(Second of five parts)
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Preparation, former astronaut Terry Hart explained, was paramount.
Whether streaking across an azure-blue sky as an Air Force fighter pilot or blasting off into ink-black outer space on multiple space shuttle missions, Hart’s extensive training in knowing how to deal with whatever situation may arise was quite reassuring.
But as the 76-year-old Hart relaxed on a sofa in his Lower Saucon Township home, a question was posed for which he had no answer.
Because there is no definitive answer.
In 2025, NASA’s Artemis program plans to send a manned spacecraft to the moon for the first time since 1972. The astronauts would remain on the lunar surface for a week and be away from Earth for two weeks.
The greater mission — and the one in question — is NASA’s plan for a manned flight from Earth to Mars in 2033.
The 600-million-mile round trip would take an estimated 16 to 21 months, according to NASA, including a 30-day stay on the red planet.
So the unanswerable question remains: How might astronauts deal with the disconnect from family for that length of time in such an unprecedented exploration of space?
The lack of privacy and sleep disturbances are major concerns. One NASA report calculated that the minimum amount of habitable space needed for a Mars mission is 883 cubic feet per astronaut.
Months in space
Other concerns are lack of sensory stimulation and conversations only with fellow crewmates. Given the 20-minute, one-way lag in communications from Earth, the crew would have to wait 40 minutes to get a response to each message they send.
For a year and a half.
“Being up there for so long, how is there any way to prepare for that?” said Hart, a Lehigh University professor of practice in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics.
Like Lewis and Clark exploring the uncharted land west of the Mississippi River, there is no roadmap to adequately prepare for behavioral emergencies that might face a crew on a mission to Mars.
The likelihood of astronauts developing such psychological issues will increase as mission duration increases, according to a 2015 NASA report about managing health risks for spaceflight.
“When you’re on the (International) Space Station, you’re up there for a time,” said Hart, who has logged a total of 168 hours in space on multiple missions. “But you’re in constant communication with everyone. But when you go to Mars, there’s no coming back for years. That’s a lot of time away in a very confined space away from home. There’s no way to prepare for that because it’s never been done.”
Hart emphasized that regardless if the mission is to the moon or Mars, the preparation is demanding.
“I wouldn’t say it’s grueling — that’s not the right word — but you have to endure a lot to prepare for the mission,” he said. “The mission does drain you, so you have to be prepared for that psychologically.”
Preparation has proven invaluable for Hart. The Western Pennsylvania native has flown on four space shuttle missions, including one on which he used a remote robot arm to recapture a satellite that had been spinning out of control and place it into the bay of the space shuttle Challenger.
Fraught with risks
Hart is well aware of the dangers of space flight. Twenty-one months after he flew aboard Challenger in 1984, the shuttle exploded. It took the lives of the entire seven-person crew, including Commander Dick Scobee and pilot Mike Smith, close friends of Hart.
“I was at work at Bell Labs that day,” Hart said. “My secretary came in and told me it blew up. I had just talked to Dick the day before and wished him well.
“Sometimes, things bite you when you least expect it.”
The space program has been fraught with risks from the moment Alan Shepard became the first American in space in 1961. It has also been fraught with incredible financial costs.
The price tag to Mars? Transportation costs alone to return to the moon could total over $100 billion before the first Mars mission. A ballpark cost of the first Mars mission would be approximately $230 billion. Second and subsequent missions, occurring at three-year intervals, would cost about $142 billion each, according to estimates from the NASA Ames Research Center.
There exists a chorus of cries that such funding would be better spent on social programs throughout America. The climate of support was decidedly different at the dawn of America’s focus into the heavens.
“The space program back then had the advantage of President Kennedy’s commitment, that going to the moon was important to the country,” Hart said. “So that kind of helped.”
Earthrise
Hart recalled seeing the photo of Earth rising above the lunar horizon that was taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders in December 1968 on the second revolution of the moon. The photo — known as Earthrise — showed the fragility of life on Earth in a way that had never been done before. A tiny blue marble in the vast darkness of the universe.
“And I remember Anders’ quote,” Hart said. “He said, ‘We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing we discovered was the Earth.’ There was so much interest in the space program then.”
And now? America has plans to return to the moon and then Mars. Might these new voyages recapture the imagination of the country?
“I don’t think so,” Hart said. “There are many reasons why.
“I think there are so many more distractions today, so much multimedia to capture our attention here and throughout the world. And there’s not a space race with the Russians to get to the moon first like back then for people to get pumped up.
"I guess we’ll wait and see.”
COMING TOMORROW: Part III: The evolution of spacesuits — and the Delaware company that makes them.
