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FEATURES
The Bull 23.01.2014
Funding Mars: Mankind’s next giant leap
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resident John F. Kennedy announced in 1961 that “we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”. The ideology was applauded but never really taken seriously. Yet, just 8 years later, Neil Armstrong and his ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ quote became immortalised in history. It was July 20th 1969 and the world’s attention was focused on the Apollo 11 mission. The impossible had become possible and a generation was inspired to see what other boundaries could be tested. Thus began 3 decades of fastest set of technological advances the world had ever seen. 55 years later and we’ve been presented with another impossible feat, to once again expand our horizons and challenge the boundaries of what humans can do. Branded
as ‘the next giant leap for mankind’, the goal of the Mars-One project is nothing short of incredible. By 2024 the project aims to start colonizing another planet, to have humans inhabit the planet Mars. The challenges are enormous but the plans in place seem, at least in theory, very workable. Training of the astronauts will begin next year with a test mission launched in 2018. This same year will see the launch of a communications satellite to go into orbit around the red planet. 2020 will see a Rover sent to Mars to begin preparations for human habitation. Due to the orbital paths of the Earth and Mars it will also be necessary in this same year to launch a second communications satellite to Orbit the Sun. This will ensure constant communication even when the Sun passes between Earth and Mars. In 2022 a cargo mission will leave Earth, guided to our planet’s first Martian settlement by the Rover. By
2023 the settlement will be ready for inhabitation. Then, all going to plan, a team of 4 will leave Earth in 2024 destined for a permanent life on Mars arriving in 2025 after a 255 million kilometre journey across space. Contracts have been established with companies who already supply NASA and other space agencies for some of the mission, costs estimates gathered for other parts and, rather surprisingly, they aren’t all that out of this world. The first mission is budgeted at only $6bn or €4.3billon. A practical steal when you compare it to the costs of the now shelved DART Underground (€2bn) and Metro North (€3bn+) projects, or even to the €30bn bailout of the former Anglo Irish Bank. The mission is surprising not only for what it aims to achieve but for how it aims to achieve its goals. In the past such exploits to the stars have been funded either by governments big enough to invest in the
technology or by billionaires with cash to burn. Mars-One is different in this aspect. Mankind’s first permanent settlement on another planet will be funded primarily by us. The Mars-One mission aims to taps the discretionary income of the world through crowdfunding and has already raised over $200,000. By pulling us in with the dreams of going where no human has gone before the mission is getting us to invest in its success and what could be our future. As the project moves further towards reality the second stage of funding will involve the branding and advertising of the entire event. Not only will the communication satellites be used to keep in contact with those on the mission they will enable a 24/7 live stream following the history that will be the creation of mankind’s first out-of-Earth colony. The mission will create what would undoubtedly be the biggest
media event in history and, more likely than not, the defining event of this century. By using crowd-funding, and asking the whole world to donate, we will literally invest in its success. By launching satellites to orbit Mars and relay live feeds to earth it will tap our insatiable need to connect. By even attempting this feat in the first place it reawakens our intrigue for exploration. Throughout history mankind has always sought to find answers, some of which led to questions not previously contemplated. From once we take our first steps we explore our surroundings, we ask questions, we long to understand, to learn and in doing so we constantly strive to be better. We have no idea what Mars may hold, but aren’t you just a tad curious to find out. by Marc Denair
Trinity’s WiSe initiative Heather Lang discusses Trinity’s new initiative, WiSer (Centre for Women in Science and Engineering research) and their work in improving career progression for women in education and research institutions. WiSER, the Trinity based Centre for Women in Science and Engineering Research, held an event in Trinity last November as part of their INTEGER project, which aims to improve the career progression of women in education and research institutions. The Institutional Transformation for Effecting Gender Equality in Research is a European Union supported framework Programme 7 project and has partners is France, Germany and Lithuania. Vice Provost Linda Hogan, who works closely with WiSER, introduced Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. Originally from Belfast, she was one of the first girls allowed to study science in her secondary school in Lurgan and went on to essentially invent a new field of research, radio astronomy, through her discovery of pulsars during her PhD programme. Her supervisor won a Nobel Prize as a result. Professor Bell Burnell went on to become the first female president of the open University of Physics and last year was named in BBC4s Top
100 Most Powerful Women in the UK, among many other accolades. Therefore she is in a unique position to provide insight into why such a gender balance exists in the sciences and how it may be combated. Professor Bell-Burnell presented the findings of ‘An Enquiry into Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) in Scotland’, initiated by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and chaired by her, which focused on the postgraduate employment of women in science. The compiled statistics are particular to Scotland but Burnell suspects that they tell a more general story. She describes the pathway of girls from primary level education to beyond third level as a ‘leaky pipeline’. While girls make up about 68% of those studying biology at second level, women make up only 20% of biology professors. The worst numbers are to be found in maths, where girls make up 50% of those in secondary school classes, yet they account for under 10% of mathematics profes-
sors. Once they graduate from third level, 73% of women studying STEM leave those fields in comparison to 48% of men. It is important to note that the question of advancement is not one of concern to only women of child bearing age, “Single women do not progress as quickly as men. There are more subtle issues than caring responsibilities at play”. While the numbers of women in academia has glacially improved over the years, Professor Bell-Burnell had a number of suggestions that could really make a difference. First and foremost, there must be a shift from programmes that support individual women towards a real commitment to institutional change, “Don’t assume that women are the problem, that they don’t put themselves forward. The way that scientific society works is probably part of the problem”. In order to have greater number of women hired there needs to be a commitment from Human Resources departments as well as transparent procedures.
Bell-Burnell strongly suggested that everyone who is involved in hiring staff should be trained to be aware of unconscious bias. In order to keep women in science research and academia at the highest level institutions need to ensure that they have good harassment procedures in place and programmes where women mentor and help support other female colleagues. The most important and universal point that Bell-Burnell made during her presentation was that not only STEM but all institutions, companies, work places need to embrace diversity. Being aware of unconscious bias will not only increase the number of women in science but also members of minority groups. This is good not only for groups who are not white males but good for businesses themselves. Bell-Burnell asserted that those with
the most diverse workforces weathered the recession years the best. The only way to really ensure these kinds of systems are put in place is to provide financial incentive. A good start is being made in Britain where, as of next year, any medical department who wants to apply for funding must hold an Athena-SWAN Silver Award, presented to institutions which demonstrate a woman friendly working environment. Since the announcement Athena-SWAN, a charter for women in science, have been inundated with applications to be considered for an award. If this proves successful, hopefully other governments across Europe will follow suit.