NASA has improved its approach to exploring Mars with autonomous robots, offering regular small missions to solve key questions before launching full manned missions to colonize the planet. The strategy, planned for the next 20 years and outlined in Expanding the Horizons of Mars Science, aims to launch low-cost missions in every launch window, taking maximum advantage of commercial and international partnerships.
Published on December 11, the strategy, which was finally approved after a draft in March 2023, became more detailed. The document is 154 pages long, instead of the previous 25-page presentation. According to Eric Ianson, director of NASA Mars Exploration, this is a significant step in planning future missions.
Research design
The plan focuses on a science-based robotic program separate from the sample return program, which is still under review. The strategy doesn’t include manned missions, but lays the basis for their preparation. Three main scientific directions of the program:
- Exploring the potential for Martian life,
- Supporting the human exploration of Mars,
- Revealing Mars as a dynamic planetary system.
The first topic, “exploring the potential for Martian life,” seeks answers to the question of whether life existed on the Red Planet in the past or now. The second, “supporting the human exploration of Mars,” aims to prepare for effective use of human time on the planet by replenishing knowledge of its conditions. The third, “revealing Mars as a dynamic planetary system,” focuses on comparative planetology to understand Mars as deeply as Earth.
More missions to Mars
The program involves regular missions with small spacecraft. The cost of such missions will range from 100 to 300 million dollars. These vehicles will have one or more instruments for specific missions, and larger missions with more sophisticated equipment will be launched less frequently. For example, the Mars Life Explorer lander is planned to be included in the Decadal Survey of Planetary Science program.
To realize these objectives, NASA plans to use not only its own missions, but also launch payloads on commercial or international vehicles. The agency is also focusing on upgrading infrastructure on Mars, including communications relays and imaging systems. Now these functions are performed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been operating for almost 20 years.
Investments in commercial partnerships
Commercial partnerships can play an important role in the implementation of the plan. In May, NASA contracted with nine companies to explore opportunities to deliver cargo to Mars and provide communications services. Eric Ianson noted that commercial research was promising, but it required a public-private partnership to make it happen.
Funding is also an important element of the strategy. NASA’s 2025 budget includes $40 million for investment in robotic technology. Out of that, 30 million will go to NASA’s internal projects and the remaining 10 million to innovative projects involving industry and academia.
Thus, NASA’s new plan promises regular and cost-effective missions to advance our knowledge of Mars and prepare for future human exploration.
Earlier we reported on how much radiation humans would get during a mission to Mars.
Provided by spacenews.com
