Design reference mission 3.0

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Overview of the Reference Mission Version 3.0 architecture from NASA's summary report, Source: Drake, Bret, ed., "Reference Mission Version 3.0, Addendum to the Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team," 1998.

(Artist's concept of possible exploration programs.) Remote surface exploration in regions around the habitat complex is accomplished by using pressurized rovers. These vehicles would allow the crew to explore beyond the range permitted by their space suits while allowing them to operate in a shirtsleeve environment. These images produced for NASA by John Frassanito and Associates. Technical concepts from NASA's Planetary Projects Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC).

(Artist's concept of possible exploration programs.) Approximately 200 kilometers above the Martian surface, a nuclear thermal propulsion transfer vehicle and the ascent stage of a two-stage Mars lander prepare to rendezvous. The vehicle's nuclear reactors also serve as the primary onboard electrical power source with solar arrays providing backup power. Looming behind the spacecraft, the enormous shield volcano, Ascraeus Mons, rises through early morning clouds with the caldera at its peak eventually reaching above Mars' tenuous atmosphere. This artwork was done for NASA by Pat Rawlings, of SAIC.

(Artist's concept of possible exploration programs.) The Mars In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Sample Return (MISR; pronounced "miser") mission will send a small, robotic lander to Mars in order to collect Martian rock, soil and atmospheric samples, and then return those samples to Earth. The key to a low-cost mission is to send as small a mass as possible to Mars. Consequently, the two-meter-tall MISR lander will set down on the Mars surface with empty propellant tanks for its return trip home. Utilizing ISRU technology, a propellant production facility will take in carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and manufacture the needed Mars-ascent and Earth-return propellants. During the approximate 300 day stay required to manufacture the propellants, two small micro-rovers - each the size of a big shoe box - will be teleoperated from Earth to collect the rock and soil samples. By the time the appropriate Earth-Mars planetary alignment occurs, the Martian samples will have been safely stowed in the return capsule and the propellant tanks will be fully fueled. The vehicle ascends off from Mars and begins its voyage to bring the Martian treasures back to Earth. These images produced for NASA by John Frassanito and Associates. Technical concepts from NASA's Planetary Projects Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC).

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The term Design Reference Mission 3.0 refers to a NASA study on a human exploration architecture for Mars. The study was performed by the NASA Mars Exploration Team at the NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the 1990s. Personnel representing several NASA field centers formulated a “Reference Mission” addressing human exploration of Mars. The plan describes the first human missions to Mars with concept of operations and technologies to be used as a first cut at an architecture. The architecture for the Mars Reference Mission builds on previous work, principally on the work of the Synthesis Group (1991) and Zubrin’s (1991) concepts for the use of propellants derived from the martian atmosphere. The primary purpose of the Reference Mission was to stimulate further thought and development of alternative approaches which can improve effectiveness, reduce risks, and reduce cost. Improvements can be made at several levels; for example, in the architectural, mission, and system levels.

As the report of the Reference Mission Version 3.0 states: "From the work of the original Reference Mission (Version 1.0), the strategy for the human exploration of Mars has evolved from its original form to one of reduced system mass, use of a smaller, more reasonable launch vehicle, and use of more current technology. The steps which have been taken by the Exploration Team are motivated by the need to reduce the mass of the payload delivery flights, as well as the overall mission cost, without introducing additional mission risk. By eliminating the need for a large heavy-lift launch vehicle and deleting the redundant habitat delivery flight in Version 3.0 , two launches from the Earth were eliminated. The net result is a current Version 3.0 Reference Mission which requires an injected mass of approximately one-half that of the 1993/94 Reference Mission."