Follow-Up Roundup

Many of the stories I’ve previously covered on Sword of Science have resurfaced in the news within the past couple of weeks, too many to give each of them the full attention they deserve. I’ve compiled a number of links to the latest information on these topics, together with the links to the original SoS articles. Catching up seems like a fine way to spend a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon.

The proposed Mars One lander, which would be the first private mission to Mars. Courtesy of the Mars One Foundation.

The Arctic 30 – Although all of the 30 Greenpeace activists arrested by Russian authorities during a protest of Arctic drilling have been released on bail, the international group has been ordered to remain in Russia during the legal proceedings. Russia’s decision is in direct conflict with that of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, who ruled in late November that the 30 should be allowed to leave the country and that their ship, the Arctic Sunrise, should also be released.

Mars One – The private Mars colonization project has announced plans for an unmanned mission to the planet in 2018 that will prepare the way for its eventual astronauts. The aerospace firms Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. have signed agreements with Mars One, which plans to fund the mission largely through selling corporate sponsorships of its spacecraft and advertising rights to its broadcasts.

3-D Firearms – On Monday, the Senate passed an extension to the Undetectable Firearms Act, which outlaws the sale, manufacture or possession of firearms that can escape the notice of scanning technology. Congress debated the strength of the act in light of advancements in 3-D printing; although current printed gun designs call for the inclusion of some metal, these parts can be easily removed to make the firearms completely undetectable.

NSA Surveillance – The revelations of former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden continued last week with documents suggesting that the NSA conducted operations inside virtual gaming worlds such as those of World of Warcraft and Second Life. The agency claims that terrorists could use the communication functions of these games to plan operations in secrecy, but none of the leaked documents indicate that any actual terrorist activity was foiled.

Sea World and “Blackfish” – The animal rights group PETA staged a protest of SeaWorld’s float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, hoping to bring visibility to the theme park’s mistreatment of killer whales as outlined in the documentary “Blackfish.” Although the mass of protesters stayed behind the crowd barricades, 12-year-old Rose McCoy leapt into the path of the float to chant “Boycott SeaWorld” before police removed her from the route. At the park itself, a number of high-profile musicians such as the Barenaked Ladies and Willie Nelson have canceled shows in light of the film.

The Species Has Spoken – Mars One

On July 21, 2011, the space shuttle Atlantis successfully touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bringing its mission, along with that of NASA’s manned spaceflight program, to a close. For nearly two years, U.S. astronauts have resorted to hitching rides on the Russian Soyuz rocket, while U.S. satellites and International Space Station components have been ferried to orbit by private companies like SpaceX. In NASA’s defense, its recent unmanned missions, like the bold landing of the Curiosity Mars rover or the ion-propelled Dawn asteroid probe, have pushed the envelope of science and engineering. Yet after Congress cut funding for the Constellation program, NASA’s planned successor to the shuttle program, in response to a tightening budget, the prospects of human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit have seemed rather unlikely.

Astronaut hopefuls may yet have another ticket to the Red Planet in the Dutch non-profit organization Mars One. Its founder, Bas Lansdorp, recently gave a TED talk outlining his ambitious goal: the establishment of a permanent human settlement on Mars by 2023. In contrast with the scuttled Constellation program, Mars One plans to assemble its hardware from existing suppliers rather than develop its own, saving significant amounts in research and development costs. The greatest savings, however, come from the mission plan itself, which includes no possibility of return for the Martian settlers. Much of the expense of spaceflight comes from the fact that a rocket must not only carry enough fuel to put its payload into orbit, but also enough fuel to get that fuel into flight.  For the Martian astronauts to return, an entire second rocket would have to be either sent into or assembled in space, safely landed on Mars, and have enough fuel to make the return trip. NASA has estimated the cost of a such journey at $100 billion; Mars One, in contrast, claims it can land its crew on the planet for a mere $6 billion.

Artist’s rendition of the Mars One colony, courtesy of Fox News.

The organization’s most revolutionary idea may be the way it plans to finance the endeavor: the creation of the most ambitious and important reality TV phenomenon in history. From crew selection and training through launch and landing, Mars One plans to televise, tweet, and post the entire course of the mission. The company has already leveraged the power of YouTube in its astronaut selection process; over 78,000 applicants have uploaded videos explaining why they should be selected for the 20 available crew slots (with an application fee of up to $73). If successful, this approach would monetize the most important intangible of space exploration, the sense of wonder inherent in the vast distances and unknown mysteries of space. Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk drew approximately 125 million viewers in the US, a 93 percent share of all TV viewers in the country; the cost of a 30 second ad for the most recent Super Bowl, with a market share of only 48 percent, was $4 million. Although some may consider it crass to advertise during the coverage of this great adventure, it seems a small price to pay to allow the mission to take place at all. Until it becomes possible to mine asteroids for platinum or other valuable metals (a possibility this blog will explore in a future post), the riches of media may prove the best way to fund the exploration of space.