Jul 16 1985
From The Space Library
On the 10th anniversary of the [[Apollo-Soyuz Test Project]], former astronauts Thomas Stafford, Donald K. (Deke) Slayton, and Vance Brand and cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov met on July 16 in Washington D.C. at a celebration sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Planetary Society, and called on their countries to undertake a joint manned mission to Mars, the Washington Post reported.
"People in both countries are already dealing with the technological questions about how to accomplish such a mission," said Leonov, who commanded the Soyuz spacecraft that docked on July 17, 1975 with an Apollo spacecraft. "I know that all big things start with small steps but we can accomplish big tasks, not only in space but on the ground as well. I know we want to work together," he continued.
The conference heard repeated calls for the U.S. and USSR to begin planning a joint manned mission to Mars. Speakers included Carl Sagan of Cornell University; Bruce Murray, former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; former New Mexico Senator Harrison Schmitt, a former astronaut; and Sen. Spark Matsunaga (D-Hawaii), who has sponsored Senate resolutions promoting more cooperation in space between the two countries.
Other conference participants reminded the audience of the difficulties inherent in sending men to Mars. "Our two uppermost concerns are still a large solar flare and the everyday cosmic radiation the Mars pioneers would receive on their two-year round trip," Dr. John Billingham of Ames Research Center said.
"Massive solar flares represent the worst hazard," he explained. "In 1972 a large flare produced a cloud of radiation equal to a dose of 1500 rads and in 1956 an even bigger flare sent out a dose of 2500 rads. Both would have been lethal to men on a trip to Mars.
"We have to find a way to create a kind of bomb shelter inside a ship bound for Mars and for the crew to have their own solar observatory on board to warn them of things like flares,' Billingham said.
During the celebration, the Soviet Union released details of its next unmanned mission to Mars-the 1988 launch of a spacecraft and its 1989 landing on Phobos, the larger of Mars's two moons. (W Post, July 17/85, A18)
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