist Alexei Shpakov - and two members of the European Space Agency, France's Cyrille Fournier, a civilian pilot, and Germany's Oliver Knickel, a mechanical engineer, will take part in the experiment.

Initially, six Russians and four Europeans wanted to participate in the institute's project.

All participants will receive 15,500 euros (USD 20,000) each, Institute spokesman Mark Belakovsky said.

Institute Director Igor Ushakov said the 105-day trial is a continuation of the 14-day experiment of November 2007 and precedes the main event, a 520-day simulation flight due to start in late 2009.

The 520-day experiment will simulate all aspects of the journey including the 250-day one-way trip to the Red Planet, a 30-day stay on its surface, and the 240-day return flight.

During nearly two years of isolation, crew members will experience many of the conditions likely to be encountered by astronauts on a real space flight.

They will stick to a rigid daily regime of work, rest and exercise, and follow the diet of crews aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA, Google launches Mars in 3D

NASA and Google Inc have launched a new version of Google Earth on 2nd February that allows users to explore the oceans, view images of Mars and watch regions of the Earth change over time.

The new features mark a significant upgrade to Google Earth, a popular software program that provides access to the world's geographical information through digital maps, satellite imagery and the company's search tools.

Google Earth 5.0 was unveiled at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, where former Vice President Al Gore, singer Jimmy Buffet and others spoke about its capacity to educate the public about global warming, ocean acidification and other threats to the planet.

"This is an extremely powerful educational tool," said Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work raising awareness about climate change. "One of my fondest hopes is that people around the world will use Google Earth to see for themselves the reality of what's happening because of the climate crisis."

Google Earth has been downloaded more than 500 million times since it was launched in 2005. The software is available for free on Google's Web site. Researchers and organizations can purchase a more powerful version for $400.

John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps aid: ”the idea of adding oceans came three years ago when a scientist pointed out that the software was missing the water that covers almost three-quarters of the Earth's surface.

NASA and Google, Inc. have teamed up to build the ultimate atlas for Mars fans eager to explore the red planet in three-dimensional detail while keeping their feet firmly on Earth.

Google Mars 3D, a new mode included in Google's latest version of Google Earth software, allows users to tap into high-resolution and three-dimensional views of Martian terrain from the comfort of their own personal computer.

The mode, which relies on NASA data and imagery from the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and other spacecraft, is designed so users can "fly" through Martian canyons in a virtual mode and see the red planet's surface through the camera eyes of those long-lived NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity, as well as other Mars missions.

The new Mars mode also includes a sharing feature so users can add their own 3D content to the Mars map for all to see.

NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., collaborated with Google to build the new Google Mars 3D mode. In addition to NASA data, the software includes data produced by researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University, SETI Institute and other organizations