Collaboration

It strikes me that there are a few players out there in the space exploration field who could usefully collaborate in the great Mars venture. We should hear later this year from Space X about its ideas for what it has called a Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT). This is apparently intended to go far beyond the Dragon and Falcon Heavy architecture, with the capacity to start taking materials, machinery, habitats and colonists to Mars on a large scale. Space X will no doubt have something to say on the timeline but I would imagine an MCT to be years in development. An augmented Mars One approach might be able to utilise a fleet of Dragon enhanced landers and perhaps Bigelow inflatable space habitats to put together an initial bridgehead colony more quickly, with a  massive build-up as an MCT comes online. Space X, Mars One and Bigelow Aerospace could do more jointly than separately perhaps. Space X and Bigelow are already co-operating to deliver a developmental inflatable habitat to the international space station in 2015. Bigelow are aiming to develop their habitats into space hotels for tourists and as hireable research stations in Earth and perhaps lunar orbit. Collaboration with Space X in putting a habitat into lunar orbit and crewing and supplying it with Dragon and Falcon heavy vehicles could lead to useful further developments of habitats to be used in Mars voyages or even on the surface of the Red Planet.

A Dragon, Falcon Heavy and Bigelow architecture also looks the best bet if Dennis Tito's near term Mars Mission is to get off the ground. Tito is planning as soon as 2018 to send two astronauts, probably a married couple, on a close fly-by of the martian surface. This would not place the crew in orbit but would be a demonstration of America's capacity to send humans out into deep space to Mars and return them safely to Earth. It is a bold and dangerous mission but its capacity to inspire an earthbound audience and to encourage interest and investment in a Mars colony should not be underestimated. Technical challenges in long term life support and radiation protection will need to be overcome and should provide valuable lessons for a colony program. Once again there are prospects for collaboration with Tito's project (which he has called 'Inspiration Mars'). I myself would love to see all the players I have mentioned enter into some sort of consortium arrangement, for pursuing Mars colonisation, perhaps with a sideways research and development contract with NASA as well. More on all this and the NASA/government angle later.