New NASA Report Clarifies the Mission To Mars

NASA has released an intricate roadmap of its central manned spaceflight mission:"NASA's Journey To Mars:Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration."According to NASA Administrator General Charles Bolden,US Marine Corps Retired,the report,which was reviewed by this blog,consists of additional details about our journey to Mars and how we are aligning all of our work in support of this goal.The plan presents three thresholds of challenges,each more difficult than the last as the distance from Earth increases:
1.Earth Reliant Exploration is centered on the International Space Station,where the world class microgravity laboratory is testing technologies and advancing human health and performance research that will enable deep space,long duration missions.
2.Proving Ground:NASA will learn to conduct complex operations in a deep space environment that is just days from Earth.Primarily,this means cislunar space,or that volume of space which is around the Moon.Cislunar space features multiple possible staging orbits for future deep space missions.In this phase,NASA will advance and validate capabilities needed for humans living and working at vast distances from Earth,such as at Mars.This phase is linked to the upcoming Orion Exploration Mission flights and the Asteroid Redirect Mission.
3.The Earth Independent threshold builds on the previous two to enable Mars missions,possibly to low-Mars orbit or one of the Martian moons before an eventual landing on Mars.*
This strategy charts a course toward horizon goals,while delivering near-term benefits and defining a resilient architecture that can accommodate budgetary changes;political priorities;new scientific discoveries;technological breakthroughs;and evolving partnerships,said Dr.William Gerstenmeier,NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations.The ultimate goal is enabling humans to thrive beyond Earth for extended periods of time,leading to a substantial presence in deep space.The near-term missions have a cadence of compelling and integrated human and robotic missions providing for an incremental buildup of capabilities for more complex missions over time.At least one crewed mission per year is envisioned for the Proving Ground,cislunar phase.
The Proving Ground phase begins in 2018 with Exploration Mission 1,the first integrated test of the new Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft,including the SLS launch performance;Orion's heat shield performance following return from deep space;and deep space navigation.
Exploration Mission 2 will be the first crewed mission for Orion,featuring the addition of the Exploration Upper Stage and the possibility of co-manifested payloads within the EUS-to-Orion launch vehicle adapter,such as pressurised modules for habitability.*
Beyond these initial cislunar missions,the Asteroid Redirect Mission introduces Solar Electric Propulsion,which utilises energy from the sun to accelerate ionised propellant to very high speeds,to provide thrust for months or years-transporting big loads with far less propellant than with chemical propellant,extending the deep space exploration capabilities critical for Mars and beyond.
Deep space acronyms mentioned in the report include EDL-Entry,Descent and Landing;ISRU-Insitu Resource Utilisation;SEP-Solar Electric Propulsion;EUS-Exploration Upper Stage;and ECLSS-Environmental Control and Life Support Systems.NASA emphasises that its Mission to Mars is for all of humanity and international in character, relying heavily on partners from the ISS missions and more,as well as space industry partners.For example,the European Space Agency is providing the test Service Module that is stacked beneath the Orion spacecraft.