Mars has been a stated goal of major space programs since the 1960’s. However, humanity is always... more Mars has been a stated goal of major space programs since the 1960’s. However, humanity is always “a decade or so away.” Beyond the technical issues associated with human spaceflight, the problem of launching a full-scale exploration of Mars is compounded by lack of proper funding, lack of political will, and an abundance of risk aversion. Using telerobotic exploration, both orbital and in situ observations of the Red Planet have revealed that it may once have been a hospitable home to life, but more detailed human exploration is needed to determine if life has ever existed there. Proposed mission plans for a crewed Mars mission were evaluated using a pass/fail grade based on crewmember health, funding feasibility, and sustainability. Such grading was accomplished using original materials about each plan to determine the feasibility of each area independent of the other two. Analysis reveals that while Robert Zubrin’s Mars Direct plan has the greatest potential for a Mars mission in the shortest timeframe, SpaceX’s Mars Colony Transport plan has the highest probability of achieving a crewed mission to Mars. I recommend a hybrid mission which uses the Mars Base Camp plan as a precursor and Zubrin’s architecture as a springboard into the larger SpaceX colonization plan. This would be sufficient to drive both alacrity and mass colonization within 50 years.
Mars has been a stated goal of major space programs since the 1960’s. However, humanity is always... more Mars has been a stated goal of major space programs since the 1960’s. However, humanity is always “a decade or so away.” Beyond the technical issues associated with human spaceflight, the problem of launching a full-scale exploration of Mars is compounded by lack of proper funding, lack of political will, and an abundance of risk aversion. Using telerobotic exploration, both orbital and in situ observations of the Red Planet have revealed that it may once have been a hospitable home to life, but more detailed human exploration is needed to determine if life has ever existed there. Proposed mission plans for a crewed Mars mission were evaluated using a pass/fail grade based on crewmember health, funding feasibility, and sustainability. Such grading was accomplished using original materials about each plan to determine the feasibility of each area independent of the other two. Analysis reveals that while Robert Zubrin’s Mars Direct plan has the greatest potential for a Mars mission in the shortest timeframe, SpaceX’s Mars Colony Transport plan has the highest probability of achieving a crewed mission to Mars. I recommend a hybrid mission which uses the Mars Base Camp plan as a precursor and Zubrin’s architecture as a springboard into the larger SpaceX colonization plan. This would be sufficient to drive both alacrity and mass colonization within 50 years.
Uploads
Papers by Matthew Jordan