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Take a vacation on Mars in the future? Forget it: scientists tell us there is too much radiation, even if your spacecraft is shielded. Alas, we need to learn much more before we’re ready to travel into space.

NASA has been discussing going to one of the moons of Mars and going to the planet itself from there. In New Scientist, David Shiga quotes planetary scientist Pascal Lee as saying, “I, for one, would go to Phobos or Deimos in a heartbeat, even without any hope of landing on Mars.”
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Sending craft out from the earth to explore space is an expensive proposition, and one of the most expensive parts of it is the rocket fuel needed to escape gravity. If we could set up a space station on the moon or on another planet (such as Mars) it would be much easier to escape gravity. It would be especially cost effective if we could manufacture the FUEL needed on that planet as well (and we’re not talking about watermelon hooch, either)!

Scientists are working her on earth to develop just such a fuel and they think they’ve come up with one. It has the “consistency of toothpaste” and is less damaging to the environment. Made of aluminium powder and ordinary ice, it’s known as Al-ice, or ALICE.
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…and pee problems in space – Outer space is a busy thoroughfare of satellites operated by many nations. Earth orbits are crowded with active spacecraft, as well as dead or dying satellites. We’re even littering there! There is also the problem of?peeing in space (and they have much more important things to concern them up there).
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The next step in space? A manned, reusable Russian-European space ship!

Both ESA (European Space Agency) and Russian technology will be used. This ship was originally designed by the Russians to transport 4 people to the moon. It can make a soft landing on any planet, meaning it can be reused. In BBC News, Paul Rincon quotes Anatoly Zak, the Russian designer of the ship, as saying, “If ESA and the Russian Space Agency reach agreement, Europe will supply the service module of that co-operative spacecraft.” That includes the propulsion systems. Russia, in turn, will provide the launcher and the launch site, which will be somewhere in Russia.
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