List of crewed Mars mission plans

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See also: Human mission to Mars
Artist's conception of a human mission on the surface of Mars. 1989 painting by Les Bossinas of NASA's Lewis Research Center.
A Space Launch System design in the 2010s. This rocket is envisioned as the launch vehicle for some of the latest NASA speculative long-term plans for Mars concepts, although there are some bold private venture plans that may also provide mass-to-orbit for any mission until a space-faring colony could provide a launch from another body or space station.

This list of crewed Mars mission plans is a listing of concept studies for a crewed mission to Mars during the 20th and 21st centuries. It is limited to studies done with engineering and scientific knowledge about the capabilities of then current technology, typically for high-budget space agencies like NASA. Mission profiles include crewed flybys, crewed landers, or other types of Mars system encounter strategies.

Concepts[]

Many mission concepts for expeditions to Mars were proposed in the late 20th century. David Portree's history volume Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000 discusses many of these.[1] Portree notes that every 26 Earth months a lower energy Earth to Mars transfer opportunity opens,[1] so missions typically coincide with one of these windows. In addition, the lowest available transfer energy varies on a roughly 16-year cycle, with a minimum in the 1969 and 1971 launch windows, rising to a peak in the late 70s, and hitting another low in 1986 and 1988.[1] Also of note, the Mariner 4 Mars flyby in 1965 provided radically more accurate data about the planet; a surface atmospheric pressure of about 1% of Earth's and daytime temperatures of −100 degrees Celsius (−148 degrees Fahrenheit) were estimated. No magnetic field[2][3] or Martian radiation belts[4] were detected. The new data meant redesigns for planned Martian landers, and showed life would have a more difficult time surviving there than previously anticipated.[5][6][7][8] Later NASA probes in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s confirmed the findings about Mars environmental conditions.

The first engineering analysis of a crewed mission to Mars was made by Wernher von Braun in 1948.[9] It was originally published as Das Marsprojekt in West Germany in 1952, and as The Mars Project in English in the United States in 1953. Von Braun's Mars "flotilla" included ten 4,000-ton ships with 70 crew members.[10] The expected launch year was 1965.[9]

List[]

The list is in semi-chronological order, with some groupings, as variation can exist in the dating of a given plan. Various references were consulted.[1][11][12] LEO mass refers to how much hardware must be put in low Earth orbit for the mission. For comparison, the low Earth orbit payload capacity per launch of the U.S. Space Shuttle is about 25 metric tons, and that of the Saturn V, 120 metric tons.

Name Crew LEO mass
(metric tons) 		Year
announced 		Suggested
launch year 		Sources
Von Braun Mars 1952 (Das Marsprojekt) 70 37,200 1952 1965 [13]
Stuhlinger Mars 1954–1957 20 660 1954 1980 [14]
Von Braun Mars 1956 (The Exploration of Mars) 12 3,400 1956 1970 [15]
Martian Piloted Complex 1958–1962 6 1,630 1958 1975 [16]
TMK-1 1959 (flyby) 3 75 1959 1971 [17]
Bono Mars 1960 8 800 1960 1971 [18]
NASA Lewis Mars 1960 6 614 1960 1971 [19]
TMK-2 (TMK-E) 2 75 1960 1971 [20][21]
EMPIRE Aeronutronic 1962 6 227 1962 1970 [22][23]
Stuhlinger Mars 1962 15 1,800 1962 1975 [24]
EMPIRE General Dynamics 1962 8 900 1962 1975 [25]
EMPIRE Lockheed 1962 3 100 1962 1974 [26]
Faget Mars (chemical) 1963 6 1,140 1963 [27]
Faget Mars (nuclear) 1963 6 270 1963 [27]
TRW Mars Expedition 1963 6 650 1963 1975 [28]
UMPIRE Douglas 1964 6 450 1964 1975 [29]
Project Deimos 6 3,965 1964 1986 [30]
Douglas MORL Mars Flyby 1965 3 360 1965 1973 [31]
NASA JAG Manned Mars Flyby 1966 4 1966 1975 [1][32][33]
NASA NERVA-Electric Mars 1966 5 1,552 1966 1986 [34]
Korolev KK (TMK) 1966 3 150 1966 1980 [35]
Titus FLEM 1966 3 118 1966 1985 [36][37]
Stuhlinger Mars 1966 2,788 1966 [13]
Boeing IMIS 1968 6 1,226 1968 1985 [38]
Mars Expeditionary Complex (MEK) 1969 3 150 1969 1980 [39]
Von Braun Mars 1969 12 1,455 1969 1981 [13][40]
NASA Mars Expedition 1971 6 1,900 1971 1987 [41]
Mars in 30 Days (Ragsdale 1972) 5 2,041 1972 [42]
MK-700 1972 2 1,400 1972 1980 [43]
Chelomei 1975 (MK-700 flyby) 2 250 1975 1980 [43]
British Interplanetary Society Mars 1982 8 1,300 1982 [44]
Planetary Society Mars Expedition 1983 4 160 1983 2003 [45]
Case for Mars II 1984 30 1,900 1984 2007 [46]
NASA-LANL Manned Mars Flyby 1985 350 1985 [47]
Paine 1986 (Pioneering the Space Frontier) 1986 2026 [48]
NPO Energia Mars 1986 4 365 1986 2000 [49]
NASA Ride Report 1987 6 210 1987 2004 [50]
NASA Mars Evolution 1988 8 330 1988 2013 [51]
NASA Mars Expedition 1988 8 1,628 1988 2007 [52]
NASA Phobos Expedition 1988 4 765 1988 2003 [53]
NASA 90 Day Study 1989 4 980[13] – 1,300 1989 2017 [13][54]
NPO Energia Mars 1989 4 355 1989 2001 [55]
Mars Evolution 1989 5 1989 2007 [56]
NASA Mars Expedition 1989 3 780 1989 2004 [57]
Mars Direct (Zubrin 1991) 4 220 1991 1997 [58]
STCAEM CAB 1991 4 800 1991 2016 [59]
STCAEM NEP 1991 4 500 1991 2016 [60]
STCAEM NTR 1991 4 800 1991 2016 [61]
STCAEM SEP 1991 4 410 1991 2016 [62]
NASA Synthesis Study 1991 6 1,080 1991 2014 [63]
International Space University 1991 8 1991 2016 [64]
NASA Design Reference Mission 1.0 1993 6 900 1993 2007 [65]
Kurchatov Mars 1994 5 800 1994 2010 [66]
Zubrin Athena (flyby) 2 100 1996 2001 [67]
NASA Design Reference Mission 3 1997 6 410 1997 2011 [68]
NASA Mars Combo Lander 1998 4 280 1998 2011 [69]
NASA Design Reference Mission 4 1998 6 400 1998 2011 [70]
NASA Dual Lander Mission 12 600 1999 2011 [71]
Mars Society Mission 1999 10 900 1999 2011 [72]
Marpost (Gorshkov 2000) 6 400 2000 2017 [73][74]
Boeing Mars Transfer Vehicle & Lander Concepts for Human Exploration Missions in the 2031-2038 Time Frame (2006) 6 100 2006 2038 [75]
Mars Design Reference Mission 5 18 2009 2035 [76]
SpaceX Starship 100 2012 2026 [77][78]
Inspiration Mars (Tito 2013) 2 2013 2021 [79]

See also[]

References[]

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  2. ^ O'Gallagher, J.J.; Simpson, J.A. (September 10, 1965). "Search for Trapped Electrons and a Magnetic Moment at Mars by Mariner IV". Science. New Series. 149 (3689): 1233–1239. Bibcode:1965Sci...149.1233O. doi:10.1126/science.149.3689.1233. PMID 17747452.
  3. ^ Smith, Edward J.; Davis Jr., Leverett; Coleman Jr., Paul J.; Jones, Douglas E. (September 10, 1965). "Magnetic Field Measurements Near Mars". Science. New Series. 149 (3689): 1241–1242. Bibcode:1965Sci...149.1241S. doi:10.1126/science.149.3689.1241. PMID 17747454.
  4. ^ Van Allen, J.A.; Frank, L.A.; Krimigis, S.M.; Hills, H.K. (September 10, 1965). "Absence of Martian Radiation Belts and Implications Thereof". Science. New Series. 149 (3689): 1228–1233. Bibcode:1965Sci...149.1228V. doi:10.1126/science.149.3689.1228. hdl:2060/19650024318. PMID 17747451.
  5. ^ Leighton, Robert B.; Murray, Bruce C.; Sharp, Robert P.; Allen, J. Denton; Sloan, Richard K. (August 6, 1965). "Mariner IV Photography of Mars: Initial Results". Science. New Series. 149 (3684): 627–630. Bibcode:1965Sci...149..627L. doi:10.1126/science.149.3684.627. PMID 17747569.
  6. ^ Kliore, Arvydas; Cain, Dan L.; Levy, Gerald S.; Eshleman, Von R.; Fjeldbo, Gunnar; Drake, Frank D. (September 10, 1965). "Occultation Experiment: Results of the First Direct Measurement of Mars's Atmosphere and Ionosphere". Science. New Series. 149 (3689): 1243–1248. Bibcode:1965Sci...149.1243K. doi:10.1126/science.149.3689.1243. PMID 17747455.
  7. ^ Salisbury, Frank B. (April 6, 1962). "Martian Biology". Science. New Series. 136 (3510): 17–26. Bibcode:1962Sci...136...17S. doi:10.1126/science.136.3510.17. PMID 17779780.
  8. ^ Kilston, Steven D.; Drummond, Robert R.; Sagan, Carl (1966). "A Search for Life on Earth at Kilometer Resolution". Icarus. 5 (1–6): 79–98. Bibcode:1966Icar....5...79K. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(66)90010-8.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Von Braun Mars Expedition – 1952". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on January 16, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  10. ^ Portree 2001, ch.1, p.1.
  11. ^ astronautix manned mars missions Archived 2010-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Annie Platoff, Eyes on the Red Planet: Human Mars Mission Planning, 1952–1970, (1999); available as NASA/CR-2001-2089280 Archived 2010-05-31 at the Wayback Machine (July 2001)
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  27. ^ Jump up to: a b Wade, Mark. "Faget Mars Expedition". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  28. ^ Wade, Mark. "TRW Mars". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  29. ^ Wade, Mark. "UMPIRE Douglas". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  30. ^ Wade, Mark. "Project Deimos". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  31. ^ Wade, Mark. "MORL Mars Flyby". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  32. ^ Planetary JAG manned Mars flyby (1966) : Planetary Exploration Utilizing a Manned Flight System. NASA Office of Manned Space Flight. October 3, 1966.
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  34. ^ NASA Marshall's 1966 NERVA-Electric Piloted Mars Mission: "Study of a NERVA-Electric Manned Mars Vehicle," Ernst Stuhlinger, Joseph King, Russell Shelton, and Gordon Woodcock, A Volume of Technical Papers Presented at the AIAA/AAS Stepping Stones to Mars Meeting, pp. 288–301; paper presented in Baltimore, Maryland, March 28–30, 1966."
  35. ^ Wade, Mark. "KK". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  36. ^ A New Step in Spaceflight Evolution: To Mars by Flyby-Landing Excursion Mode (1966): "FLEM – Flyby-Landing Excursion Mode," AIAA Paper No. 66-36, R. R. Titus; paper presented at the 3rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, New York, New York, January 24–26, 1966.
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