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From: Army Times
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – When the cut-down from 705 candidates to 100 was announced by the MarsOne program on February 16, Fort Campbell 1st Lt. Heidi Beemer wasn 't on the list.
It was a crushing blow – for about ten seconds.
"This is something I've dedicated my life to," Beemer said when asked if she would still pursue her dream. "I'm not going to stop just because the first opportunity to come across my desk is no longer an option for me."
Beemer, a chemical officer with the 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives), had made it through the 1st two rounds that weeded out over 200,000 competitors for 24 coveted slots with the privately-run non-profit Netherlands-based program, which seeks to send a crew on a one-way trip to Mars in 2024.
She found out she didn't make it past Round Three several days before the official announcement.
"I was pretty upset," Beemer said. "I didn't know why I hadn't been chosen, but the desire never stopped. I never thought, 'This is the end.'
"I knew other projects would come along, that I would have other opportunities."
More than one way
The MarOne program made a worldwide splash with its initial announcement of the search for candidates in 2013, but the program has been called dangerous and unworkable by other scientists and organizations, especially within the time frame specified, which seeks to put a permanent colony on Mars at least ten years ahead of NASA's most optimistic plans for a Mars mission.
Beemer, however, was not one of the nay-sayers, and she remains convinced that the technology exists, or will exist soon, to make permanent habitation on Mars possible.
To that end, she continues to be involved in other projects aimed at the same ultimate goal, which has been her dream since she was eight years old and saw a newspaper article about the Sojourner mission 17 years ago, in 1997.
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) graduate continues to pursue the dream currently through the Mars Society, headed by Dr. Robert Zubrin.
The Mars Society, with 4,000 members and some 6,000 associate supporters in more than 50 countries around the world. is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting manned exploration and settlement of Mars.
Mars Arctic 365
One of the society's projects is a research station in the Utah desert that has been training crews for a more ambitious year-long isolation project in the Arctic, in a polar desert area that is as close to conditions on Mars as anything on Earth.
Beemer is among 21 remaining candidates out of an original 600 international scientists, engineers, writers, doctors, military officers and outdoor adventurers who began the program, called "Mars Arctic 365" (MA365).
"About the same time I applied for MarsOne," Beemer said, "I also applied for Mars 365.
"Dr. Zubrin developed a program called 'Mars Direct' – how to get to Mars – in the early 90s, and since then the organization has done long-duration Mars simulation missions and isolation studies.
"The society is dedicated to all research about Mars – how to get there and how to sustain life once we're there."
In 2014, Beemer completed a two-week rotation at the Utah site from Nov. 29 to Dec. 14, together with six others from the U.S, Brazil, United Kingdom, Japan and Finland.
The Mars Society said that the crew chosen for the year-long mission will operate under many of the same operational constraints as an actual Mars mission. It will be an unprecedented test of of the ability of humans to work under those conditions long-term.
Onward, hopefully upward
Beyond trying to win a final slot with MA365, Beemer is currently working toward her captain's bars at Fort Campbell while looking for further Mars-related opportunities.
She said she has received a great deal of support from her command and fellow soldiers of 63rd Chemical Company, 83rd Chemical Battalion, 48th Chemical Brigade at Fort Campbell while working toward her long-range goal, which doesn't exclude another shot at MarsOne.
"MarsOne said they're opening up the application process again next year for the next pool of candidates," said Beemer, who hasn't decided yet if she will put her name in the hat.
"I'm looking for what the Army can provide me to get more involved in the space community and continue to make those connections. Eventually, when I finish my Masters degree, I'll probably apply for NASA's astronaut program."
That NASA might once again focus on manned space exploration is a hope that rises and ebbs through the uncertainty of funding and the feeling that technology is still far from making that kind of millions-of-miles leap.
That someone like former Apollo 11 moonwalker-astronaut Buzz Aldrin has lent his support to the effort (he spoke before the U.S. Senate of the need for a Mars Colony last week) gives the dream another boost for Beemer.
"I've been following him for a while," she said of Aldrin, who is a member of the Mars Society steering committee. "He used to be against the idea of a one-way trip and colonization, but he's making a push now for colonizing other worlds – Mars being the most practical right now."
Why do it?
Beemer answered the inevitable question - "Why? – with undimmed passion for the idea that has fascinated her for nearly 20 years of her young life.
"It's the definition of the human spirit," she said forcefully. "We are explorers; we don't settle for what's around us, we push boundaries and look at scientific questions as things we need to find answers to.
"In the overall fabric of space, the solar system is so small, but there's so much out there for us to learn and explore. The easiest and most practical step for that is Mars. And it relates to our survival beyond Earth. If the dinosaurs had a space program, they wouldn't be extinct today.
"We're capable of doing this, and if we don't do it, we'll be letting ourselves down."
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/fort-campbell/2015/03/01/fort-campbell-soldier-remains-fixed-mars-dream/24201557/
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – When the cut-down from 705 candidates to 100 was announced by the MarsOne program on February 16, Fort Campbell 1st Lt. Heidi Beemer wasn 't on the list.
It was a crushing blow – for about ten seconds.
"This is something I've dedicated my life to," Beemer said when asked if she would still pursue her dream. "I'm not going to stop just because the first opportunity to come across my desk is no longer an option for me."
Beemer, a chemical officer with the 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives), had made it through the 1st two rounds that weeded out over 200,000 competitors for 24 coveted slots with the privately-run non-profit Netherlands-based program, which seeks to send a crew on a one-way trip to Mars in 2024.
She found out she didn't make it past Round Three several days before the official announcement.
"I was pretty upset," Beemer said. "I didn't know why I hadn't been chosen, but the desire never stopped. I never thought, 'This is the end.'
"I knew other projects would come along, that I would have other opportunities."
More than one way
The MarOne program made a worldwide splash with its initial announcement of the search for candidates in 2013, but the program has been called dangerous and unworkable by other scientists and organizations, especially within the time frame specified, which seeks to put a permanent colony on Mars at least ten years ahead of NASA's most optimistic plans for a Mars mission.
Beemer, however, was not one of the nay-sayers, and she remains convinced that the technology exists, or will exist soon, to make permanent habitation on Mars possible.
To that end, she continues to be involved in other projects aimed at the same ultimate goal, which has been her dream since she was eight years old and saw a newspaper article about the Sojourner mission 17 years ago, in 1997.
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) graduate continues to pursue the dream currently through the Mars Society, headed by Dr. Robert Zubrin.
The Mars Society, with 4,000 members and some 6,000 associate supporters in more than 50 countries around the world. is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting manned exploration and settlement of Mars.
Mars Arctic 365
One of the society's projects is a research station in the Utah desert that has been training crews for a more ambitious year-long isolation project in the Arctic, in a polar desert area that is as close to conditions on Mars as anything on Earth.
Beemer is among 21 remaining candidates out of an original 600 international scientists, engineers, writers, doctors, military officers and outdoor adventurers who began the program, called "Mars Arctic 365" (MA365).
"About the same time I applied for MarsOne," Beemer said, "I also applied for Mars 365.
"Dr. Zubrin developed a program called 'Mars Direct' – how to get to Mars – in the early 90s, and since then the organization has done long-duration Mars simulation missions and isolation studies.
"The society is dedicated to all research about Mars – how to get there and how to sustain life once we're there."
In 2014, Beemer completed a two-week rotation at the Utah site from Nov. 29 to Dec. 14, together with six others from the U.S, Brazil, United Kingdom, Japan and Finland.
The Mars Society said that the crew chosen for the year-long mission will operate under many of the same operational constraints as an actual Mars mission. It will be an unprecedented test of of the ability of humans to work under those conditions long-term.
Onward, hopefully upward
Beyond trying to win a final slot with MA365, Beemer is currently working toward her captain's bars at Fort Campbell while looking for further Mars-related opportunities.
She said she has received a great deal of support from her command and fellow soldiers of 63rd Chemical Company, 83rd Chemical Battalion, 48th Chemical Brigade at Fort Campbell while working toward her long-range goal, which doesn't exclude another shot at MarsOne.
"MarsOne said they're opening up the application process again next year for the next pool of candidates," said Beemer, who hasn't decided yet if she will put her name in the hat.
"I'm looking for what the Army can provide me to get more involved in the space community and continue to make those connections. Eventually, when I finish my Masters degree, I'll probably apply for NASA's astronaut program."
That NASA might once again focus on manned space exploration is a hope that rises and ebbs through the uncertainty of funding and the feeling that technology is still far from making that kind of millions-of-miles leap.
That someone like former Apollo 11 moonwalker-astronaut Buzz Aldrin has lent his support to the effort (he spoke before the U.S. Senate of the need for a Mars Colony last week) gives the dream another boost for Beemer.
"I've been following him for a while," she said of Aldrin, who is a member of the Mars Society steering committee. "He used to be against the idea of a one-way trip and colonization, but he's making a push now for colonizing other worlds – Mars being the most practical right now."
Why do it?
Beemer answered the inevitable question - "Why? – with undimmed passion for the idea that has fascinated her for nearly 20 years of her young life.
"It's the definition of the human spirit," she said forcefully. "We are explorers; we don't settle for what's around us, we push boundaries and look at scientific questions as things we need to find answers to.
"In the overall fabric of space, the solar system is so small, but there's so much out there for us to learn and explore. The easiest and most practical step for that is Mars. And it relates to our survival beyond Earth. If the dinosaurs had a space program, they wouldn't be extinct today.
"We're capable of doing this, and if we don't do it, we'll be letting ourselves down."
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/fort-campbell/2015/03/01/fort-campbell-soldier-remains-fixed-mars-dream/24201557/
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