Evaluation of a Human Mission to Mars by 2033 (original) (raw)
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Journal of Aeronautics & Aerospace Engineering, 2018
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Human Mars Exploration Research Objectives
Mars has long been the ultimate goal for human space exploration. This paper will compile research objectives relevant to a Martian presence in an attempt to create a coherent justification for human expeditions to Mars. It will organize these objectives in a balanced human spaceflight architecture driven by a platform of research objectives inclusive of engineering research, pathfinding for commercial operations, and scientific research domains. It will then propose a Martian campaign that allocates sufficient manpower, surface stay time, and equipment to accomplish these objectives. Finally, it will demonstrate how such a campaign is not an Apollo-reminiscent "flag, footprints, and forget about it" venture but is instead a preparation for a relevant, long-term human endeavor on Mars, including linkage of initial Mars exploration to continued exploration of the planet and additional human exploration further into the solar system.
2016
To continue to build broadly based consensus on the future of human space exploration, the Fourth Community Workshop on Achievability and Sustainability of Human Exploration of Mars (AM IV), organized by Explore Mars, Inc. and the American Astronautical Society, was held at the DoubleTree Inn in Monrovia, CA., December 6-8, 2016. Approximately 60 invited professionals from the industrial and commercial sectors, academia, and NASA, along with international colleagues, participated in the workshop. These individuals were chosen to be representative of the breadth of interests in astronaut and robotic Mars exploration. AM IV built upon the three previous Affordability and Sustainability Workshops (i.e., AM I-III) held in 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively. Those previous workshops assessed and reported on the affordability and sustainability of multiple scenarios for human exploration of Mars. For that reason, our organizing committee concluded that the 2016 workshop would concentrate specifically on achieving critical capabilities (or "long poles") in human exploration of Mars. Nine expert teams were established and each was charged with assessing the achievability of one major element common among scenarios for initial human missions to Mars. Included in each assessment, each of which was critically reviewed during the workshop and which is reported on here, are such characteristics as key elements of the long pole and the length of time required for development, venues for demonstration, precursors, and scenarios that take advantage of the long pole.
41st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2011
Mars analogue research facilities are excellent tools for advancing comparative planetology scientific research and exploration methodologies, as well as for investigating and devising countermeasures for the challenges astronauts may encounter while exploring the Martian surface. Analogue studies, and more specifically human mission simulations, also play an important role by training the future leaders in space exploration. With this in mind, the Mars Society of Canada (MSC) established the Expedition Mars program to advance the competence (knowledge, expertise and leadership) needed for human exploration of Mars. The program is divided into two distinct, but complementary, Mars analogue expedition series: Expedition Mars Analogue Training Series (ExMATS) and Expedition Mars Analogue Research Series (ExMARS). The ExMATS missions are designed to train and certify researchers, engineers and commanding officers for ExMARS missions which are dedicated to conducting extended Mars analogue research missions for maximum return on scientific research. Through the two series, Expedition Mars has established a systematic and sustainable method of developing and transferring Nomenclature CSA = Canadian Space Agency EVA = Extravehicular Activity Ex = Expedition
A case study on manned Mars mission. Fifty Years of Mission Planning. 1950-2000 By David S. F. Portee NASA
Humans to Mars: A feasibility and cost–benefit analysis
Acta Astronautica, 2005
Mars is a compelling astrobiological target, and a human mission would provide an opportunity to collect immense amounts of scientific data. Exploration alone, however, cannot justify the increased risk. Instead, three factors drive a human mission: economics, education, and exploration. A human mission has a unique potential to inspire the next generation of young people to enter critically needed science and engineering disciplines. A mission is economically feasible, and the research and development program put in place for a human mission would propel growth in related high-technology industries. The main hurdles are human physiological responses to 1-2 years of radiation and microgravity exposure. However, enabling technologies are sufficiently mature in these areas that they can be developed within a few decade timescale. Hence, the decision of whether or not to undertake a human mission to Mars is a political decision, and thus, educational and economic benefits are the crucial factors.
PERMANENT CREWED MARS BASE BY 2030 -OUTCOMES OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY, MULTINATIONAL STUDENT WORKSHOP
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Indisputably, we live at the dawn of a novel space exploration era, with the space sector undergoing significant changes. The International Space Station (ISS) is nearing the end of its lifespan and a competitive space industry is emerging. It is characterised by an ongoing redistribution of responsibilities between government agencies and private enterprise, with all stakeholders setting ambitious goals for future missions. Recently, interest in the next crewed space exploration mission has grown continuously. Driven by these developments, the Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW) 2017 in Stuttgart, Germany, posed the challenge to conduct the preliminary analysis and develop a viable proposal for the establishment of a permanent crewed space station in the vicinity of Mars by the year 2030. Two multinational, interdisciplinary teams of twenty students each were given one week to develop their own solutions and present them to experts from industry and academia. The authors, Team Blue, have outlined a design for a Mars surface station, called HUMANS2MARS. This proposal requires the development of mission-specific modules, while the launchers to be used include the foreseen state-of-the-art at the late 2020s, such as the Space Launch System from NASA and Falcon Heavy from SpaceX. Designing such a mission from scratch in one week posed great challenges, either innate in the technical and programmatic difficulties of the mission, or resulting from the time constraints and group dynamics of the project. The main technical challenges can be grouped into two sets. The first includes those related to mass and payload limitations of the mission and launching costs. The second consists of those related to the human element of the mission. Due to the hostile Martian environment, like the extreme radiation levels during transit and unexplored psychological pressure on the crew, the complexities associated with humans introduce significant uncertainties. Potential solutions to the problems discovered have been proposed and are presented in this paper-within the framework of a multicultural and interdisciplinary workshop. The major risks of the proposed mission are identified and possible mitigation strategies and backup scenarios are discussed, thus providing a starting point for future research and detailed studies. The complexity of the mission and nature of the SSDW require addressing a great variety of challenges under severe time constraints. A crucial factor in the success of this effort has been the multidisciplinary and diverse academic background of the participants. This enabled the team to overcome these numerous obstacles in often unconventional ways.