Re-reading Robert Zubrin's books are fun since this guy has a definite cheeky sense of humor. Over spring break a few months back, I went to New York City and checked out the American Museum of Natural History while I was there. Surprisingly, there was a section in the museum for space. That was unexpected in a natural history museum but I suppose they just have to have everything. [Image Credit: Buzz Aldrin Mars Cycler - painting by Don Dixon for Scientific American]
Anyways, while I was at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, I happened across the book How to Live on Mars by Robert Zubrin and acquired it there. This book is a hilarious practical guide for anyone seeking to leave Earth and live in life in the late 21st century. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of Martian survival which includes how to get there, what to wear (outside of course), what rovers to get, what homes to acquire, how to choose what to have in the habitat, how to not get fried by radiation, etc.
The book is for a non-technical audience but occasionally there's some interesting science thrown in with a huge warning note that says High Science Content. One thing that I found quite amusing was his rant on cyclers. I had a friend who worked on cyclers for his Master's thesis back at Georgia Tech and I wonder what he'll say about this. Let me go on with Zubrin's points on disadvantages of cyclers.
Cyclers, short for cycling space stations, are huge space stations built to last a long time for the role of allowing permanent transfer orbits between Earth and another planet like Mars. Once setup, such large structures do not have to be relaunched and people can just catch the trip by catching the cyclers in small, fast "taxi" capsules fired from each planet. Yet, there's definite issues which I have ascertained from reading and reflecting on Zubrin's intelligent rants:
- Since it's built to last a long time, the one you're using is likely mold infested and breaking down. Unsanitary ancient bilge cans do not sound very appealing though it may be cheap.
- The taxi may miss the cycler and if so, you just paid a trip for nothing.
- [High Science Warning] The trip takes longer than a typical Hohmann transfer (HT) since a Hohomann transfer to Mars requires 8.5 months--round trip time will be 17 months. This doesn't synchronize with 12-month orbital period of Earth. If a spacecraft leaves Earth on a HT, it will not rendezvous with Earth when it comes back. The trip must have a Type 1 leg as well as a Type 2 leg either on outbound or inbound. Either way, passengers will be stuck with the slow boat on one way.
- [High Science Warning] Cyclers are inefficient in its usage--not a problem for you maybe but certainly for the government paying to keep it afloat which you are paying taxes for. The minimum orbit time for cyclers designable to rendezvous with Earth is two years. However, that's not synchronous with Mars, whose orbital period is 23 months. The only solution is to have multiple cyclers with each one used for Earth-Mars transport once every six or seven years.
Some interesting issues right? We'll see how it pans out in the future but I think Zubrin has convinced me not to support cyclers if they ever do gain a broad interest.
[Image credit: http://buzzaldrin.com/]
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