"Manned mission to 'Mars'"

Manned mission to 'Mars'
Another Mars probe from NASA was settling into orbit last month around
the Red Planet, 132 million miles away. Back on Earth, at the Mars
Desert Research Station in Utah, the crew had a problem.
at http://www.washtimes.com/specialrepo...3038-3483r.htm

Its been 50 years since Willy Ley and Wernher vonBraun completed their
book EXPLORATION OF MARS - and not much as been done but talk since
then.

That book, along with Disney's work, and the Collier articles five
years earlier, and the Mars Project in 1953 introduced the concepts of
interplanetary travel to the public a year before Sputnik.

The back of the book has an appendix and works out the payload weights
and other details of the launchers, engines, and interplanetary travel.

I'm sure if vonBraun were alive today and asked why we haven't been to
Mars yet, he would say, we lacked the will to do it.

http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbrau...y_article.html
http://homepage.mac.com/srogers4/roc...etro/vonbraun/
http://home.flash.net/~aajiv/bd/colliers.html

Is that the real reason why we haven't done this yet?

Maybe, maybe not. Here's another answer;

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rocketscience-03zzf.html

You can get an updated version of one of these reports by von Braun at
Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/025...Fencoding=UTF8

Csomic radiation is a problem with a long-duration journey. We could
however house the piloted modules within tanks of water and propellant
used for the mission to afford some protection. Also, MEMS
(micro-machine technology) appears capable of creating millions of tiny
life support systems operating in parallel to maintain air and water
quality for the crew. Such systems have very high reliability at the
system level, if common mode failures can be avoided. So maintenance
need not be an issue.

Modifying the Shuttle's external tank so that it becomes a flyback
booster, and taking this booster and propelling it with five SSME class
LOX/LH engines at its base and arranging six boosters to operate in a
particular cross-feed arrangement - can quickly get us (for about $6.4
billion) a 500 metric ton to orbit RLV.

This vehicle would be developed as a launcher for a light-weight Solar
Power Satellite - and a fleet of five would have a launch rate of 1 per
week. The Inflatable SPS would have a GW useful power - and beam
energy anywhere on the Earth visible to it. But, it could also do
double duty as a launcher for a Mars expedition.

The Mars Ship would use this updated External Tank / flyback booster as
a basic airframe for interplanetary flight - just as the SIVB was used
to create SKYLAB,and would provide a low-cost path to long-duration
missions. A fully functioning long-duration system could be put into a
single modified External Tank airframe - and six additional external
tanks could cluster around it - carrying needed propellants and
providing sheilding - each tank propelled by a cluster of five RL10
derived engines operating at high expansion at 461 seconds

Off-gassing of cryogenics would provide cooling of the long-duration
mission module, and would also provide hydrogen and oxygen to power
fuel cells on board the module. Water produced would be potable and
consumed by the crew, and run cryogenic refrigerators to return the
bulk of the off-gassing propellants to their long term storage tanks.
Hydrogen would also be used to scrub the air aboard the module,
producing hydro-carbons, the hydro-carbons and dirty water would be
evaporated into space to provide a secondary level of cooling.

The 725 tonne ET would be pared down to 500 tonne systems for placement
on orbit,and seven flights of the Nova Class RLV would be sufficient to
place a 3,500 tonne system on orbit. The long-duration module with
crew and provisions mass 250 tonnes, and itself carries 250 tonnes of
propellant. Development of this system, and construction of three
flight vehicles is expected to cost $1.5 billion.

Three ships - totalling 10,500 tonnes on orbit would be assembled over
21 weeks and a total of 18 people would be sent to Mars aboard these
ships.

Four of the 500 tonne tanks would be consumed during Trans Mars
Injection. Two would remain throughout the flight. The tanks would be
retained for sheilding during interplanetary transit and for use of the
propellant ullage as fuel cell power..

At Mars the two full tanks along with the mission module would separate
and aerobrake at mars. The four empty tanks would also be recovered at
mars. Once in Mars orbit they would rejoin and continue their mission.
The fleet would dock at Diemos - using it for sheilding while at Mars.
Using the empty tanks as the beginning of a mars orbiting base.

There would be an expedition to Phobos, as well as to the Mars surface
after observation from orbit aboard 3 tonne landing ships - carrying
1.5 tonnes of payload, and 10 tonnes of propellant - propelled by RL10
engine, built into the base of each of the empty propellant tanks.-
capable of drawing propellant from the other propellant tanks. A total
of four landers - Mars SSTO is easier to achieve than on Earth - each
powered by an RL10 - provide a capacity to land in many locations
around Mars and return to orbit. There are 20 tonnes of deployable
payloads within each mission module, 500 kg each - 40 total, that are
deployed during descent of each of these stages. There is sufficient
spare propellant for 2 trips to the surface and back per lander. 8 per
mission module. A total of 24 landings for the fleet and 120 unpiloted
daughter landers - The crew is based on the surface of Diemos during
their waiting to return. Including a number of visits to Phobos.

At the right time in the synodic period the two large propellant tanks
for each vessel send each now 150 tonne mission module back to Earth -
three total. And the empty tanks are used as before, and all three
tanks from each vehicle enter the Earth's atmosphere separately and
land on Earth to be recovered and reused.

The 12 mars landers, 12 External Tank based systems mounted on Diemos
as a long -term base, along with 120 unmanned landers and 6 manned
landing sites on the surface of Mars (landings occur in pairs) remain
in the mars system.

During the next exploration cycle two years following on - less
hardware, and more propellant and consumables are brought along, so
more landings can occur. Two of the four spare propellant tnaks can be
guided to the surface and used as a base there, while two of the tanks
can be used on Phobos to start a base there. Additional 'landers' can
be modified for inter-moon transport.

http://www.friends-partners.org/part...craft/tmke.htm

Russia's TMK mission module was 6m diam and 18m long and provided for a
crew of six.

The External Tank is 41.9m long and 8.4m diam. Made of
Lithium/Aluminum alloy it masses 26.6 tonnes empty and 757.0 tonnes
full. Redesigning the nose cone with an advanced TPS and replacing
foam insulation with more permanent structure, along with the addition
of SSME class engines at the base, and strakes, RCS, and deployable
subsonic wings, to make it reusable, along with a redesign of the
interstage, the propellant feed lines (for cross feeding) and
lengthening of the system, a revised fully reusable ET would mass 50.5
tonnes empty and 800 tonnes full.

A Mars Transit Stage can be made of these by replacing the SSME class
engines with RL10 class engines (5) with the central engine attached to
a Single Stage Mars Lander - fueled from the larger tank. The SSML
masses 3 tonnes empty, carries 1.61 tonnes payload, including a 0.20
tonnes of externally mounted automated landing craft deployed during
each descent, and 5.39 tonnes of hydrogen oxygen propellant. This
vehicle is capable of landing on the Mars surface with a crew of
two-to-four and staying up to 20 days, and returning to orbit.

The Mars Transit Stage, with Lander masses 53.5 tonnes and carries 446
tonnes of propellant, with a capacity of 354 tonnes more. Six MTS/L
are launched to support a mission to Mars. Five MTS-light freighter
stages are orbited and top off the six MTS/L stages to their full
capacity of 800 tonnes of propellant.

Modifying the ET to operate as a mission module, similar to the TMK,
requires that a cylinder of Lithium/Aluminum with insulation, placed in
the hydrogen tank that's 6.4m diam running the 28m of the 30m length of
the hydrogen tank be inserted into the hydrogen tank. This allows the
transport of 275 tonnes of hydrogen/oxygen propellant OUTSIDE the
proposed inner cylinder,and provides a 1m thick radiation sheild of
hydrogen and oxygen propellant around this mission module while
providing 900 cubic meters of SHEILDED living space for the six
astronauts making the journey.

The inter-tank module and oxygen tank structures are external to this
sheild and house additional living and mechanical space. The intertank
module is 6.9m long and 8.4 m diam and provides a place to locate
equipment.

The Oxygen tank is 15.0m long and provide additional 553 cubic meters
of pressurized though unsheilded living and storage space.

All up the system masses 5,663 tonnes on LEO - put up by 12 flights of
the NOVA class RLV described elsewhere for launching light-weight
powersats. To do the Trans-Mars Injection requires 3.7 km/sec which
causes FOUR of the SIX TMS/L stages to empty, with 36.7 tonnes of
ullage left behind. This is used during transit by the main mission
module, as well as the landers later in the mission.

All are based on the ET improved for re-entry and recovery for the
large RLV. Thus, these stages are all capable of separating and
performing a Mars Aerocapture maneuver,and rendezvous and docking
again, to carry on their mission around Mars.

A fleet of three mars vehicles are assembled in orbit and dispatched at
the same time. So, a total of 18 people and 12 landers, 12 TMS/L
tanks, 3 mission modules, and 6 return stages are deployed on Mars
orbit.

Two systems land on Diemos and establishes a base there, for radiation
shielding while in the Mars system. One system lands on Phobos.
Automated satellites, and earlier mapping provide detailed information
about Mars terrain and guide landings on the Mars surface.

1875 tonnes of oxygen/hydrogen are retained in the Mars system for each
flight system. The crew consumes oxygen and hydrogen for breathing,
air scrubbing, and operation of fuel cells, which produce water, which
is also consumed and recycled and eventually evaporated for cooling.
This uses a total of 60 tonnes of propellant throughout the mission
drawn from ullage and boil-off for each system.

The four landers can carry out twelve missions, 3-each, (including
reconnoitering of Phobos) each, consuming 5.6 tonnes of propellant per
flight, including consumables. A total of 67.2 tonnes. This leaves
1747.8 tonnes of propellant for the remainder of the flight.

Upon leaving the Mars system 400 tonnes of supplies, along with the
four TMS/L with landers, form an orbiting base from each system. The
two TMS-return stages, and mission module, are dispatched back to Earth
at the end of the journey.

So, a total of 1,200 tonnes of supplies and 12 TMS/L stages, and 12
landers, are deployed on Diemos and Phobos and 18 locations on the Mars
surface (dual landings in all cases for backup)

A single lander can return all crew, a single Mission module can
support all crew members.

Two man rocket packs, massing less than 20 kg empty, propelled by
hydrogen and oxygen, are capable of significant flights across the
martian landing area. In a pinch, the system can be used to carry
astronauts from one landing area to another along a suborbital
trajectory. Two are provided per lander. And they are capable of one
man operation.

Near the end of the journey, additional propellant is off-loaded on the
bases - depending on mission condition - for use by future voyagers.
1,260 tonnes of propellant return each mission module, with two
TMS-return empties, per vehicle. All elements are recovered and
reused. (the landers may be returned as well for refurbishment and
reuse)

There are also five ET sized tanks on Earth Orbit at the start of the
mission, which in two years will be added to - to create a large space
station totalling 15,000 cubic meters!

If the $6.5 billion cost of building the RLV system were carried out
privately, the modifications and development described here, based on
Apollo, Shuttle, Mir, and ISS era technologies - would cost an
additional $15 billion - and support three flight cycles to the red
planet over a six year period. The total cost would be less than
Apollo's landing on the moon, and lead to a significant build up of
capacities in the martian system.

The second journey to mars would involve landing the MTS/L directly on
Mars through aerobraking, automatically, and following it down with the
landers after. This would expand the most interesting and viable
landing sites and provide permanent basing on Mars surface.

For an additional $800 million - we could develop a small space nuclear
power system - and modify the MTS/L stage again - this time allowing it
to make fuel from Mars' atmosphere, and allow longer stay time on Mars,
as well as refueling the Mars landers - allowing them to be based on
Mars, and allowing personnel to stay between synodic periods - longer
term - providing permanent presence on the Red Planet.