24 October 2013
A colony on Mars? Applications are now being accepted
from would-be volunteers. From these, four colonists will be chosen for a
one way trip to the red planet. No, this isn’t a NASA Project. The
project belongs to a Dutch company, “Mars One.” So, when are the
colonists scheduled to leave? About 20 years from now.
When you consider that the estimated cost will be 6 billion
dollars, you wonder how “Mars One” is planning to finance the project.
With a reality TV show. But there’s yet another twist to the
financing. The 6 billion dollars will be raised by selling sponsorship/advertising
for a reality TV show. The show will be televised from Mars and star the four
“lucky” colonists who “won” their one-way ticket to the red planet.
Who would want to go on a one-way trip to Mars — 20 years
from now? Surprisingly, a lot of people — about 100,000 applicants, to
date, have paid the $38 dollar application fee – each hoping (1) to pass the
fitness screening required to be eligible to make the trip and (2) to win the
final selection lottery and be one of the four “lucky” colonists. I’d
like to call this “a plan,” but I’m not holding my breath. It would take
something more before I’d take a Martian colonial adventure seriously. [1]
But, then, “something more” happened. Bumble
bees and Wheeko, a robotic snake, volunteered for a mission to Mars. This
was a game-changer. I knew these were real contenders for a successful
colonial mission.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that Bumbles and Robo-snake were
being seriously considered by NASA and the ESA, respectively, rather than “Mars
One.” It also didn’t hurt that both Bumbles and Robo-snake are uniquely
fitted to be Martian colonists.
In fact, a study published in Gravitational and Space
Biology has demonstrated that bumblebees have “the right stuff.” [image]
These, rather rotund, wild bees forage for food in the same wild grass and
brush in which they build their nests. I’m sure that, at first, no one
saw them as particularly obvious candidates for a trip to Mars. But,
then, NASA identified an atmospheric pressure of 52 kilopascals (kPa) as “the
ideal” for extraterrestrial facilities. That’s a rather low pressure
compared to earth’s normal sea level pressure of 101 kPa. The search was
on for fit space travelers and Martian colonists. And “Bumbles” made the
cut, and then some. [2]
While the bumble bee’s cousin, the familiar hive-dwelling
honeybee, not only stopped working, but completely lost the ability to fly at
an atmospheric pressure of 66.5 kPa, the bumble bee not only thrived at the
lower 52 kPa atmospheric pressure, but continued its work, pollinating plants
and collecting honey, at its usual pace.
When the pressure was dropped below 50 kPa, “Bumbles”
continued to work, but at a slower pace. Then, when the pressure was dropped to
30 kPa, the bumble bees lost their ability to fly but, with an amazing display
of mettle, these bees kept on working — foraging, pollinating, and gathering
honey, more or less, on foot – crawling from bloom to bloom. I think this
the kind of bee we need to conquer the Final Frontier. [3]
Robo-Snake, on the other hand, has the obvious advantage of
being a robot. [image] So, those conditions
necessary for the survival of a biological organism are of little importance to
this candidate. However, Robo-Snake is an odd contender, because he is
being considered . . . before he exists.
Although the ESA (European Space Agency) is, more or less,
including Robo-Snake as a crew member on an upcoming mission to Mars, this
particular robotic crew member has not been developed yet. It’s a little
strange. But, on second thought, is recruiting a nonexistent crew member
to go on a real mission to Mars any stranger than "Mars One"
recruiting real crew members to go on a nonexistent mission to Mars? [4]
No matter, Robo-Snake’s older brother is standing-in for his
sibling in futuro during the evaluation process. Big brother (named
"Wheeko") is a robotic snake that looks and moves surprisingly like a
real snake. It’s modus operandi is beyond a brief and simple description,
but one video is worth a 1,000 words. [video]
Wheeko, is composed of ten round metal balls, on the balls
are rows of what appear to be smaller balls that roll with motive power and
make Wheeko move. With a camera on its “head,” (which is the lead ball),
it makes the familiar serpentine movement of its namesake as it travels on the
ground.
Wheeko is the subject of a current feasibility study by
researchers at the SINTEF Research Institute in Norway and the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology. Until now, the primary purpose of
the development of a robotic snake was as a tool to be used on search and
rescue missions. As one of the project members, Aksel Transeth, explained,
real snakes “can climb rocks and slide through small holes.” It is hoped
that a robot with these skills could be used “to find people in a fallen
buildings.”
If Wheeko passes all the tests, what will its little
brother, the future Martian colonist, be like? Actually, little brother
will be different if for no other reason than he has a sidekick. Or, more
accurately, he will be a sidekick. But, instead of playing sidekick to
his fellow bumblebee colonists, Robo-Snake will play sidekick to the more
familiar Mars Rover. These vehicles are designed for off-roading in the
rough Martian terrain. Yet, however carefully they are directed, they do
have a tendency to get stuck.
Enter Robo-Snake. [image]
Not a lone player on the Martian surface, Robo-Snake would
be a deployable snake robot or an actual arm attached to the Mars Rover.
The Rover vehicle could detach Robo-Snake to investigate the nooks and
crannies of the terrain while allowing the Rover to maintain a safe distance
from areas in which the Rover might get stuck. And if the Rover gets
stuck, one proposed design would turn Robo-Snake into something like the
Rover’s tentacle arm. Such an amazingly versatile arm would be able to
both push and pull to extricate the Rover if caught in too tight a spot.
So, together, the bumble bees and the Robo-Snake may be the
first Martian colonists. Of course, they won’t be traveling together.
NASA is interested in “Bumbles” and the ESA is interested in Robo-Snake.
But even if they don’t share the same flight to the red planet,
they’ll probably meet when they get there. Right now, Mars isn’t that
crowded.
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