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The idea of a joint U.S.-Soviet Mars mission is galling to other Americans who, glasnost notwithstanding, simply do not trust the Soviets. Their view was summarized in a recent op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times by Space Writer Alcestis Oberg, the wife of James Oberg. "A joint mission," she wrote, "completely and utterly ignores reality." Among the concerns raised by the proposed mission, she wrote, are the "potential for spying, for technology transfer, for interference in our political system, for the 'hostage holding' effect it would have on our space program and on our future." Her conclusion: "A complex, expensive, 25-year-long joint research program is like a marriage. It should be entered into soberly, advisedly, for better or for worse -- and only after a very long engagement during which trust is built and loyalty tested."
Even proponents believe the U.S. should approach a joint effort with the Soviets in gradual steps, perhaps starting with an unmanned mission to bring back soil samples from Mars in 1998. Many, like Sagan, are convinced that the advantages of a cooperative mission would override the possible risks. Besides sharply reducing the enormous costs of going to Mars alone, such a venture, says Sagan, "would revitalize a dispirited and unraveling NASA" and provide a "coherent focus for the U.S. space program."
Even more important, in his view, a joint mission might help draw the U.S. and the Soviet Union closer together. He dismisses fears that such a mission would risk giving away U.S. technology to the Soviets, pointing out that the Soviets are a decade ahead of the U.S. in several areas of spaceflight. "Technology transfer," Sagan concludes, "is likely to flow both ways."
The rising sentiment in the U.S. to return to space and eventually send men to Mars has not escaped the attention of politicians, including presidential candidates. Says Democratic Contender Michael Dukakis: "We should explore with the Soviet Union and other nations the feasibility and practicality of joint space-engineering activities that might pave the way to a joint manned mission to Mars." In a Huntsville, Ala., speech, Vice President George Bush urged a "long-term commitment to manned and unmanned exploration of the solar system. There is much to be done -- further exploration of the moon, a mission to Mars . . . "
If the U.S. is to mount or even play a meaningful role in a manned Mars mission early in the 21st century, the next President will have to make a commitment to a coherent national space policy sooner rather than later. Enormous problems remain to be solved, and two decades is precious little time for developing a program that would land humans on another planet. The clock is running, and to NASA Ames Scientist Carol Stoker, the message from the Soviets is coming across loud and clear: "We're going to Mars, and the bus is leaving." And like her, more and more Americans are asking: Will the U.S. be aboard?
FOOTNOTE: *The Hohmann ellipse is an ideal trajectory requiring a minimum of energy for a journey between any two planets, named after the German engineer who calculated it in 1925.