Source: CNN
(CNN)If NASA had allowed it, astronaut Scott Kelly would have loved to climb out of the Soyuz capsule after landing on Tuesday and walked on his own, Kelly’s brother, Mark, said during a news conference on Friday.
This is exactly what would have taken place if Scott Kelly had been on a mission to Mars and landed on the red planet after six months of space flight. So far, since landing after 340 days in space, he has successfully completed every field test he’s taken, with those tests designed to simulate what astronauts landing on Mars would experience. Part of Kelly’s year-long mission in orbit consisted of experiments that will determine the program for landing humans on Mars in the future.
Scott Kelly’s takeaways from his recent mission for a successful trip to Mars involve having a robust life-support system in place, protecting the crew from radiation and creating a propulsion system that reduces the trip time.
“Going to Mars is doable,” Scott Kelly said during the NASA news conference that was also attended by his astronaut twin brother. “We’re close enough that if we make the choice, I think we can do it.”
Kelly’s capsule landed upright on dry land, meaning he had to maneuver himself halfway out of the capsule before he could be helped out, but he’s convinced that leaving the capsule would be easier on Mars due to the fact that the planet has less gravity.
Kelly estimates that during his near year on the International Space Station, he spent six months of that time in the personal crew quarters and talking on the phone, emailing, taking photos of Earth, reading and catching up on TV shows and movies. Those normal activities and keeping himself task-oriented each day were key to maintaining his sanity, he said. The craft that takes the inaugural crew to Mars will involve even tighter quarters than the ISS.
“If you’re going to Mars in a smaller vehicle than the space station and living practically on top of one another, having that space that (the astronauts) spend so much time in is very, very important,” Scott Kelly said. “You have to make it as perfect as you can, including the environment, air temperature, interfacing with the system, communication, entertainment and noise abatement because you’re sleeping, living, exercising and eating right next to each other.”
Dr. Julie Robinson, ISS program chief scientist, said that NASA would like to see 10 or 12 crew members with long-term data to be confident in knowing the risks and what’s involved for a trip to Mars. Studying the data from all of the physiological and medical tests from Kelly’s duration in space and the months after is just the first step in this direction.
Of the 450 investigations that took place on the ISS during Kelly’s mission, 18 were research on human reactions and functions. The others covered everything from how stem cells and worms respond to space to technology demonstrations to the burning of various fuels and liquids.
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