Mars surface systems common capabilities and challenges for human missions

Abstract

This paper describes the current status of common systems and operations as they are applied to actual locations on Mars that are representative of Exploration Zones (EZ) — NASA's term for candidate locations where humans could land, live and work on the martian surface. Given NASA's current concepts for human missions to Mars, an EZ is a collection of Regions of Interest (ROIs) located within approximately 100 kilometers of a centralized landing site. ROIs are areas that are relevant for scientific investigation and/or development/maturation of capabilities and resources necessary for a sustainable human presence. An EZ also contains a habitation site that will be used by multiple human crews during missions to explore and utilize the ROIs within the EZ. The Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC), a description of NASA's current approach to these human Mars missions, assumes that a single EZ will be identified within which NASA will establish a substantial and durable surface infrastructure that will be used by multiple human crews. With this assumption it becomes important to evaluate the current suite of surface systems and operations being evaluated for the EMC are likely to perform at a variety of proposed EZ locations. Four locations identified in MEPAG's Human Exploration of Mars Science Analysis Group (HEM-SAG) report are used in this paper as representative of candidate EZs that will emerge from the selection process that NASA has initiated. A field station site plan is developed for each of these four HEM-SAG sites. Several important findings have emerged from these preliminary assessments: (1) at each of the four HEM-SAG sites there was a 10 km × 10 km area at or near the proposed landing site within which it is reasonable to set up a landing site and habitation site consistent with the needs of a Mars surface field station, (2) at each of these 10 km × 10 km sites it is possible to set up a central location for a common power system and locate the landing and habitation zones in a radial configuration around this power system. However, additional analysis will be needed to look at alternative site layouts that could “better” utilize the natural features of a particular site, and (3) with the possible exception of a climb to the top of Arsia Mons, all of the proposed traverses appear to be feasible for the small pressurized rover currently envisioned for these surface missions. Based on these findings our recommendation is to continue (a) the selection process of EZs used in the recent workshop that will lead to one or more optimum surface locations, (b) continue to evaluate the minimum functionality required to establish a surface field station within the center of an EZ, and (c) identify those demonstrations that could be conducted at the Mars surface field station utilizing local resources to gradually establish the Earth independence necessary to sustain crews for long periods of time.