HOUSTON – If humans go to Mars in the next few decades, the concept will likely reflect a lot of ideas developed in NASA’s Human Mars Reference Mission.
| At a glance: Human Mars Reference Mission |
Proponent: NASA
Year: 1998
Costs: No official estimates yet, but $20 billion or more seems likely.
Proposed date of Mars landing: Date unknown at this time, but the project would probably take 10 to 15 years from initial phases to landing.
Status: Informal, though serious research going on at NASA.
Will it happen? A possibility if political winds shift and financing can be arranged. |
This is space agency’s most current plan to put a human on Mars and discards most ideas from the
90-Day Report published in 1989.
The reference mission resembles Robert Zubrin's
Mars Direct plan closely with one major difference -- use of an orbiting return vehicle rather than one launched totally from Mars.
Zubrin's plan calls for a return vehicle to land before astronauts arrive. It will produce fuel from the Martian atmosphere.
The astronauts arrive in a lander/habitat and spend one year exploring Mars (see graphics below).
It also proposes using an inflatable habitat attached to the lander, much like the
Transhab, currently being developed at Johnson Space Center.
Unlike the 90-Day Report plan, everything would be launched from Earth with no need for a space station for assembly or support. The lander also uses chemical processes to produce fuel for return to the orbiter.
The astronauts, six as opposed to Zubrin's four, would stay on Mars almost 18 months.
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