[ad_1]
NASA astronauts on Mars. Credit: NASA
March is an obvious source of inspiration for science fiction stories. He is familiar and well studied, but different and far enough away to require adventures from another world. NASA has his sights on the Red Planet for many of the same reasons.
Robots, including the Perseverance rover soon to be on Mars, are teaching us what it is on the surface. This information helps inform future human missions to the Red Planet. We will also need to equip spaceships and astronauts with technology to get them there, explore the surface, and bring them home safely. The round-trip mission, including transit time – to and from Earth – and to the Martian surface, will last approximately two years.
Technological development has already started to allow a crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s. Many capabilities will first be demonstrated on the Moon, during Artemis missions, while other systems are more particularly suited to space. deeper. Here are six technologies NASA is working on to make science fiction on Mars a reality.
NASA is advancing many technologies to send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s. Here are six things we are currently working on to make future human missions to the Red Planet possible. Credit: NASA
1. Powerful propulsion systems to get us there (and home!) Faster
Astronauts to Mars will travel approximately 140 million kilometers in deep space. Advances in propulsion capabilities are the key to reaching our destination as quickly and safely as possible.
It’s too early to tell which propulsion system will take astronauts to Mars, but we know it has to be nuclear to reduce travel time. NASA offers several options, including nuclear electric and nuclear thermal propulsion. Both use nuclear fission but are very different from each other. An electric nuclear rocket is more efficient, but it does not generate much thrust. Nuclear thermal propulsion, on the other hand, provides much more “punch”.
Whichever system is chosen, the fundamentals of nuclear propulsion will reduce crew time away from Earth. The agency and its partners are developing, testing and maturing critical components of various propulsion technologies to reduce the risk of the first human mission to Mars.
Illustration of a spaceship with a nuclear propulsion system. Credit: NASA
2. Inflatable heat shield for landing astronauts on other planets
The biggest rover we’ve landed on Mars is about the size of a car, and sending humans to Mars will require a much bigger spacecraft. New technologies will allow heavier spacecraft to enter the Martian atmosphere, approach the surface, and land near places where astronauts want to explore.
NASA is working on an inflatable heat shield that allows the large area to take up less space in a rocket than a rigid rocket. The technology could land a spaceship on any planet with an atmosphere. It would expand and inflate before entering the Martian atmosphere to safely disembark goods and astronauts.
Engineers prepare to install the flexible heat shield on the inflatable. The view is on the bottom side and the heat shield is on the top. Credit: NASA Langley Research Center
The technology is not yet ready for the red planet. An upcoming flight test of a prototype 6 meters in diameter (about 20 feet) will demonstrate how the aeroshell behaves when it enters Earth’s atmosphere. The test will prove that it can survive the intense heat when it enters Mars.
3. High-tech Martian space suits
Space suits are basically custom spacecraft for astronauts. NASA’s latest spacesuit is so high-tech that its modular design is designed to evolve for use anywhere in space.
The first woman and the next man on the moon will wear NASA’s next-generation spacesuits, known as the exploration extravehicular mobility unit or xEMU. Space suits prioritize crew safety while allowing walkers of the Artemis generation to perform more natural and Earth-like movements and perform tasks that were not possible during the Apollo missions .
Future upgrades to address the differences on Mars could include technology for the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere survival feature and modified outer clothing to keep astronauts warm during the Martian winter and prevent overheating for summer time.
NASA’s next-generation spacesuit is designed to give astronauts more mobility on the Moon and Mars. Credit: NASA
4. Martian house and laboratory on wheels
To reduce the number of items needed to land on the surface, NASA will combine the first Martian house and vehicle into a single rover with breathable air.
Illustration of a pressurized rover on Mars. Credit: NASA
NASA has performed numerous rover tests on Earth to shed light on the development of a pressurized mobile home on the Moon. Artemis astronauts who live and work in the future pressurized lunar rover will be able to provide feedback to help refine the astronauts’ capabilities on Mars. NASA’s robotic robots will also help with the Martian design – everything from the best wheels for Mars to how a larger vehicle will navigate difficult terrain.
Much like an RV, the pressurized rover will have everything astronauts need to live and work for weeks on end. They can drive in comfortable clothes, tens of kilometers from the spacecraft that will bring them back into space for the trip back to Earth. When encountering places of interest, astronauts can don their high-tech space suits to exit the rover, collect samples, and conduct science experiments.
NASA is currently working on a vehicle capable of navigating difficult terrain on the Red Planet. Credit: NASA
5. Uninterrupted power
Just as we use electricity to charge our devices on Earth, astronauts will need a reliable power supply to explore Mars. The system will need to be lightweight and able to function regardless of its location or the weather on the Red Planet.
Mars has a day-to-night cycle like Earth and periodic dust storms that can last for months, making nuclear fission energy a more reliable option than solar power. NASA has already tested the technology on Earth and has shown it to be safe, efficient and abundant enough to allow long duration surface missions. NASA plans to demonstrate and use the fission power system first on the Moon and then on Mars.
Illustration of a concept of a nuclear fission power system on Mars. Credit: NASA
6. Laser communications to send more information home
Human missions to Mars can use lasers to stay in contact with Earth. A laser communication system on Mars could send large amounts of information and data in real time, including high definition images and video streams.
Sending a map from Mars to Earth can take nine years with current radio systems, but as little as nine weeks with laser communications. Technology would also allow us to communicate with astronauts, to see and hear more of their adventures on the Red Planet.
Illustration of a spacecraft using laser communications to relay data from Mars to Earth. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA has proven that laser communications are possible with a Moon demonstration in 2013. The agency’s next demonstration will work through different operational scenarios, perfect the pointing system, and address the technological challenges of low Earth orbit – things like clouds and other communications disruption. NASA is building small systems to test human spaceflight, including on the International Space Station and the first manned Artemis mission. Another laser communications payload will venture into deep space to help inform what it takes to use the same technology millions and millions of miles from Earth.
[ad_2]
Source link