America's quest for the Red Planet involves Huntsville in a big way (editorial)
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama _ There are some who still believe the moon landing was a hoax.
So to many, the idea of landing on Mars or an asteroid might seem even more far-fetched.
It's going to happen one day. The only question is when.
Today's planned test of a powerful J-2X rocket engine at the Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi marks a major step in that process.
NASA engineers are going for a full burn - 500 seconds - the duration of a real mission. The J-2X is a survivor of the now defunct Constellation rocket program and it will power the upper stage of the heavy-lift rocket NASA is charged with developing for missions to deep space.
That stage holds the Orion crew capsule after it separates from the booster-equipped first stage. The Orion is well under development under the management of the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Marshall Space Flight Center is managing the J-2X project being developed by Pratt & Whitney Rockedyne in California as part of Marshall's role over the complete propulsion system.
The United States can't pull a Mars mission off alone. It's going to take the cooperation of a host of countries that value the spinoffs that would come from such an endeavor.
The international community is already doing its part.
Just last week, a crew of six men emerged from 520 uninterrupted days in a mock spacecraft in Russia. The "spaceship" had sealed windows, delayed communication to the outside, and a self-contained food supply to simulate isolationism.
The team consisted of one Chinese, one Italian, one Frenchman and three Russians.
A team of "Aquanauts" splashed down Oct. 20 to an undersea lab in the Atlantic Ocean for a 13-day mission to learn more about working in a weightless environment. That mission was cut short for safety concerns from an approaching hurricane.
And just last month, an international team of five "astronauts" worked a week in an isolated cave on an Italian island in the Mediterranean to simulate harsh, dark working conditions on Mars.
Meanwhile, probes continue to be launched to Mars to map potential landing spots and help scientists learn more about the Red Planet. Mars rovers continue to beam back images.
Back on Earth, research is being conducted on ways to grow food in space, understand the long-term effects of weightlessness on the body, and devise planet liftoff systems for the return.
A year and a half-long Mars voyage would require too much food and water to launch, so spacefarers will have to grow their own and recycle rinse water and even urine to have enough drinking water.
Alabama's Tuskegee University, using a NASA grant, conducted extensive experiments finding ways to grow sweet potatoes, peanuts and other vegetables in a process called hydroponics that doesn't use soil. Scientists say the sweet potato is particularly important because it's packed with nutrients that counteract the effects of extended periods of weightlessness. Not to mention its spinoff concoctions like flours, syrups - even ice cream and a breakfast juice.
We've conquered the moon. It's time to expand our horizons into deep space. NASA is helping us do that - one spud, one space probe and one rocket test at a time.