Z 1 Y 0 N 3 X wrote:

(IMHO) The ISS is a huge waste of time. Yeah, it's the first of it's
kind and it was cool for a while, but if you think about it, what the
hell are we going to do with it? Super, we have a lab in zero-g. We
would be much better off going to Mars right now.

ISS is far more useful to go to mars than CEV. Consider all the
technologies and designs that have been developped for the ISS and
which can be used for the mars expedition ship (which would be
tantamount to an ISS with big engines, and a lander ship attached to it
as well as MPLMs for stowage of consumables. (as well as shielding for
the whole complex).

Consider the remote manipulator arm, the grappling point designs, the
solar array designs/technology (the deployment technique is really
neat). The CBM designs is most certaintly a good starting point for a
mars expedition ship (might need strenghtening for greater G force with
bigger engines).

Consider environmental systems, and more importantly the experience with
them which yields MTBF which tells you how much in terms of spare parts
woudl be needed for a self-sustaining truly long duration expedition to
mars. Also, the experience on ISS allows crews to learn how to debug
systems, how to fix them.

For instance, I believe Don Petit even tried soldering in space to fix
some circuit board.

Another aspect is that of human health in 0g. A mars expedition needs to
be functional when they land on Mars after lengthy voyage in 0g. ISS not
only gives the ability to test certain exercise/nutrition regimes, but
also test equipment reliability under contant use, and which type of
exercise equipment is best. (Consider the fancy USA threadmil that had
caused many maintenance headaches. Hopefully the one for a mars
expedition ship would be built to be simpler, more robuts and hence more reliable.


And while watching crystals grow in a test tube may be more or less
useless science, those exercises allow one to measure how much time is
left after crewmembers have done the station maintenance, personal
hygiene/exercise and required "leasure time".

to some extent. Waiting until 2010 is a waste of time, and billions of
dollars spent on the ISS every flight is a waste of money as well.

Wouldn't you rather they test the equipment on ISS for a few years
before they build the mars ship to ensure it actually works in 0g ?

The USA has yet to activate its Oxygen generator in destiny. We know the
russian one isn't exactly reliable, but we also know that by thinkering
with it, you can make it work for couple of years before a replacement
is needed. Until they activate the US O2 generator, there is absolutely
no data available on how reliable it will be and thus, you cannot start
to plan a mars mission if you don't know how many spare parts and spare
generators you will need for such a long trip.


It isn't a waste of time. (What is a waste of time is the USA deciding
to postpone activation of the O2 generator).