Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Monday April 22 2019, @09:23PM   Printer-friendly

The Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) has found that NASA is unlikely to send humans on a mission near Mars (not including a landing on the surface of Mars) any sooner than 2037:

An independent report concluded that NASA has no chance of sending humans to Mars by 2033, with the earliest such a mission could be flown being the late 2030s.

[...] STPI, at NASA's direction, used the strategy the agency had laid out in its "Exploration Campaign" report, which projects the continued use of the Space Launch System and Orion and development of the lunar Gateway in the 2020s. That would be followed by the Deep Space Transport (DST), a crewed spacecraft that would travel from cislunar space to Mars and back. NASA would also develop lunar landers are related system to support crewed missions to the lunar surface, while also working on systems for later missions to the surface of Mars.

That work, the STPI report concluded, will take too long to complete in time to support a 2033 mission. "We find that even without budget constraints, a Mars 2033 orbital mission cannot be realistically scheduled under NASA's current and notional plans," the report states. "Our analysis suggests that a Mars orbital mission could be carried out no earlier than the 2037 orbital window without accepting large technology development, schedule delay, cost overrun, and budget shortfall risks."

That schedule is driven by the technology risks associated in particular with the Deep Space Transport, including life support systems and propulsion, that require long lead times. A mission to Mars launching in 2033, the report concluded, would need to have critical technologies tested by 2022, which is unlikely. Moving ahead without completing those technologies first, the report stated, will "dramatically increase technology and schedule risks for the DST and could force the DST design to be revised if any one of these technology testing programs reveals problems."


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday April 23 2019, @12:51AM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday April 23 2019, @12:51AM (#833624) Journal

    You guys are going to contaminate Mars at this rate.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday April 23 2019, @01:20AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 23 2019, @01:20AM (#833635) Journal

    You guys are going to contaminate Mars at this rate.

    Nitrogen source - especially if using bodies full of shit. Also, hot air would be a plus, but one can substitute that with nuclear thermoelectric cells - higher energy density/weight.

    Mars is highly deficient in nitrogen [reddit.com], especially the fixed one [newatlas.com] (0.11% in Mars soil, in comparison with Earth (could reach around 5% [unl.edu]). Using hydrazine on Mars is a plus for terraforming.

    On the plus side, Mars is richer in phosphorus and potassium [wikipedia.org]

    Third, the Martian mantle is richer in potassium and phosphorus than Earth's

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford