So as of yesterday I am retired, had a 37+ year career working in #NASA human spaceflight, Space Shuttle and then the #Orion spacecraft. I set my retirement date in the hope that the #Artemis 2 mission, Orion’s first crewed flight, would have completed by then but Feb launch was delayed and by “cosmic coincidence” Artemis 2 finally launched yesterday - my final day. Very proud of all my colleagues and all the hard work we’ve done to get to this point. Onward to the #moon - and beyond. Ad astra.

@Trilobyter

"None of the current space craft intended to ferry human beings back and forth to Mars are realistic fellow citizens.

And the problem is gravity.

Just imagine, because of the lack of gravity the occupants of the ISS must exercise for hours a day just to survive for a few months, and still return to Earth unable to walk.

A true interplanetary craft must create artificial gravity, and the only way we know to do that is via centrifugal force.

But the spaceships we see in movies, where there is some part that spins around another, are also unrealistic and unnecessary.

Unrealistic because such a craft would be unacceptably subject to mechanical failure, and unnecessary because all we need do is spin the entire ship.

However such a ship must be built in space, as the most simple and efficient shape is a wheel and could not be launched from Earth.

Think of it as a space station from a 1950s movie, tilted to the side with a rocket/ion engine in the center. The wheel would spin to create gravity as the engines propelled it towards its destination.

Primitive interplanetary travel can and must be accomplished now my friends.

But thus far we are pursuing a path destined for certain failure."
SearingTruth

@SearingTruth I agree that in the long run, if and when we are able to move people in large numbers between the earth and Mars or beyond, will need to utilize spin-gravity spacecraft, but for initial exploratory missions spacecraft like Orion (with a large habitation module attached) & Starship will suffice. But by far the worst problem & danger to humans will be the radiation exposure during months-long transits. We do not have a good solution for that - yet.

@Trilobyter

The moon will teach us the truth fellow citizen @Trilobyter

But sadly many will have to suffer and die before we admit it.

4 days on the orbiting space station, and 3 days on whatever planet we are orbiting..

At most.
ST

"Seeds in bloody ground. I have always wondered what they were."
SearingTruth