...And To Mars Thereafter
Before the end of the next decade, NASA says astronauts
will again explore the surface of the moon. And this time, the
space agency promises, we're going to stay, building outposts and
paving the way for eventual journeys to Mars and beyond. There are
echoes of the iconic images of the past, but it won't be your
grandfather's moon shot. Administrator Michael Griffin says the new
Moon missions will be like the Apollo program... on steroids.
This journey begins soon, with development of a new spaceship.
Building on the best of Apollo and shuttle technology, NASA claims
to be creating a 21st century exploration system that will be
affordable, reliable, versatile, and safe.
The centerpiece of this system is a new spacecraft designed to
carry four astronauts to and from the moon, support up to six
crewmembers on future missions to Mars, and deliver crew and
supplies to the International Space Station.
The new crew vehicle will be shaped like an Apollo capsule, but
it will be three times larger, allowing four astronauts to travel
to the moon at a time.
The new spacecraft has solar panels to provide power, and both
the capsule and the lunar lander use liquid methane in their
engines. Why methane? NASA is thinking ahead, planning for a day
when future astronauts can convert Martian atmospheric resources
into methane fuel.
The new ship can be reused up to 10 times. After the craft
parachutes to dry land (with a splashdown as a backup option), NASA
can easily recover it, replace the heat shield and launch it
again.
Coupled with the new lunar lander, the system sends twice as
many astronauts to the surface as Apollo, and they can stay longer,
with the initial missions lasting four to seven days. And while
Apollo was limited to landings along the moon's equator, the new
ship carries enough propellant to land anywhere on the moon's
surface.
Once a lunar outpost is established, crews could remain on the
lunar surface for up to six months. The spacecraft can also operate
without a crew in lunar orbit, eliminating the need for one
astronaut to stay behind while others explore the surface.
"Safe And Reliable"
The launch system that will get the crew off the ground builds
on powerful, reliable shuttle propulsion elements. Astronauts will
launch on a rocket made up of a single shuttle solid rocket
booster, with a second stage powered by a shuttle main engine.
A second, heavy-lift system uses a pair of longer solid rocket
boosters and five shuttle main engines to put up to 125 metric tons
in orbit -- about one and a half times the weight of a shuttle
orbiter. This versatile system will be used to carry cargo and to
put the components needed to go to the moon and Mars into orbit.
The heavy-lift rocket can be modified to carry crew as well.
Best of all, these launch systems are 10 times safer than the
shuttle because of an escape rocket on top of the capsule that can
quickly blast the crew away if launch problems develop. There's
also little chance of damage from launch vehicle debris, since the
capsule sits on top of the rocket.
The Flight Plan
In just five years, the new ship will begin to ferry crew and
supplies to the International Space Station. Plans call for as many
as six trips to the outpost a year. In the meantime, robotic
missions will lay the groundwork for lunar exploration. In 2018,
humans will return to the moon. Here's how a mission would
unfold:
A heavy-lift rocket blasts off, carrying a lunar lander and a
"departure stage" needed to leave Earth's orbit. The crew launches
separately, then docks their capsule with the lander and departure
stage and heads for the moon.
Three days later, the crew goes into lunar orbit. The four
astronauts climb into the lander, leaving the capsule to wait for
them in orbit. After landing and exploring the surface for seven
days, the crew blasts off in a portion of the lander, docks with
the capsule and travels back to Earth. After a de-orbit burn, the
service module is jettisoned, exposing the heat shield for the
first time in the mission. The parachutes deploy, the heat shield
is dropped and the capsule sets down on dry land.
"Into The Cosmos"
With a minimum of two lunar missions per year, momentum will
build quickly toward a permanent outpost. Crews will stay longer
and learn to exploit the moon's resources, while landers make one
way trips to deliver cargo. Eventually, the new system could rotate
crews to and from a lunar outpost every six months.
Planners are already looking at the lunar south pole as a
candidate for an outpost because of concentrations of hydrogen
thought to be in the form of water ice, and an abundance of
sunlight to provide power.
NASA says these plans give a huge head start in getting to Mars.
"We will already have the heavy-lift system needed to get there, as
well as a versatile crew capsule and propulsion systems that can
make use of Martian resources," NASA said in a statement to
Aero-News. "A lunar outpost just three days away from Earth will
give us needed practice of 'living off the land' away from our home
planet, before making the longer trek to Mars.