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Originally Posted by Kizarvexis
BigJim-- it makes sense to me that if the Moon is a tougher environment, that is a good place to test equipment, at least some of it. The environment you described sounds to me like one that I could say "Hey, if this thing works on the Moon, Mars is easy!"
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OK, it's the late 1800's and you're planning an Antarctic expedition. Do you send your dogsled to the Sahara to practice? They're both deserts.
Similarities between the moon and Mars: lower atmospheric pressure than earth, colder at night than earth, lower surface gravity than earth.
Differences between the moon and Mars: Mars has an atmosphere, Mars has twice the surface gravity of the moon, lunar dust is incredibly abrasive, Mars has lower solar insolation, shorter day/night cycle.
A vehicle designed for Mars will likely not run on the moon. A cooling system designed for Mars will likely not work on the moon. An atmosphere plant designed for Mars will likely not work on the moon. An EVA suit designed for Mars may not work on the moon. Even a nuclear reactor designed for Mars may not run on the moon (it depends on how it is cooled).
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Yep, you wouldn't necessarily test all equipment on a Moon mission, but I bet there is a lot you could test. And I just like the idea of walking before running.
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One of the things you could test would be human reaction to lunar gravity. If humans exposed to three years of lunar gravity didn't suffer the deprivations that one year of microgravity causes, we could be reasonably sure that three years of Mars gravity would be ok. On the other hand, if long term exposure to lunar gravity is bad, it doesn't tell us much about long term exposure to Mars gravity.
I'd think if we were interested in Mars that a rotating space station would be a necessary first step--we could spin it up to .4 g and see what a few years does. That would probably be cheaper than a moon base.
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Originally Posted by Emspak
Something about medical treatment, by the way-- you would expect a mission to have a doctor, and basic surgical equipment on board, no? Not enough for brain surgery, but enough to be like the mobile hospital units in the military or a trauma center.
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Well, in the article I read, the missions that were discussed only had a few people, so no doctor would be expected to be along for the ride. So development of autodocs and the like was presented as a need for long term missions.
Kizarvexis
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I don't know if that is necessary or not. The Mars crew will be cross-trained in a variety of disciplines. Some of them will be medical. They won't be able to handle everything--dental, surgery up to appendicitis, maybe. Which means that someone who got sick enough on the mission might die, whereas if they'd stayed behind on earth they would have lived.