Rapp Human Missions to Mars

Enabling Technologies for Exploring the Red Planet
2. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-319-22249-3
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 582 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Astronautical Engineering

A mission to send humans to explore the surface of Mars has been theultimate goal of planetary exploration since the 1950s, when von Braunconjectured a flotilla of 10 interplanetary vessels carrying a crew of atleast 70 humans. Since then, more than 1,000 studies were carried outon human missions to Mars, but after 60 years of study, we remain in the early planning stages. The second edition of this book now includes an annotated history of Mars mission studies, with quantitative data whereverpossible.Retained from the first edition, Donald Rapp looks at human missionsto Mars from an engineering perspective. He divides the mission into anumber of stages: Earth’s surface to low-Earth orbit (LEO); departing from LEO toward Mars; Mars orbit insertion and entry, descent and landing; ascent from Mars; trans-Earth injection from Mars orbit and Earth return.For each segment, he analyzes requirements for candidate technologies.In this connection, he discusses the status and potential of a wide rangeof elements critical to a human Mars mission, including life supportconsumables, radiation effects and shielding, microgravity effects, abort options and mission safety, possible habitats on the Martian surface and aero-assisted orbit entry decent and landing. For any human mission tothe Red Planet the possible utilization of any resources indigenous toMars would be of great value and such possibilities, the use of indigenousresources is discussed at length. He also discusses the relationship of lunarexploratio n to Mars exploration. Detailed appendices describe the availability of solar energy on the Moonand Mars, and the potential for utilizing indigenous water on Mars.The second edition provides extensive updating and additions to the firstedition, including many new figures and tables, and more than 70 new references, as of 2015.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rapp, Donald

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Why Explore Mars?.- Planning Space Campaigns and Missions.- 60+ Years of Humans to Mars Mission Planning.- Getting There and Back.- Critical Mars Mission Elements.- In Situ Utilization of Indigenous Resources.- Why the NASA approach will likely fail to send humans to Mars for many decades to come.