The MARS represents a landed habitat on Mars with 4 to 6 astronauts aboard. In Dr. Zubrin's Mars Direct plan and in NASA's Design Reference Mission, this would not be the first vehicle sent to Mars, but one that would follow the prior arrival on Mars of unmanned cargo bringing in a fuel production plant, a nuclear power plant, and the unoccupied ascent vehicle that will eventually launch the astronauts on their way back to Earth. The spacecraft represented by the MARS would have served as home to the astronauts during their interplanetary cruise flight to Mars and will be their surface habitat once landed on the Red Planet.
The Mars Society's MARS will be able to accommodate a crew of up to 6 people. It will comprise a rigid habitat or "Hab", and stowable peripheral structures such as a garage/workshop, a greenhouse dome, and arrays of solar panels to be deployed after landing. To allow both rigid and inflatable technologies to be tested, the MARS will comprise structures of both kinds. In the proposed initial plan, the Hab itself will be rigid; the garage/workshop and greenhouse extensions will be inflatable.
Figure: The MARS with auxiliary greenhouse and vehicle maintenance building.
The Hab will be an 8m-diameter cylindrical structure standing on 6 landing struts. It will comprise 3 habitable decks, hereafter designated as the "lower", "mid", and "upper" decks, separated by storage space.
Figure: MARS Cutaway Sideview
The Lower Deck will be the "Dirty Work" deck, the Hab's interface with the external environment. This deck will have 4 ports: 3 human-sized doors and 1 oversized "ramp" door. One of the human-sized ports, the Ingress/Egress (I/E) port will lead directly to an outside platform and ladder, and will be the main port used for normal EVA (extravehicular activity). This port will connect inside the Hab to a large simulated airlock compartment in which suits, boots and gloves will be put on, taken off, cleaned, maintained and stored. Airlock configuration is one of the variables that will be explored using the MARS as a testbed.
The 2 other human-sized ports will connect to the inflatable peripherals, garage and greenhouse, via flexible connector tubes.
The oversized "ramp" door will be used only exceptionally, when large items are to be brought into or out of the Hab. For instance, rovers or inflatable structures brought along with the astronauts will be off-loaded onto the Martian surface through this ramp door, but they will not be brought back into the Hab except perhaps for delicate repairs.
Figure: MARS Layout for the Lower Deck
Once cleared of the cargo destined to the exterior, the Lower Deck will be reconfigured to accommodate EVA and sample processing activities, including a first series of glove boxes. Dirty work such as rock-cutting and thin section making will be carried out on this deck. The Lower Deck will also be outfitted with laboratory instruments to conduct preliminary sample analysis, both in geology and biology. Instruments and tools used in EVAs, such as drills, ground-penetrating radars, radios, antennae, camera, balloons, batteries, spare tires, fuel, airtanks, etc., will be stored and maintained on this deck. An external crane will be used to bring crates of rock samples in and out of the Hab through small airlock-equipped drawers built into the oversized "ramp" door.
The Mid-Deck will house the central nervous system of the MARS. It will contain the MARS' command and communications center, the robotic rover control station, a clean laboratory facility with glove boxes containing more delicate scientific instruments than on the lower deck, a wardroom section with the galley area, and a medical ward which, when not in use, provides extra workspace. The command and communications center is equipped with large bay windows overlooking the lower deck's oversized "ramp" door area and the landscape ahead.
A small internal elevator shuttles rock samples up and down between the mid and lower decks.
Figure: MARS Layout Mid-Deck
The Upper Deck will be the residential deck. It comprises 6 state rooms, a shower facility, a social lounge, a laundry facility, and MARS upkeep equipment (vacuum system). The configuration of the upper deck can be changed to accommodate the different needs of interplanetary cruise and Mars surface living. Each state room will have a window.
Figure: MARS Layout for the Upper Deck
Life support systems control panels will be present on all decks, with larger control racks on the mid and upper decks. Toilets will also be available on the mid and upper decks. Interdeck areas and walls throughout the MARS will be used as storage space for food, water, and other supplies, and also for the Hab's internal plumbing, wiring, and environmental control system. The three decks are connected and accessed via a central vertical shaft which, in its middle portion, also serves as a solar flare storm shelter. The mid and upper decks can be isolated from the lower deck by an airlock door which will be closed whenever Ingress/Egress activities are in progress. An additional airlock door will be located at the very top of the Hab, a relict of low-Earth orbit and interplanetary cruise phase docking activities, but still useful on the surface in the event of an emergency.
The inflatable garage will provide a pressurized environment in which regular maintenance work can be done on ATV's and robotic vehicles. The structure will be large enough to accommodate even a relatively large, pressurized ATV.
The dome-shaped greenhouse will be another inflatable peripheral appendage. It will serve as an experimental garden or farm and will also support research in closed environment life support systems (CELSS).
MARS Project Plan
Schedule
Operation of the MARS
A MARS Planning Committee, with representatives from The Mars Society, NASA Ames Research Center, and NASA Johnson Space Center will coordinate the use and activities of the MARS.
The facility will be used by NASA, university, and industry scientists and engineers to support scientific field research and technology tests at a Mars analog site and research in direct connection with the human exploration of Mars.
While transported and in operation in the Arctic, the MARS will be considered a research tool, and will continue and considerably amplify the program of Mars analog studies begun by NASA on Devon Island with the approval of the government of Canada and the Nunavut territory. Local logistical support will be sought in part fom the Polar Continental Shelf Project, a Canadian government-contracted research coordinator and logistics provider. Operation of the MARS will comply with all applicable laws, including those pertaining to the protection of the environment of the Arctic.
Users, Visitors, and Crew Selection
The MARS will be occupied by crews of up to 6 persons at a time. At early stages the MARS will be operated only during the Arctic Summer. The long snowy Arctic winter night and the presence of polar bears introduces some additional challenges, but extending operations into the spring and fall is a medium term goal and a year-round occupation will remain a possible option.
The MARS will be used at times without a fixed crew, for instance when experiments require the presence of teams with a focused specialty, say a group of engineers developing a human-robot interface for the MARS. At other times, a actual crew with a diverse representation of skills and responsibilities will occupy the station, sometimes for short stays, other times for long duration.
Crew selection will be based on research needs at the MARS, and therefore on the research activities planned. The MARS Planning Commitee will be the body coordinating the crew selection effort. It is anticipated that a variety of scenarios will be explored, including crews with a range of ages and combinations of skills. NASA, university, and industry scientists, engineers, physicians, astronauts, Mars Society members, and also teachers and students from participating academic institutions will provide a diverse pool of potential crew members. Selection of crew members and field researchers will not be limited to Americans, but will be open to the international community.
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