Mars trip could boost Ames Mars trip could boost Ames (January 23, 2004)

Local NASA Center might play role in president's plan to visit red planet

By Dan Stapleton

With President Bush calling for significant increases in NASA funding, Ames Center Director Scott Hubbard showed how the extra money could be utilized locally.

In a media roundtable discussion a day after the President's announcement on Jan. 14, Hubbard was optimistic that Ames will play an important role in the president's ambitious vision.

In addition to a $1 billion increase over five years, Bush's proposal calls for redirecting $11 billion from other NASA programs to pay for sending a manned expedition to Mars.

He plans to also fund development of a vehicle to replace the aging shuttle fleet, the completion of the International Space Station by 2010 and to put a base on the moon by 2015.

Exactly what this means for Ames won't be certain until the president releases his detailed budget proposal on Feb. 3, but Hubbard said the local NASA center will be involved.

"Everything we do is very well aligned with this vision," said Hubbard. "We are the place for biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology." Ames is one of two NASA centers that concentrate on these fields, all of which are essential to the space program.

The current Mars rover Spirit and its twin Opportunity, which is scheduled to touch down at a separate location on Mars on Jan. 24, both use heat-shielding technology developed and tested by Ames. Heat shields protect a spacecraft as it falls to a planet's surface, facing temperatures of more than 2,600 F.

In addition, Ames is currently working to use nanotechnology to create new lightweight heat-resistant materials, which would reduce the cost of launching spacecraft. Advanced heat shielding will be a crucial part of developing a new manned space vehicle.

Ames is also researching how humans react to prolonged exposure to solar radiation and low gravity, conditions they would face during an extended trip in space.

While Hubbard is hopeful that a portion of the additional NASA funding will come directly to Ames, he said he isn't waiting around for it. "One of the goals I've had here at the center for the past 15 years is to expand Ames through collaboration," he said. Since 2000, Ames has entered into collaborative arrangements with UC Santa Cruz and Carnegie Mellon University's computer science school to develop new technologies.

Although $11 billion could be reallocated to support the new plan, Hubbard said he isn't concerned about money being shifted away from Ames. "There will be some adjustments, there's no doubt about that," he said, adding that Bush's interest in developing new and innovative technologies should protect Ames' budget.

While previous talk of manned missions to Mars have been too ambitious, Hubbard continued, the president's proposal shows a logical progression of technological development that makes such a trip feasible. And he knows NASA is up to the task. "This is why people came to NASA: to explore," Hubbard said.

But before the plan can be put into action, it must make it through Congress, where NASA funding has been viewed as frivolous and expendable by many. Hubbard thinks the president will fight to keep his vision alive.

"I think he believes in this," he said. "Out of all the things he could put his support behind, he chose NASA."

E-mail Dan Stapleton at intern@mv-voice.com

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