NASA develops objectives for first mission to Mars; reveals how astronauts will live

About five decades after the first moon landing, NASA is preparing to send humans back to the lunar surface later this decade. It says that the Artemis program, which would ensure a sustained human presence in outer space, will lay the groundwork for planetary missions to Mars. While the timeline of these predictions is unclear, NASA has released a draft set of high-level objectives detailing the first month-long mission to the red planet.

In the recently released draft, NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy revealed that the agency has created a blueprint of the Moon to Mars (M2M) plan which they would practice on the Moon and demonstrate on Mars later. In the blueprint, the agency has also highlighted how the astronauts venturing to the red planet would land and live. Check out the video for a detailed description of the objectives. 

NASA's blueprint for the first Mars mission

The blueprint identifies 50 points falling under four major categories of exploration, including transportation and habitation ( on the Moon and Mars) operations and science. In his presentation of the draft, Kurt "Spuds" Vogel, NASA's director of space architectures, shared the outline of the first Mars mission and highlighted four crucial components. The first is the Transit Habitat and Hybrid Propulsion which would support four astronauts on the long-duration mission. He said that while two astronauts would remain in the habitat stationed in the Martian orbit, two others would descend to the surface.

The crew that lands would live in a pressurised rover which would provide both habitation and mobility for 30 days. This pressurised habitat would also serve as the platform to support science and exploration operations. The rest two important components are the pre-deployed crew ascent vehicle and the pre-deployed cargo. The pre-deployed cargo would consist of a 25-ton rover along with the ascent vehicle propellant, surface power and surface mobility/propellant transfer system. Vogel, however, highlighted during his presentation that the astronauts will be "deconditioned" during their ascent and would need some time to adapt to the planet's partial gravity.

Since this is a blueprint, NASA is inviting suggestions from academia, international communities, and other stakeholders for their input into the draft. "The feedback we receive on the objectives we have identified will inform our exploration plans at the Moon and Mars for the next 20 years", Melroy said. Moreover, Jim Free, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate said, "After reviewing feedback on the objectives, we will work with our partners to discuss input and finalize our framework this fall".