Minimalist Human Mars Mission
From DevelopSpace
Contents |
Project Overview
Summary
Project aims to design a near-term feasible human Mars mission based on the concept of sending humans one way to Mars. This approach has a number of advantages compared to the tradition "there-and-back" exploration approach that all previous human space missions have followed, particularly with regard to the mass requirements of the mission. The humans on Mars would be re-supplied periodically and would have the tools and infrastructure for a mostly self-sustained existence. An emergency return capability based on the direct return approach could be provided to mitigate the effects of catastrophic equipment failure on Mars; it is one of the goals of the project to determine the cost of providing such a return capability. This initial Mars outpost (Mars "toehold") could also be the nucleus of an initial Mars colony, growing over time through dispatching additional crew and infrastructure to the outpost.
Specific Objectives
- To determine what would be involved in implementing a sustained human presence on Mars in the near future
- To investigate the cost of providing the colony with the capability for emergency evacuation back to Earth
- To gain an understanding of the financial needs and the time phasing of a near-term Mars colonization program
- To further develop the DevelopSpace infrastructure through identification of infrastructure needs
Timeline
We are aiming for a first comprehensive review of our work at the beginning of September 2008 (exact date / time / location TBD).
Our next project telecon will be on Saturday September 20, 2008, from 12 pm - 2 pm EST.
Project Team
- Chase Cooper
- Emily Grosse (listening in)
- Arthur Guest
- Wilfried Hofstetter (project lead) wilfried.hofstetter@gmail.com
- Alar Kolk
- Ryan McLinko
- Paul Wooster (advisor)
- Aaron Schultz
Our project mailing list: minmars@lists.developspace.net
Action Items
- Update your contact details / add yourself to the team
- Project members need to identify task(s) they want to work on and put together an action plan for the task(s)
- Review NASA Mars DRM 1.0, 3.0, Exploration Blueprint Data Book, and Mars Direct (see key references)
Project Documents
Project Plan and Work Breakdown
Subversion Repository
Subversion version control system used to store files associated with this project. Repository is available at http://svn.developspace.net/svn/minmars/. For more information on how to use the repository, see the SVN page.
Read-only access to the repository is available to anyone. For write access, please contact info@developspace.net.
Telecon Notes
Models and Results
All models are accessible in the above project SVN. Modeling areas: Earth-Mars transportation, surface infrastructure, surface power systems, logistics & re-supply, ISRU
The Mars Wish List page lists a number of items which would be useful at the initiation of a minimalist human Mars mission, such as being designed by this project.
Key References
- One-way to Mars, George W. Herbert, AAS 96-322, The Case for Mars VI : Making Mars an Affordable Destination, Boulder, CO, 1996.
- NASA Mars surface reference mission, NASA/TP—2001–209371 (PDF) [December 2001]
- Human Mars Mission Weights and Mass Properties, NASA CR-2000-209874 PT1 (PDF) [Brothers, October 1999]
- Exploration Blueprint Data Book, NASA TM-2007-214763 (PDF) [Bret Drake, July 2007] Great source of NASA concepts for human exploration from the late 1990s and early 2000s
- Mars Direct - A Simple, Robust, and Cost Effective Architecture for the Space Exploration Initiative (PDF) [Zubrin, 1991] Overview of the Mars Direct exploration architecture
