Mars Mission Designs

Mars Mission Designs

The Early History

One of the first missions to Mars was conceived in 1948 by the German rocket scientist Werner von Braun, the leader of the team that designed the Saturn V rocket that brought the Apollo astronauts to the Moon.

In his novel The Mars Project, von Braun described a fleet of ten 4000-ton ships and 70 crewmen. Seven of these spaceships are designed for the round-trip Mars voyage but they do not land. Three one-way ships have winged landing gliders.

The spacecraft are assembled in Earth orbit from parts launched by 3-stage rockets (similar to the Saturn V). 950 flights are required to assemble the Mars fleet! The trip to Mars takes 8 months. After Mars orbit insertion, the first glider ship separates, deorbits, and glides to a landing on skids on one of the polar ice caps (chosen because von Braun believed that they would provide a smooth landing site).

The first men on Mars make a heroic 4000-mile overland trek to Mars' equator (!), where they build a landing strip for the two-wheeled gliders waiting in orbit. As soon as the wheeled gliders land, the explorers unbolt the wings and hoist the fuselages upright so that they stand on their tails, ready for rapid return to orbit in case of emergency. The explorers then set up an inflatable habitat, their base of operations for a 400-day survey of Mars' canals and deserts. The crews return by rendezvousing with the seven remaining Mars ships, and the journey back to Earth orbit lasts 8 months.

Much of this scenario, designed over 50 years ago, is still part of the current design for a Mars trip. Mars ships may still be assembled in Earth orbit, landers would most likely separate from a mother ship, inflatable habitat designs are being tested, and rendezvous and return with a mother ship is still a part of the plan.

In his book "The Exploration of Mars," von Braun and co-author Willie Ley in 1953 note that "it is entirely possible. . . that within a decade or so successful tests with some sort of nuclear rocket propulsion system might be accomplished. . ." In the version of the Mars trip in this book, the craft has an inflatable personnel sphere 26 feet across, with a control room on deck 1 and living quarters on decks 2 and 3. This design is remarkably similar to the current 30-foot diameter, 3-story inflatable transportation and habitat model, TransHab, currently being tested at the Johnson Space Center.

In his article entitled "Can we get to Mars" published in Collier’s Magazine in 1954, von Braun writes about the human factor in a mission to Mars. He writes "at the end of a few months. . . someone is likely to go berserk. Little mannerisms - the way a man cracks his knuckles, blows his nose, the way he grins, talks or gestures – [can] create tension and hatred. . . if somebody does crack, you can't call off the expedition and return to Earth. You'll have to take him with you." He proposes censoring radio communication to prevent the crew from hearing bad news.

A field party watches as a Martian dust storm engulfs their base camp

Von Braun also suggests that hibernation might be available by the time an expedition to Mars occurs.

He writes "Will man ever go to Mars? I am sure he will - but it will be a century or more before he's ready. In that time scientists and engineers will learn more about the physical and mental rigors of interplanetary flight - and about the unknown dangers of life on another planet. Some of that information may become available within the next 25 years or so, through the erection of a space station above the Earth. . . and through the subsequent exploration of the moon. . ." Von Braun developed the rockets that launched U.S. astronauts into space orbit and eventually to the Moon. His plans for a space shuttle and an orbiting space station as well as his expedition to Mars were presented to the general public on "The Wonderful World of Disney" in the late 1950s.

In 1957, NASA compiled its first research into chemical, nuclear, and electric (ion) rocket propulsion for interplanetary flight at the Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center in Ohio. In 1959, researchers testified to Congress about their work and solicited funding for a focused Mars expedition study.

They noted that fast Mars trips generally require more propellant (hydrogen, in the case of a nuclear rocket) than slow trips, while the crew requires more supplies for slow trips than for fast trips. The researchers opt for a 420-day round-trip with a 40-day surface period at Mars to occur in 1971. They also considered aerobraking, or using atmospheric drag at Earth and/or Mars, to slow the spacecraft down because this method greatly reduces the fuel needed for the trip. Radiation exposure from cosmic rays, solar flares, and the nuclear rocket engine were considered hazards. The crew compartment has a heavily shielded vault for sleeping and solar flare periods. They recommended a shorter trip to save the crew exposure time even though it required more propellant. All of these considerations are still valid and part of the design criteria.

Apollo Years