Buzz Aldrin opens Florida institute dedicated to colonizing Mars

[Elderberry]

Digital Trends By Kelly Hodgkins — Updated June 20, 2017

The race to reach Mars is heating up with Buzz Aldrin launching the new Buzz Aldrin Space Institute, whose primary goal is to encourage research that leads to the future settlement of Mars. The institute will be located at Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), where Aldrin will join the faculty as a Research Professor of Aeronautics and assume the role of Senior Faculty Advisor for the Institute.

The Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 astronaut is no stranger to Mars. Shortly after his retirement from NASA and the Air Force, Aldrin began crafting a master plan to reach the red planet. His original plan called for the use of the Aldrin Mars Cycler, a spacecraft system that would provide regular flights between Earth and Mars. Aldrin has refined his ideas over the years and holds three patents related to space flight. He now brings his knowledge and experience to FIT, which will promote his Cycling Pathways to Occupy Mars concept. This proposal calls for progressively challenging missions starting with smaller entities such as asteroids and eventually leading to a surface landing on Mars.

More: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/buzz-aldrin-mars-florida/

[Elderberry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCVfUlFZQ4U

[Gefn]

Buzz Aldrin is my favorite astronaut 

[kevindavis007]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47LEbHA6cIE



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[Elderberry]

Earth Mars Cycler Trajectories
ASEN5050 Research Paper
Nathan Shupe

Abstract

In the final few pages of his 1989 novel Men from Earth, Buzz Aldrin briefly discussed the idea of using Earth‐Mars trajectories requiring small or no propulsive maneuvers, which he called cycler trajectories, for transporting astronauts from the Earth to Mars.  Although NASA’s current plan for future manned missions to Mars favors a Earth‐Moon trajectory followed by a Moon‐Mars trajectory, the lower cost option of cyclic trajectories may become more favorable if budget constraints become more restrictive in the future.  For this reason, interest still remains today in investigating optimal solutions to this trajectory problem.  Since Aldrin first introduced the concept of an Earth‐Mars cycler orbit repeating every synodic period, a number of studies have expanded upon his original work to construct trajectories in addition to the original Aldrin cycler.

  This paper reviews one of the more recently discovered  Earth‐Mars cycler trajectories and as an extension investigates a possible modification to the original Aldrin cycler to make it a more favorable candidate for Earth‐Mars missions.

http://ccar.colorado.edu/asen5050/projects/projects_2008/shupe_report/shupe_report.pdf

[Oceander]

What about setting up long-term craft that perpetually cycle through these orbits and then individual missions can hop on and off the closest cycler craft as it approaches Earth and ride it to Mars, or vice versa, like having a bus line set up. 

[Elderberry]

What about setting up long-term craft that perpetually cycle through these orbits and then individual missions can hop on and off the closest cycler craft as it approaches Earth and ride it to Mars, or vice versa, like having a bus line set up.

That's what the Aldrin or other Cycler is all about.

[Oceander]

That's what the Aldrin or other Cycler is all about.

So you would have a fleet of vehicles constantly cycling through?

[Elderberry]

So you would have a fleet of vehicles constantly cycling through?

Why not?  Start with one. You could start it out with only a couple of modules. Later on, more modules could be added. Then add more cyclers and space them out.  Later you could have some for other planets as well.

So what if if can't get to Mars in 40 days.

[Oceander]

Why not?  Start with one. You could start it out with only a couple of modules. Later on, more modules could be added. Then add more cyclers and space them out.  Later you could have some for other planets as well.

So what if if can't get to Mars in 40 days.

I think it would make a lot of sense to have a fleet in constant orbit.

[Elderberry]

I think it would make a lot of sense to have a fleet in constant orbit.

The trans-solarsystem railroad.

[kevindavis007]

The trans-solarsystem railroad.

Having the cycler that Buzzed proposed is not a bad idea.  Once we do build the Cycler, it will get faster and bigger. I'm beginning to question Zurbin's Mars Direct approach. However, I think both plans can be combined.


A Cycler to and from Mars would be ideal and not cramped.

[SunkenCiv]

In the final few pages of his 1989 novel Men from Earth, Buzz Aldrin briefly discussed the idea of using Earth-Mars trajectories requiring small or no propulsive maneuvers, which he called cycler trajectories, for transporting astronauts from the Earth to Mars.  Although NASA’s current plan for future manned missions to Mars favors a Earth-Moon trajectory followed by a Moon-Mars trajectory, the lower cost option of cyclic trajectories may become more favorable if budget constraints become more restrictive in the future.  For this reason, interest still remains today in investigating optimal solutions to this trajectory problem.  Since Aldrin first introduced the concept of an Earth-Mars cycler orbit repeating every synodic period, a number of studies have expanded upon his original work to construct trajectories in addition to the original Aldrin cycler. This paper reviews one of the more recently discovered  Earth-Mars cycler trajectories and as an extension investigates a possible modification to the original Aldrin cycler to make it a more favorable candidate for Earth-Mars missions.

Buzz -- Doctor Rendezvous -- is a national treasure, as well as a national hero.

The Aldrin Cycler won't be built in his lifetime, probably, and *may* become an operational reality -- probably using all the known trajectories, and any discovered in the future -- if Mars colonization becomes a reality.  There really needs to be catch as well as pitch, such that the initial boost from Earth and rendezvous with a cycler is met at the Mars end by some sort of shuttling vehicle system.

The initial cost, plus the cost of keeping the groceries stock and preventive maintenance, might be able to be amortized over a long enough service lifetime to become the cheapest way there.  It's hard to believe it will stay that way, as travel volume continues to increase with no increase in cycler capacity.

[Meldrew]

I'm bummed!  I'd have thought he would have worn his "Get your ass to Mars!" t-shirt.

[Suppressed]

Buzz Aldrin is my favorite astronaut 

@Freya

Yeah, Buzz is a great one, but I have to say Harrison "Jack" Schmitt is mine.   The only scientist we've sent beyond low earth orbit!



"Oh, dadgummit!" --Jack Schmitt, after dropping a bag of rocks, followed by falling on his face. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvzxaqN27rs

"Oh, sh*t!" --Jack Schmitt, after dropping a bag of rocks, but forgetting the mic was open!

Here he is, throwing his geology hammer... gotta love that glee...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vym-AqroYGA



Trying to kick a rock down a hill...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-q0SD7cioY

[rodamala]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCVfUlFZQ4U

Childsplay!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EhMom-wAzE

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

The Falcon 9 (on the right, below) has launched a number of payloads, in one case for a second time.  A number have successfully landed after launch.  Meanwhile, Jeff and his Blue Origin hasn't orbited so much as a ball bearing (to borrow a phrase I saw this morning), but has test launched and landed their small test bed booster (on the left, below) four times, up and down.

[SunkenCiv]

Buzz Aldrin is my favorite astronaut 

Yeah, Buzz is a great one, but I have to say Harrison "Jack" Schmitt is mine.   The only scientist we've sent beyond low earth orbit!

I have two -- Buzz, and Alan Shepard.  Due to uncertainty over craft reliability, the last chimp to space replaced Shepard, otherwise he'd have gone up before Gagarin.  Besides being the first American in space, by dumb luck (Meniere's Syndrome, okay, not exactly good luck) he got bumped from Apollo 14 to Apollo 13, thus was able to land on the Moon.  During the 14 mission, docking of the command module with the lunar module didn't go smoothly, and he said, if there's a problem, I'll suit up and dock them together by hand.  Mission Control made them undock and redock, to make sure there were no more serious problems.

Later, during the descent to the Moon, radar altimetry failed; after cycling a few times, it started working, but the belief has been that he wasn't going to get within a few measly thousands of feet and *not land*.  Shepard did his manual landing, closer to the intended point than any other Apollo mission.  AFAIK, Shepard never gave an affirmative comment about whether he would have let the malfunctioning radar stop him.

Shepard also most famously hit a golf ball on the Moon.  In the aftermath of watching the ball seem to drift endlessly (it travelled about 50 feet) he managed to forget some film canisters there on the surface -- bringing those back someday will really confound the "Moon landing hoax" nitwiits.

His 14 crew called him "Fearless Leader"; by his own report, after he descended the ladder to the lunar surface for the first time, and looked up at the Earth in the black sky, the Fearless Leader stood and wept.