Posted on 08/29/2005 7:11:36 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Future astronauts sent on long duration flights to Mars or beyond will have to worry about more risks than merely launching into space and reentering planetary atmospheres safely.
Space radiation, prolonged exposure to weightlessness and the psychological impact of extended confinement inside a space ship are just some of the challenges detailed in Naked Science: Spacemen (9 p.m. EDT, National Geographic Channel).
While much of the material covered in Spacemen may seem old hat to dedicated followers of NASA’s space exploration efforts, the program provides a basic primer of the fundamental obstacles facing astronauts in Earth orbit today and in the future.
The one-hour program centers around a fictional colonization mission to another world, necessary after our own Earth has grown too uninhabitable to sustain life, to convey its message. Such planets could be found by the Terrestrial Planet Finder – actually two different space telescopes which NASA hopes to launch between 2014 and 2020.
Spacemen touches on everything from antimatter and solar sails to controlled nuclear explosions – illustrated by a nifty video of NASA’s Project Orion tests that used conventional explosives to lift a mock payload – as potential propulsion methods for a multi-generational spacecraft required to make the long trip between planets.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
That would be considered, in the business world, a day late and a dollar short.
It aired tonight? Frak! I missed it, maybe they'll play it again later this week.
Frak is right... It will be on again.. Have to look for it...
Ever jump over a hurdle while carrying an anti-gravity device?
Just be careful about leaping too high.
Is there a transcript anywhere -- I don't get National Geographic Channel?
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