NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
A Phobos-Deimos Mission as an Element of the NASA Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0NASA has conducted a series of mission studies over the past 25 years examining the eventual exploration of the surface of Mars by humans. The latest version of this evolutionary series of design reference missions/architectures - Design Reference Architecture 5 or DRA-5 - was completed in 2007. This paper examines the implications of including a human mission to explore the moons of Mars and teleoperate robots in various locations, but not to land the human crews on Mars, as an element of this reference architecture. Such a mission has been proposed several times during this same 25 year evolution leading up to the completion of DRA-5 primarily as a mission of testing the in-space vehicles and operations while surface vehicles and landers are under development. But such a precursor or test mission has never been explicitly included as an element of this Architecture. This paper will first summarize the key features of the DRA-5 to provide context for the remainder of the assessment. This will include a description of the in-space vehicles that would be the subject of a shakedown test during the Mars orbital mission. A decision tree will be used to illustrate the factors that will be analyzed, and the sequence in which they will be addressed, for this assessment. The factors that will be analyzed include the type of interplanetary transfer orbit (opposition class versus conjunction class), the type of parking orbit (circular versus elliptical), and the type of propulsion technology (high thrust chemical versus nuclear thermal rocket). The manner in which each of these factors impacts an individual mission will be described. In addition to the direct impact of these factors, additional considerations impacting crew health and overall programmatic outcomes will be discussed. Numerical results for each of the factors in the decision tree will be grouped with derived qualitative impacts from crew health and programmatic consideration. These quantitative and qualitative results will be summarized in a pros/cons table as a summary for this analysis.
Document ID
20110005558
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Abstract
Authors
Hoffman, Stephen J.
(Science Applications International Corp. Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2011
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-22995
JSC-CN-23157
Report Number: JSC-CN-22995
Report Number: JSC-CN-23157
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2nd International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos
Location: Moffett Field, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: March 14, 2011
End Date: March 16, 2011
Sponsors: Mars Inst., Lunar and Planetary Inst., Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Inst.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
No Preview Available