Based on the options in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget for NASA, there is a provision for the operation of
the International Space Station (ISS) to be extended from 2016 to 2020. NASA and the other participating
space agencies have met and agreed to this proposal (note: as of January 2014, the White House has
proposed a further extension to 2024 — Congress and the other international partners (IPs) still need to agree
to this). In light of this, should NASA and its IPs consider having some crewmembers spend 2.5 years
(continuously) onboard ISS to simulate the duration of a Mars mission? If so, how should they implement this
mission?
Based on your readings in the textbooks, what specific questions about the effects of weightlessness on the
human body could possibly be answered by having crewmembers spend this amount of time in space? Are
there other methods that could be used to answer some (or all) of these questions?
The key to this forum is pick a side, Yes or No in your opinion on whether it is justified to do a 2.5 yr continuous
mission on the ISS. Then justify your answers with support and research. If you pick Yes, try to include a few
data points you feel are most critical to collect
Sample Solution
