Mars Gravity Biosatellite
Encyclopedia
The Mars Gravity Biosatellite was a project initiated in 2001 by the Mars Society
and volunteer students and staff of MIT to build a spacecraft to study the effects of Mars-level gravity on mammals. On 24 June 2009, a status report was released declaring the end of this program, due to lack of funding and shifting priorities at NASA. On 9 November 2009, Frank Stratford posted a brief message on the MarsDrive website stating that MarsDrive had taken ownership of the project and was seeking support. However, as of July 2010, there has been no further word on any continuing project activity, aside from an article in March 2010 that requested funding and other assistance.
initiative called Translife that grew out of a discussion between Robert Zubrin
and Elon Musk
. It was intended to study the effects of Mars-level gravity (about one-third that of Earth) on mammals, for which no data was available. Over the next few years, the program grew tremendously in both scope and vision, with staff and students from MIT
(Payload), UW
(Spacecraft Bus
) and UQ
(Reentry
) collaboratively designing various parts of the mission. With ongoing funding challenges, UW and UQ withdrew after several years and Georgia Institute of Technology
stepped in to build on their design work. The effort represented the most ambitious and complex student satellite project to date.
The mission was planned to carry 15 mice in low Earth orbit for five weeks. The satellite was designed to spin at approximately 32 rpm to generate centrifugal force
simulating gravity that astronauts would experience on the surface of Mars
. At the end of its mission, the satellite would reenter Earth's atmosphere and its cargo of mice would be retrieved. In 2007, a tentative launch date for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite had been set for 2010 or 2011, as the primary payload on a Falcon IE or a Minotaur IV launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. As of March 2010, MarsDrive projects a launch date between 2014 and 2016.
In 2006, the students of Mars Gravity developed a novel microfinancing platform called Your Name Into Space. This was meant to help finance the development of their spacecraft. This initiative is designed to give individuals and corporations the opportunity to fly images of their choice into orbit.
By the program's end in 2009, the project had engaged over 600 undergraduate, graduate, and high school students in aerospace engineering, space life sciences, and program management. Over 20 conference presentations and papers were published, earning multiple student awards.
In November 2009, MarsDrive
took ownership of this project, and they are now asking for support in the form of funding and research and design assistance. The project will have the same focus as before its acquisition, it will study the effects of Martian gravity on mammals.
, and changes in the inner ear
. The results from the experiment would be compared against a variety of earth based controls, including vivarium, hindlimb suspension, partial weight suspension, flight habitat effects, and short-radius centrifuge testing.
Mars Society
The Mars Society is an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin and others in 1998 and attracted the support of notable science fiction writers and filmmakers, including Kim...
and volunteer students and staff of MIT to build a spacecraft to study the effects of Mars-level gravity on mammals. On 24 June 2009, a status report was released declaring the end of this program, due to lack of funding and shifting priorities at NASA. On 9 November 2009, Frank Stratford posted a brief message on the MarsDrive website stating that MarsDrive had taken ownership of the project and was seeking support. However, as of July 2010, there has been no further word on any continuing project activity, aside from an article in March 2010 that requested funding and other assistance.
Program History and Overview
The Mars Gravity Biosatellite program began in 2001 as a Mars SocietyMars Society
The Mars Society is an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin and others in 1998 and attracted the support of notable science fiction writers and filmmakers, including Kim...
initiative called Translife that grew out of a discussion between Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct—a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission...
and Elon Musk
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is an American engineer and entrepreneur heritage best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity...
. It was intended to study the effects of Mars-level gravity (about one-third that of Earth) on mammals, for which no data was available. Over the next few years, the program grew tremendously in both scope and vision, with staff and students from MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(Payload), UW
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
(Spacecraft Bus
Satellite bus
A satellite bus or spacecraft bus is the general model on which multiple-production satellite spacecraft are often based. The bus is the infrastructure of a spacecraft, usually providing locations for the payload .They are most commonly used for geosynchronous satellites, particularly...
) and UQ
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
(Reentry
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
) collaboratively designing various parts of the mission. With ongoing funding challenges, UW and UQ withdrew after several years and Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
stepped in to build on their design work. The effort represented the most ambitious and complex student satellite project to date.
The mission was planned to carry 15 mice in low Earth orbit for five weeks. The satellite was designed to spin at approximately 32 rpm to generate centrifugal force
Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force can generally be any force directed outward relative to some origin. More particularly, in classical mechanics, the centrifugal force is an outward force which arises when describing the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame...
simulating gravity that astronauts would experience on the surface of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. At the end of its mission, the satellite would reenter Earth's atmosphere and its cargo of mice would be retrieved. In 2007, a tentative launch date for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite had been set for 2010 or 2011, as the primary payload on a Falcon IE or a Minotaur IV launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. As of March 2010, MarsDrive projects a launch date between 2014 and 2016.
In 2006, the students of Mars Gravity developed a novel microfinancing platform called Your Name Into Space. This was meant to help finance the development of their spacecraft. This initiative is designed to give individuals and corporations the opportunity to fly images of their choice into orbit.
By the program's end in 2009, the project had engaged over 600 undergraduate, graduate, and high school students in aerospace engineering, space life sciences, and program management. Over 20 conference presentations and papers were published, earning multiple student awards.
In November 2009, MarsDrive
MarsDrive
MarsDrive, founded in 2005, is an international non-profit space organization with a worldwide membership and branches across North America, Europe and Australasia...
took ownership of this project, and they are now asking for support in the form of funding and research and design assistance. The project will have the same focus as before its acquisition, it will study the effects of Martian gravity on mammals.
Science
Gravity on Mars is only about 38% as strong as it is on Earth, and the long-term effects of such reduced gravity are unknown. Astronauts who are weightless for long periods of time lose significant amounts of bone and muscle mass. It is unclear if the gravity on Mars is strong enough to avoid or minimize these health problems. The Mars Gravity Biosatellite was meant to provide data on how mammalian health is affected by long-term exposure to lower levels of gravity, focusing on bone loss, changes in bone structure, muscle atrophyMuscle atrophy
Muscle atrophy, or disuse atrophy, is defined as a decrease in the mass of the muscle; it can be a partial or complete wasting away of muscle. When a muscle atrophies, this leads to muscle weakness, since the ability to exert force is related to mass...
, and changes in the inner ear
Inner ear
The inner ear is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skull with a system of passages comprising two main functional parts:...
. The results from the experiment would be compared against a variety of earth based controls, including vivarium, hindlimb suspension, partial weight suspension, flight habitat effects, and short-radius centrifuge testing.
External links
- Mars group launches high-flying fundraiser Space ship logos go ka-ching!, Sasha Brown, News Office, November 3, 2006, MIT News Release