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Tito Wants to Send Married Couple on Mars Flyby Mission
An artist’s concept of how the spacecraft for the Inspiration Mars Foundation’s “Mission for America” might be configured. Credit: Inspiration Mars.
Millionaire space tourist Dennis Tito announced his plans for funding a commercial mission to Mars, and the mission will send two professional crew members – one man and one woman who will likely be a married couple – flying as private citizens on a “fast, free-return” mission, passing within 100 miles of Mars before swinging back and safely returning to Earth. The spacecraft will likely be tinier than a small Winnebago recreational vehicle. Target launch date is Jan. 5, 2018.
That date was picked because of the unique window of opportunity when the planets align for a 501-day mission to Mars and back.
It’s a really long road trip and you’re jammed into an RV and you can’t get out. There’s no microgravity, there’s no up and down so you can use all the walls and ceilings. 3,000 lbs of dehydrated food that they rehydrate with the same water over and over that will be recycled.
“If we don’t seize the moment, we might miss the chance to become a multi-planet species,” Tito said at a webcast announcing the mission, “and if we don’t do that, one day humanity might cease to exist.”
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Read the rest of Tito Wants to Send Married Couple on Mars Flyby Mission (878 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. |
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Post tags: Commercial Space, Human Space Flight, Inspiration Mars, Mars, Missions
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2013-02-27 12:02:21
Source: http://www.universetoday.com/100339/tito-wants-to-send-married-couple-on-mars-flyby-mission/
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