There's been a lot of muttering that NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, Project Constellation, the Ares I, the Ares V, etc. all are ignoring Mars. Looks like NASA will start planning for the journey to the Red Planet next year. Some comments by NASA Administrator Mike Griffin can be found here. When to Mars? Curmudgeon's Corner found a write up of the question and answer period that has a hint.
Best guess for first manned Mars mission? "Late 2020s". Must recreate capabilities like heavy lifters that no longer exist.
That's not much of a gap between the return to the Moon and a first voyage to Mars!
So how will we live on the Moon? Here's a glimpse. How will we get to Mars? Hmmm...by going to the Moon, perhaps?
A few revelations have come out about Project Constellation's prposed CLV (Crew Launch Vehicle) and CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle). In one, NASA has removed plans for a LOX/methane engine on the CEV's service module. In the second, the CLV may have to be modified both in terms in the number of segments that make up the solid rocket "stick" for the first stage and also the engine used in the second stage.
If the CEV is going to be truly modular (and evolve through several "blocks"), I'm less concerned about the removal of the LOX/methane engine than some may be. It seems to be a combination of funding and technology. The funding just isn't there, and there's less of it every day (thanks to the big sucking holes known as shuttle and ISS). The LOX/methane engine is a great idea, but would come into its own more on a Mars mission than the initial lunar missions (or any missions to the ISS or other Earth-orbit missions).
The second item, that of modifications to the CLV, are more troublesome. Instead of a relatively straight modification of existing technology (the solid rocket booster used on the shuttle) and a modification of either the space shuttle's main engine or a new version of a venerable Apollo-era engine, we're creeping into a whole new booster. And that would mean...more costs...more delays...more changes to infrastructure.
According to these items on NASAWatch, it appears that NASA is moving away from plans of eventually landing humans on Mars.
I am not sure what "final draft report on the Mars exploration program" the author of this article is referring to, but it appears that NASA is adopting Robert Zubrin's (The Mars Society) "Mars Direct" program for use in a mission to Mars. Launch date? 2030. Let's hope it is sooner than that!
Much has been written about the Vision for Space Exploration and the proposed vehicles that will be the hardware for the vision. Dwayne A. Day and Jeff Foust (writing at The Space Review) look at the "conspiracy" within NASA that led to much of what has gone into the VSE.
Robert Zubrin, one of the driving forces behind the Mars Direct plan and president of the Mars Society has some good things and bad things to say about NASA's plans to return to exploration:
The previous NASA plans were pure nonsense. This one is real engineering. Finally, we have a plan that could actually work.
It appears that Mike Griffin sees the recent report blasting NASA over the use of the ISS and its role in the Vision for Space Exploration as a potential trouble spot.
Continue reading "Damage Control"
The team made up of Northrop-Grummand and Boeing have announced their plans for the Crew Exploration Vehicle. Some nice eye-candy shots included.
Keith Cowing (writing at MarsToday.com) takes a closer look at the architecture of the Crew Exploration Vehicle and NASA's proposd shuttle-derived launch vehicles. You start with the intention of going to Mars and work your way backwards to the Moon and the ISS...