Очень интересная статья.
http://spacedaily.com/news/mars-future-05e.html
Going To Mars In Earth Orbit
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As Wernher von Braun wrote in 1954, "No expedition (to the moon or planets) can be made until after at least a temporary manned space station has been put together in an orbit around the Earth, for the space station is, in a manner of speaking, the springboard for longer trips."
Or, to put it another way, you cannot learn the consequences of spending several years in space until you have spent several years in space. Before the first pioneers can board a spaceborne fleet heading out across the vast black ocean between the planets, their precursors must spend decades in low-Earth orbit, with the blue-white glittering home planet never more than a few hundred miles away.
This is a fact the Russians have understood since the 1970s, which explains their long-term commitment to building better and better space stations.
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Unfortunately, the United States does not possess the same clarity of purpose when it comes to the ISS. For example, NASA's own specifications for its crew exploration vehicle - the manned spacecraft that is supposed to replace the shuttle fleet and usher in the exploration of the solar system under Bush's space vision - do not even require proposed designs to include a station-docking capability.
What the Russians know, and the Americans keep forgetting, is a journey to Mars is no cakewalk. Even if a crew merely flew by the red planet, the shortest possible route would require at least a year. More likely, such voyages will last anywhere from two years to four years, allowing time for crews to land on the planet and conduct extensive reconnaissance.
Consider the technical difficulties of such a journey. Not only must the interplanetary spacecraft function far longer than any previous vehicle, it also must do so millions of miles away from any possibility of repair or rescue. Its crew must maintain and repair it, should anything fail. The craft must be able to recycle its air and water continuously for years at a time. Its environment also must be comfortable enough to allow the crew to stay sane during their long and isolated experience.
With their Salyut and Mir space stations, the Russians have solved some of these technical problems. Mir, for example, operated safely in low-Earth orbit for 15 years. Both its water and oxygen were mostly closed systems and recyclable. In fact, the same systems, only slightly updated, are being used on the ISS today as part of the station's Russian half.
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Up to now, the longest mission the U.S. and Russia have attempted on the ISS has lasted just over six months, and the longest both nations have tried to operate the station without resupply is about three months. Though the Russians have offered to fly year-long missions, NASA has balked, citing safety concerns.
If the agency is serious about its effort to explore the solar system, it is going to have to change its tune and agree to longer missions aboard the station in order to unravel the related engineering and medical problems.
Last, there is the station itself. To put it bluntly, there is little difference between an Earth-orbiting space station and an interplanetary spaceship. In fact, once you build a habitable station in orbit - capable of keeping humans alive for years at a time - there really is no reason to use it only as a research lab or a base of operations.
Instead, it makes more sense - particularly considering the cost and difficulty of building it in the first place - to turn the thing into a spaceship for transporting people to other planets.
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This might also explain why the Russians are building their half of ISS to be as self-contained as possible. Once complete - coincidentally in 2010 - they will have achieved the ability to detach it from the U.S. half of the station and fly it independently. With relatively little tweaking, they also will be able to transform it from a boring space station into Mir-2, an interplanetary spaceship heading toward a fly-by of Mars.
What NASA would do with its half of ISS in such a situation, however, appears far less clear.
А что, если в этом и состоит тайный умысел? Достроят ISS, отсоединят российскую половину, и слетают на ней до Марса. Садиться на Марс не будут, просто долетят, сделают десяток витков - обратно. Полгода туда, полгода обратно - вполне реально. Если афишировать подготовку не будут, получится забавный сюрприз. NASA будет в полном шоке.
MaxSt.
War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
