Planning a manned mission to Mars
- Paper number
IAC-06-A3.P.3.15
- Author
Mr. Juan Miguel Abellán, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Sending a manned mission to Mars is a big challenge and to achieve it mankind will have to address foreseen and unforeseen issues that will include developing, implementing and testing new technology in order to find solutions that will make the mission possible.
There are lots of decisions that have to be taken, for example, whether to send or not some previous unmanned missions (cargo satellites, for example) to arrange a satellite constellation. Of course, there are some other alternatives whose viability has to be studied. Other important decision that has to be taken is the design of the spacecraft and the colony. The spacecraft will have to be quite different from present ones, because actual missions just last some days and travelling to Mars will take from 6 to 9 months, depending on the propulsion system used. Therefore it must be roomier and provide a high comfort level compared to actual spacecrafts. The colony must be self-sufficient and must use as many Martian resources as possible, typically life support consumables (oxygen, water, etc.) and propellant for a return journey to the Earth.
The mission preliminary study is divided in several parts, listed below:
- Orbit determination. Estimation of the journey time.
- Unmanned missions. Mission preliminary study. Arrangement of the satellite constellation. alternatives.
- Choosing a propulsion system. Comparative of the propulsion systems available. Recent propulsion systems (those not operative yet). Best performance.
- Spacecraft configuration. How to make astronauts’ life easier.
- Shielding the spacecraft against the heat of entry.
- The radiation problem. Protecting the crew against solar events.
- Choosing the most suitable design. Advantages and disadvantages.
- Weight estimation. Choosing the launcher.
- Landing at Mars. First steps for establishing a permanent colony.
- Communication network.
- ISRU arrangement. Guaranteeing the crew survival. Crew health.
- A day in the life of the crew. Basic maintenance of the colony.
- Exploring Mars.
- Returning to the Earth.
- Abstract document