Human Mars Exploration Architecture Studies

General References

• The Mars Project [Wernher v. Braun 1962] The original human Mars mission design (chemical propulsion, conjunction class)

• Humans to Mars - 50 Years of Mission Planning, NASA SP-2001-4521 (PDF) [February 2001] By David S. F. Portree, NASA History Division

• Interplanetary Mission Design Handbook: Earth-to-Mars Mission Opportunities and Mars-to-Earth Return Opportunities 2009-2024 (PDF) [NASA MSFC 1998]

Round-Trip Human Mars Exploration

NASA Human Mars Mission Studies

• Human Mars Exploration Mission Architectures and Technologies (PPT) [Connolly, Joosten, January 2005] This is a good summary of NASA human Mars mission architecting studies and insights gained.

Apollo-Era Mission Designs

• A STUDY OF MANNED NUCLEAR-ROCKET MISSIONS TO MARS (PDF) [NASA Glenn 1961]

• Low-energy 1977 triple-planet flybys with an inherent abort option (PDF) [Vanderveen, NASA 1968]

• Manned exploration of Mars: A minimum-energy mission plan for maximum scientific return (PDF) [Funk et al., NASA JSC 1968]

• Integrated space program - Manned planetary missions for the 1980's (PDF) [Bellcomm / NASA 1969]

Pre-SEI Human Mars Mission Studies

• Manned Mars flyby mission and configuration concept (PDF) [NASA MSFC 1986]

• Concept for a manned Mars flyby (PDF) [NASA JSC 1986]

• A manned Mars mission concept with artificial gravity (PDF) Davis, NASA 86]

Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) Human Mars Mission Studies

• Report of the 90-Day Study on Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars, NASA-TM-102999 (PDF) [November 1989]

• Report of the 90-Day Study on Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars - Cost Summary (PDF) [November 1989]

• Stafford Commission America at the Threshold - Report of the Synthesis Group on America's Space Exploration Initiative (PDF) [Stafford et al. 1991]

Mars Design Reference Mission Studies

• The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team, NASA/SP-6107 (PDF) [July 1997] Commonly referred to as NASA Mars DRM 1.0

• Addendum to the NASA Mars DRM, NASA/SP—6107–ADD [Bret Drake (editor), June 1998] Commonly referred to as NASA Mars DRM 3.0

• Human Mars Mission Weights and Mass Properties, NASA CR-2000-209874 PT1 [Brothers, October 1999]

• NASA Mars surface reference mission, NASA/TP—2001–209371 (PDF) [December 2001]

• Exploration Blueprint - Data Book, NASA JSC-63724 (PDF) [Drake, February 2007 (release date)] Contains information on NASA Mars DRM 4.0 and the Dual Landers DRM starting page 178

• NASA’s Decadal Planning Team - Mars Mission Analysis Summary, JSC-63725 [Drake BG (editor), released 2007]

• From the Moon to Mars - The Things We Most Need to Learn at the Moon to Support the Subsequent Human Exploration of Mars (PDF) [Drake, October 2007] Presentation by Bret Drake, NASA-JSC, to NASA LEAG; contains background information on the still unpublished NASA Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0

• Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 Study: Executive Summary (PDF) [Bret Drake, 2/2009 (release date)] Summary of the latest NASA Mars design reference for human Mars missions

• NASA Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (PDF) NASA-SP-2009-566 [July 2009]

• NASA Design Reference Architecture 5.0 Addendum (PDF) NASA-SP-2009-566-ADD [July 2009]

Non-DRM Studies

• Vehicle and Mission Design Options for the Human Exploration of Mars/Phobos Using "Bimodal" NTR and LANTR Propulsion (PDF) [Borowski et al. NASA Glenn 2002]

• Preliminary Assessment of Artificial Gravity Impacts to Deep-Space Vehicle Design, NASA JSC-63743 (PDF) [Joosten, February 2007 (release date)] This is a NEP and artificial gravity based Mars reference mission put together by NASA after Mars DRM 4.

• Reducing the Risk of Human Missions to Mars Through Testing, NASA JSC-63726 (PDF) [Drake, February 2007 (release date)]

• Austere Human Mission to Mars (PDF) NASA JPL (H. Price et al) Minimalist Mars Design Reference Mission [Space 2009 AIAA Conference Paper] JPL minimalist round-trip mission study from 2009

• Austere Human Mission to Mars (PDF) NASA JPL (H. Price et al) [AIAA Presentation Slides] JPL minimalist round-trip mission study from 2009

Mars Mission Designs by Robert Zubrin

• Humans to Mars in 1999 (PDF) [Zubrin, Baker 1991]

• Mars Direct - A Simple, Robust, and Cost Effective Architecture for the Space Exploration Initiative (PDF) [Zubrin, Baker 1991] Overview of the Mars Direct exploration architecture

• Athena extended Mars flyby mission design (PDF) [Zurbin, 1996]

Inspiration Mars

The Inspiration Mars Foundation (IMF) is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the goal of conducting a 2-person Mars flyby mission as a precursor to Mars surface missions. Originally, a 501-day Mars flyby mission with Earth departure in January 2018 was envisioned, but since 2014 a Mars-Venus flyby opportunity with Earth departure in 2021 has also been considered in the context of using NASA SLS and Orion-derived elements as part of the mission architecture (a 2021 Earth departure would facilitate the development schedule of these elements). The Mars flyby mission is envisioned to be carried out as a private-public partnership between IMF and NASA with a philantropic funding component

• Inspiration Mars website [Accessed March 3, 2015]

• Original IEEE conference paper outlining the concept for and feasibility of a 2-person Mars flyby mission in 2018 (PDF) [March 2013] Feasibility study with focus on select areas such as trajectories, Earth entry/ descent/ landing, and environmental control and life support. Falcon Heavy and Dragon-derived Earth entry vehicle considered as concept

• Mars flyby architecture study summary report (PDF) [November 2013] Summary of architecture study centered around using NASA SLS for launch of the Mars-flyby spacecraft stack, an Orion-derived entry capsule for Earth entry, and commercial crew and cargo elements for crew launch and in-flight habitation

Miscellaneous Mission Designs

• Project Minerva: A low-cost manned Mars mission based on indigenous propellant production (PDF) [Bruckner et al. 1992]

• Lowest cost, nearest term options for a manned Mars mission (PDF) [Sauls et al. 1992]

• Project APEX: Advanced manned exploration of the Martian moon Phobos (PDF) [Eisley et al. 1992] Mission design for Phobos mission

• Caltech Mars Mission Design Report (PDF) Caltech Reference Mission Design

• A Practical Architecture for Exploration-Focused Manned Mars Missions Using Chemical Propulsion, Solar Power Generation and In-Situ Resource Utilisation (PDF) [Willson and Clarke 2007] Mars Society Australia (MSA) MARS-OZ Reference Mission

• MarsDrive Consortium Mission

Mars Colonization

Mars Colonization - Robert Zubrin

• The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must [Zubrin 1997] Discusses the Mars direct mission architecture, Mars base building, Mars colonization, and Mars terraforming

• How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet [Zubrin 2008] Entertaining portrayal what life in a Mars colony would be like, presents many interesting technical and design ideas

• The economic viability of colonizing Mars (PDF) [Zubrin]

DevelopSpace MinMars Project

• Project Website

• MinMars project svn repository with models

• IAC 2008 Human Mars Toehold paper + presentation

Mars One

Mars One is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to the goal of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars

• Mars One homepage [Accessed March 15, 2015]

Miscellaneous Mars Colonization References

• One-way to Mars, George W. Herbert, AAS 96-322, The Case for Mars VI : Making Mars an Affordable Destination, Boulder, CO, 1996.

• Resource Utilization and Site Selection for a Self-Sufficient Martian Outpost, NASA/TM-98-206538 (PDF) [April 1998] By G. James, G. Chamitoff, D. Barker

• To Boldly Go: A One-Way Human Mission to Mars [Schulze-Makuch, Davies, Journal of Cosmology, 2010, Vol 12, 3619-3626]