NASA updates its architecture for human exploration

While more and more countries sign NASA's Artemis agreements, controversial according to several experts, the American space agency recently presented its latest advances in human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The overall architecture of this strategy for exploring the Solar System, including the Artemis program aimed at establishing a lasting presence on the Moon is designed as an essential prelude to manned Martian missions, has been revised. Reviews have highlighted the need to integrate several elements, absent from the reference document which details the technical approaches and processes of NASA's exploration plans. This revision is significant with 12 new white papers that present in-depth analysis on key topics related from the Moon to Mars.

A high-capacity freight transport vehicle

Among the new elements integrated into NASA's reference architecture for lunar exploration, we find a cargo vehicle capable of landing on the surface and a lunar habitat. The habitat will accommodate astronauts, expanding the size, scope and durationduration exploration missions, while promoting scientific opportunities. As for the lunar cargo ship, it will be responsible for delivering logistical equipment, scientific payloads, communications systems, and more.

To understand the need for a new cargo ship, despite the ongoing development of several projects, including ESA's Argonaut, it is important to note that NASA forecasts cargo demand of 2.5 to 10 tonnes per year for regular logistics, as well as up to 15 tonnes for occasional deliveries requiring significant freight, such as roversrovers or housing modules. None of the vehicles in development, whose performance falls far short of the needs identified by NASA, will be able to meet its logistical needs.

A nuclear power plant on Mars

Concerning Mars, NASA has chosen to adopt nuclear fission as a source ofenergyenergy main for manned missions, preferring this technology to photovoltaic panels with storage. Although solar power may seem less expensive, nuclear power proves more reliable in the extreme conditions of Mars because it is not affected by day/night cycles. It responds to the specific challenges of the Martian environment, such as variations in light intensity and stormsstorms dust that could obscure the lightlight of soleilsoleil for several weeks. In addition, nuclear energy offers significant advantages in terms of massemasse and of volumevolume for material to be transported from Earth.

White paper looks at aspects of entry, descent and landing (EDL) inatmosphereatmosphere Martian, recalling the difficulty of landing on Mars or on 19 missions roboticsroboticsonly 12 were successful. Manned missions to the Red Planet will introduce additional complexities that must be overcome. Concretely, to land astronauts on Mars and return them safely to Earth, NASA must continue to make progress in several critical areas: flight tests, atmospheric deceleration systems, propulsive descent, characterization of interactions of the rocketsrockets with the Martian surface, as well as guidance and navigation systems. Furthermore, the modelingmodeling and simulation of these elements will be essential.

The need to use the natural resources of Mars

Finally, another white paper focuses on the fuel necessary for any vehicle that wishes to leave Mars, as well as on the importance of using Martian resources for its production and to improve the viability of manned missions.

In order to reduce the mass of fuel to be transported from Earth, necessary for any crew to reach Martian orbit at the end of its mission, NASA plans to produce this fuel from the natural resources available on the Red Planet. As the agency indicates, this approach undoubtedly represents theapplicationapplication the most significant resource on site (Isru).

Potential resources on Mars include the Martian atmosphere, surface materials (including regolithregolith) and water, which can be found in the form of ice capsice caps buried, ice mixed with regolith close to the surface, or even mineralsminerals containing chemically bound water. Beyond their potential for fuel production, these Martian resources could also be exploited for various applications, such as the production of oxygen for respiration and water necessary for human consumption, protection against radiation and to the cultivation of plants. Finally, these resources can be used to produce materials of constructionconstruction to erect mursmurs around landing and launch sites, and contribute to the construction of habitats.