Fisher_2001abstr

 

 

THE MARS SOCIETY MEASURE OF READINESS

 

Gary C. Fisher

Independence Chapter, PA

gcfisheris@aol.com

 

The Founding Declaration of The Mars Society declares: "The time has come for humanity to journey to Mars. We're ready." But are we ready? While the signers of the Founding Declaration may be psychologically and emotionally ready where does humanity really stand from a technical standpoint to undertake the first mission to Mars?

 

I propose that The Mars Society annually generate a single number between 0 and 100 representing the percentage of complete technical readiness. This metric, which I call the Measure of Readiness (MOR), would be distilled from an analysis of a vast compilation of data undertaken by Mars Society volunteers and reviewed by panels of experts. Its publication each year should be choreographed to provide a media event that raises the public's awareness of how close, in a practical sense, Mars is, and a realistic assessment of what difficulties remain to be overcome. From a practical standpoint the analysis required to generate the MOR will help direct Mars Society research and lobbying. This paper discusses how the Measure of Readiness can be generated.