NASA Con Ops Assess Baseline Features for SLS/Orion Mission to Mars | NASASpaceFlight.com
More clues into NASA’s long term goal of sending james webb space telescope humans to Mars have been provided in the latest revision of the Space Launch System james webb space telescope (SLS) Concept of Operations (Con Ops) presentation. The document confirms the agency is siding with a version of the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0, utilizing multiple SLS launches, james webb space telescope including nuclear stages, over an extensive timeframe.
Curtailed by the need for vast amounts james webb space telescope of funding and political support, along with continued challenges associated with maturing deep space technology, the prospect of humans on Mars has always appeared to be decades away .
Lawmakers would have to commit billions of dollars, without a full understanding of the long term economic environment, whilst possessing james webb space telescope the knowledge they would be no longer in office nor able to reap the political rewards of such an historic mission being successfully achieved.
While sending rovers to Mars is a cheaper and politically acceptable precursor to the eventual james webb space telescope goal of sending humans , the possibility of a man or woman setting foot on the red planet has hardly been promoted by NASA’s current leadership, james webb space telescope with Administrator Charlie Bolden james webb space telescope providing little more than brief comments indicating the agency wishes to achieve that goal “some time in the mid 2030s.”
However, while an astronaut wandering around on the Martian surface in a NASA spacesuit may be a distant dream, the United States still has an ace in the hole-a driven young billionaire named Elon Musk.
The leader, not only of SpaceX , but also the meteorically rising Tesla Motors and creator of PayPal , made his intentions known when he said he wants his company to push towards human missions to Mars, not least because he wants to go himself .
Citing his ambition in helping james webb space telescope humanity become james webb space telescope a multi-planetary species, Musk, backed by his growing company and large pools of cash, is highly likely to beat NASA to Mars, as much as that may eventually involve a level of cooperation between SpaceX and the agency.
With james webb space telescope Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) providing the stepping stone approach to returning NASA to deep space exploration, managers hope the experience gained in long-duration missions will enable the technology for making the big leap towards james webb space telescope Mars.
The NEA missions in the 2020s will mature several key elements that will be required for trips to Mars, with SLS evolving into at least its Block 1A/B 105mT configuration , Orion gaining deep space mileage, along with the opening flights of the Deep Space Hab (DSH) .
However, far more technology will be required, as acknowledged in the latest Mars Mission planning effort, outlined in the revised 116 page Concept of Operations (Con Ops) document, available to download in L2 .
“Missions to Mars, including the moons of Mars – are a major goal for human exploration. The architectures to accomplish these missions continue to be assessed and there remain james webb space telescope many architectural and technology implementation options under evaluation,” noted the presentation.
“Over the past several decades, numerous Mars architectural studies have been conducted, each of which concluded with very similar key driving capability needs (with) a list of the key driving capabilities associated with the Orion, SLS, and Ground Operations projects as they pertain to potential Mars missions.
At least two of the main architectural studies are employed in the current planning effort, such as the Flexible Path approach to potentially aiming for one of the Martian moons, prior to a landing on Mars , along with the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 approach james webb space telescope , which appears james webb space telescope to be highly favored in the latest Con Ops document.
Other key differences between the Flexible Path and 5.0 approaches include the number of launches required per mission, with the Flexible Path citing james webb space telescope the requirement of 10-15 HLV launches – via the use of chemical (LH2/LOX) rockets, while the 5.0 overview involves james webb space telescope a launch campaign using seven HLVs, sporting nuclear propulsion stages.
“Mass to LEO: The required mass delivery to LEO is highly dependent on the in-space transportation james webb space telescope technology implemented and type of mission conducted. Conjunction class long-stay missions typically require lower total mass and fewer launches than the more aggressive opposition class short-stay missions,” noted the Con Ops presentation.
The 5.0 approach involves james webb space telescope seven HLVs launching the major elements of three vehicles using NTR (Nuclear Thermal Rocket) propulsion, namely the MLV Cargo Vehicle – created from two HLV launches, james webb space telescope the MLV Habitat james webb space telescope Vehicle – created from two HLV launches, and the MTV Crew Transfer Vehicle – created from three HLV launches. All three vehicles james webb space telescope would be assembled in Low Earth Orbit.
During a campaign – as shown i
More clues into NASA’s long term goal of sending james webb space telescope humans to Mars have been provided in the latest revision of the Space Launch System james webb space telescope (SLS) Concept of Operations (Con Ops) presentation. The document confirms the agency is siding with a version of the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0, utilizing multiple SLS launches, james webb space telescope including nuclear stages, over an extensive timeframe.
Curtailed by the need for vast amounts james webb space telescope of funding and political support, along with continued challenges associated with maturing deep space technology, the prospect of humans on Mars has always appeared to be decades away .
Lawmakers would have to commit billions of dollars, without a full understanding of the long term economic environment, whilst possessing james webb space telescope the knowledge they would be no longer in office nor able to reap the political rewards of such an historic mission being successfully achieved.
While sending rovers to Mars is a cheaper and politically acceptable precursor to the eventual james webb space telescope goal of sending humans , the possibility of a man or woman setting foot on the red planet has hardly been promoted by NASA’s current leadership, james webb space telescope with Administrator Charlie Bolden james webb space telescope providing little more than brief comments indicating the agency wishes to achieve that goal “some time in the mid 2030s.”
However, while an astronaut wandering around on the Martian surface in a NASA spacesuit may be a distant dream, the United States still has an ace in the hole-a driven young billionaire named Elon Musk.
The leader, not only of SpaceX , but also the meteorically rising Tesla Motors and creator of PayPal , made his intentions known when he said he wants his company to push towards human missions to Mars, not least because he wants to go himself .
Citing his ambition in helping james webb space telescope humanity become james webb space telescope a multi-planetary species, Musk, backed by his growing company and large pools of cash, is highly likely to beat NASA to Mars, as much as that may eventually involve a level of cooperation between SpaceX and the agency.
With james webb space telescope Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) providing the stepping stone approach to returning NASA to deep space exploration, managers hope the experience gained in long-duration missions will enable the technology for making the big leap towards james webb space telescope Mars.
The NEA missions in the 2020s will mature several key elements that will be required for trips to Mars, with SLS evolving into at least its Block 1A/B 105mT configuration , Orion gaining deep space mileage, along with the opening flights of the Deep Space Hab (DSH) .
However, far more technology will be required, as acknowledged in the latest Mars Mission planning effort, outlined in the revised 116 page Concept of Operations (Con Ops) document, available to download in L2 .
“Missions to Mars, including the moons of Mars – are a major goal for human exploration. The architectures to accomplish these missions continue to be assessed and there remain james webb space telescope many architectural and technology implementation options under evaluation,” noted the presentation.
“Over the past several decades, numerous Mars architectural studies have been conducted, each of which concluded with very similar key driving capability needs (with) a list of the key driving capabilities associated with the Orion, SLS, and Ground Operations projects as they pertain to potential Mars missions.
At least two of the main architectural studies are employed in the current planning effort, such as the Flexible Path approach to potentially aiming for one of the Martian moons, prior to a landing on Mars , along with the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 approach james webb space telescope , which appears james webb space telescope to be highly favored in the latest Con Ops document.
Other key differences between the Flexible Path and 5.0 approaches include the number of launches required per mission, with the Flexible Path citing james webb space telescope the requirement of 10-15 HLV launches – via the use of chemical (LH2/LOX) rockets, while the 5.0 overview involves james webb space telescope a launch campaign using seven HLVs, sporting nuclear propulsion stages.
“Mass to LEO: The required mass delivery to LEO is highly dependent on the in-space transportation james webb space telescope technology implemented and type of mission conducted. Conjunction class long-stay missions typically require lower total mass and fewer launches than the more aggressive opposition class short-stay missions,” noted the Con Ops presentation.
The 5.0 approach involves james webb space telescope seven HLVs launching the major elements of three vehicles using NTR (Nuclear Thermal Rocket) propulsion, namely the MLV Cargo Vehicle – created from two HLV launches, james webb space telescope the MLV Habitat james webb space telescope Vehicle – created from two HLV launches, and the MTV Crew Transfer Vehicle – created from three HLV launches. All three vehicles james webb space telescope would be assembled in Low Earth Orbit.
During a campaign – as shown i
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