The First Martian

The next great frontier for human space endeavour is definitely to send humans to Mars. Several technical feasibility studies have been conducted, it has been concluded that the single biggest challenge is to protect the humans & their environment from harmful cosmic radiation. If the report is to be believed, the good news is that NASA currently has the technology for executing this project. But the protective shield supposedly makes the spacecraft so heavy, that the fuel requirement makes the project unbelievably expensive and hence financially unfeasible.

Besides, questions have also been raised about the very need of a return trip. The moon landings by the Apollo spacecrafts have often been criticised for being mere symbolic achievements and not valuable scientific experiments, whose learning could be used for the betterment of mankind. Much of this failure has been attributed to the longevity of our stay on moon.

How about a one way ticket to mars ?. Scary it might sound at first instance, there are several reasons, why it might be the best way forward. To understand this, let us consider a parallel in discovery of the New World in the 15th & 16th centuries. Little was achieved, by mere sighting of the new world by the likes of Magellan or Columbus. More remembered, are the fearless commanders like Captain Cook & Don Juan, who set foot on the new world and conquered the locals and established their settlement. None of these guys, left their homes, with any hopes of returning back. May be the situation back home was so desperate, that unknown new world was better bet than the unbearable familiarity of routine existence. May be our lives today are not that desperate, but the growth in population and the competition for limited resources, will definitely create a bleak picture for humanity in the next couple of centuries. You would rather die of solar radiation in mars than from the shock waves of nukes blown by the Americans in the war for control of a last of still in production oilfield.

However, Fear need not be the only motivation. What about the freaky tendencies of human nature?. A generation grown up on a healthy diet of star wars and star treks, would be crazy enough to attempt such risky endeavours. Are human lives more valuable than money?. Mercenaries trade their lives for financial well being of the families in Afghanistan. But yes there is no justification for such unethical acts. But the fact remains, that if given an opportunity, there would be a lot many volunteers. What about old people above 60 or terminally ill patients, do they want to just fade away into oblivion or do something spectacular to leave a lasting impression for generations to come. Read Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, you will know what I am talking about.

Now let us look at how this can be practical. Our existence in mars address both our physical and mental well being. A good understanding can be derived from psychological theories of motivation like Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

First physiological needs, breathing, food, water, sleep, excretion. Since it has been evaluated, that cost of unmanned mission is 10 times cheaper than a manned one. These needs can be taken care of.

Second comes the safety needs - security, employment, resources, property, family & health. A suitable compensation for the participant's family back on earth should address this issue.

Third is the emotional need. To understand this, let us consider the parallel world called Second life. In an increasing virtual connected world, people seek to lead a parallel existence where they can obtain and achieve all the things that they don't manage to in the real world. Many spend more time interacting with online friends than real ones. While being in mars, you might be physically separate from your near and dear. But you can virtually continue to live amongst the same people. If one considers the progress made by the science of virtual reality, I believe setting up such an environment is well within grasp of current levels of available technology to cater to all the five senses like 3D visualization, touch sensors & transmitters, Surround sound, smell sensors & generators and ofcourse taste .

Fourthly, Esteem needs can definitely be addressed as the individual will be celebrated across the human world. Moreover, an individual will also be alive and connected to soak in all the adulation for such an extraordinary acts, which mostly have been the preserve of martyrs. Such a rare opportunity will be motivation enough for many.

Finally the self actualization need, it requires an extra ordinary personality with strong spiritual beliefs to finally make this work. This is one area that never requires a factual justification. Our faith in the known and fear of the unknown, will always prod us to pursue the never has been done before.

Sometimes I wonder if the first martian project would be a reality in my present life. I know I am just intrinsically skeptical like everyone else. but if past history is any evidence, Scientific progress has always stayed a pace ahead of all predictions of even science fiction writers.

I believe there will be a first martian soon. I wish I would be the one.

L.O.S.T in Real Life

In a classic case of real life imitating reel life, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Air France flight 447, is the perfect prequel for my favourite sci-fi drama series of the past few years L.O.S.T. If we go by this version, also since the wreckage of the plane has not been found, the survivors are still alive, may be in a mysterious tropical island somewhere in atlantic.

WHODUNNIT ..

Is it secret alien base station in the lost continent of Atlantis, which was conducting a secret inter galactic energy transmission in the guise of a tropical thunderstorm, to periodically recharge their livelihood in the mountainous depths 6000m below sea level. Or is it a Captain Nemo's Nautilus, which secretly kidnapped the entire airline's crew and passenger base to replenish its ageing work force at the mysterious island in south pacific.

FLASHBACK in SEPIA ...
Ofcourse, the passenger list had its own interesting people. The ex royal descendant of the brazil, 3 chirpy teenage wannabe doctors from ireland, wise and experienced pilot, citizens of over 30 nationalities and also ofcourse, the secret spies of the CIA, british MI6, Israeli mossad, who were just returning from a well deserved beach side rio vacation after the success of the last secret spy mission. Each has his/her own story to tell. Ofcourse, the soccer crazy brazilian cab driver, who ensured that 3 passengers were delayed enought to miss the flight by a few minutes. Divine providence or some karmic connection. Over to the present now ..

BACK TO WHODUNNIT...
Some say that it is well known, that this portion of atlantic is the favourite dumping ground for satellite debris, was it that the plane struck by a failing satellite or may be a meterorite. At the speed at which the plane was travelling, it doesnt require a very big sized object to completely vanquish a 200 tonner airliner. Or was it a extra powerful magnetic field which caused a failure of the electric system a la bermuda triangle.

The yet to be deciphered coded message recieved from the flight 447 before the communication systems were lost ..

LHR1340 BCN1610 LHRQQQ 99/1 QQQBCN 98/A QQQQQQ 906/PAYDIV B

It has left officials puzzled as it doesnt comply with the standard aviation coding standards. May be in this code lies the secret that can potentially unlock the mystery of the flight disappearance. So codebusters out there, get set and go.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Mobile Story 2050

We all know how mobile phones have impacted and continues to improve our lives in a big way. Much has been written about converged device of the future, with mobile phones at the centre as the universal control device. Here is what I want my mobile phone to do for me in 2050.

In addition to the regular app TODO list, I want to add an application WISH LIST. Let me cite a few examples, how I imagine it to work.

1) I wish I want to watch a certain movie ABC, while dabbling with boring paper work at office. My mobile would communicate wireless to my home automation hub, Which would direct the set top box to place a download with the service provider's server. Well, the service provider's server would place a search with YouTube or bit torrent, find the AVI file, download it and stream it across to the set top box. Now based on my synchronised calender schedule, my mobile would plan to screen the movie.

2) You are feeling lonely and you wish you could spend some time with your best buddies .. Well, my mobile device now is equipped with voice analyser and SMS analyser. It has mined all communication (voice & data) for key words which indicate your mood/state of mind. It also has a record of people, with whom you communicated most, when you felt similar during the previous times. The mobile phone decides to act on his own, and messages your identified buddies, indicating that you are in mood for a chat. If none of them respond, you get a automated call from a AI software called ELIZA, which is trained to counsel lonely individuals, while interpreting your voice/data responses.

3) On the way back from a long day's work, you look forward to a warm welcome at home.Well, GPS of today is the spatial alarm of the future. You receive reminders based on location. The moment you reach within 5 km radius of your home, the google latitude app on the home automation server detects the your impending arrival and activates AC to cool the living room, communicates with the microwave to warm the food and the coffee maker to keep the warm cuppa ready in time for your reaching home

4) You are constantly worried about the health of your loved ones. You wish , there could be a solution. Watches of the future would come with pulse rate monitors, placed along the strap. These would have blue tooth dongles to communicate with a mobile device on certain events. These mobile devices can periodically update a central mobile device, which should help you keep track of health of your aged parents and little kids. In case of an emergency like a heart attack, the pulse rate monitor can directly connect with the defibrillator to address first aid. Or may be, the mobile device based on current location can check with the nearest available ambulances and even place an request for immediate arrival, while providing your current location coordinates automatically.

5) I am at a conference and like to build a good network of business contacts. Now when, LATITUDE is integrated with LINKEDIN, the moment I enter the conference arena, I will get the directory of all attendees in the area. I would use a filtering criteria to shortlist relevant sales targets. Now, the blue tooth application would alarm me, whenever I come in proximity of any of the people in the target list. Immediately, LINKEDIN would provide me with profile detail of the client including conversation starters. if connected to the target through a common acquaintance, you know, whom to ask for an introduction, if he/she is around.

Well .. I am not much of a techie these days .. May be some of these apps are already available in US or elsewhere .. Well .. I would definitely want to have them.

If you have such ideas at some corner of your mind, you are welcome to share it in the comments section :)