Bimodal NTR Mars mission (2001) Part Two SDHLV launch 5, identical to SDHLV launches 1 and 3, would mark the start of launches for the 2014 Earth-Mars transfer opportunity. It would place BNTR stage 3 into assembly orbit. Because it would propel a piloted spacecraft, it would include three 3.24-ton radiation shields (one per engine). BNTR stage 3 would carry about 48 tons of LH2. Thirty days after SDHLV launch 5, SDHLV launch 6 would place into assembly orbit one 11.6-ton truss. A 17-meter-long tank with 43 tons of LH2 and a nine-meter-long drum-shaped command and logistics module (serving as a crew radiation shelter) containing 6.9 tons of contingency supplies. BNTR stage 3 and the truss assembly would rendezvous and dock, then propellant lines would automatically link the truss tank to BNTR stage 3. A Shuttle orbiter carrying the Mars crew and a 20.5-ton deflated Transhab module would rendezvous with the BNTR stage 3/truss combination one week before the crew's planned departure for Mars. After rendezvous, Astronauts would use the Shuttle's robot arm to hoist the Transhab from the payload bay and dock it to the front of the truss, the Shuttle would then maneuver and dock directly to the Transhab’s foreward docking node and the Mars astronauts would enter the cylindrical Transhab's solid core and inflate its fabric-walled outer volume. The inflated Transhab would measure 9.4 meters in diameter. Unstowing floor panels and furnishings from the core and installing them in the inflated volume would complete assembly. Transhab, truss, and BNTR stage 3 would make up the 64.2-meter-long, 166.4-ton Crew Transfer Vehicle (CTV). The truss-mounted tank and BNTR stage 3 would hold 90.8 tons of LH2 at the start of CTV Earth departure on January 21, 2014. The truss tank would provide 70% of the propellant needed for departure. In the most demanding scenario, the BNTR engines would fire twice for 22.7 minutes each time to push the CTV out of Earth orbit toward Mars. Following Earth-orbit departure, the crew would jettison the empty truss tank and use small chemical-propellant thrusters to start the CTV rotating end over end at a rate of 3.7 rotations per minute. This would create acceleration equal to one Mars gravity (38% of Earth gravity) in the Transhab module. Artificial gravity was a late addition to the BNTR DRM; it did not appear in the 1998 version. In artificial gravity mode, "down" would be toward the CTV's nose; this would make the Transhab's forward half its lower deck. Halfway to Mars, about 105 days out from Earth, the astronauts would stop rotation and perform a course correction burn using the thrusters. They would then resume rotation for the remainder of the trans-Mars trip. The CTV would arrive in Mars orbit on August 19, 2014. The three BNTR engines would fire for 12.3 minutes to slow the spacecraft for Mars orbit capture. The spacecraft would complete one Mars orbit each 24.6-hour martian day. The crew would pilot the CTV to rendezvous with the Habitat lander in Mars orbit. If the Habitat lander proved unable to land on Mars, the crew would remain in the CTV in Mars orbit until Mars and Earth aligned for the flight home (a wait time of about 500 days). They would survive by drawing upon the contingency supplies in the logistics module attached to the truss. If the Habitat checked out as healthy, however, the crew would perform orbital randevous maneuvers and dock with the Habitat-Lander. After discarding the Habitat solar arrays, they would fire the Habitat's deorbit engines, enter Mars's atmosphere, and land near the cargo lander. The Habitat lander's horizontal configuration would provide the astronauts on board with easy access to the martian surface. After the historic first footsteps on Mars, the astronauts would inflate a Transhab surface habitat, assemble the surface rover and commence a program of exploration lasting about 500 days. The CTV would briefly fire its engines to align its orbit for the crew's return. The MAV bearing the crew and about 90 kilograms of Mars samples would then lift off burning methane and oxygen propellants made from martian air. It would dock at the front of the Transhab, then the astronauts would transfer to the CTV. They would cast off the spent MAV ascent stage, but would retain the MAV ECRV for Earth reentry. The CTV would leave Mars orbit on January 3, 2016, after 502 days at Mars. The astronauts would first abandon the contingency supply module to reduce their spacecraft's mass so that the propellant remaining in BNTR stage 3 would be sufficient to launch them home to Earth. They would then fire the NTR engines for 2.9 minutes to change the CTV's orbital plane, then fire them again for 5.2 minutes to place it on course for Earth. The crew would spin the CTV end over end to create acceleration equal to one Mars gravity in the Transhab. The authors advocated increasing the spin rate gradually during the flight home to prepare the crew for return to Earth's gravity. About halfway home they would stop rotation, perform a course correction, then resume rotation. Flight to Earth would last 190 days. Near Earth, the crew would stop CTV rotation for the final time, enter the MAV ECRV with their Mars samples, and undock from the CTV. The abandoned CTV would fly past Earth and enter solar orbit. The MAV ECRV would reenter Earth's atmosphere on July 11, 2016.

Meticulous work! Bravo!

Excellent work! I really like the Mars background. Very realistic (more so without compression, I'm sure, if you weren't limited in image size)

This is really well thought out! If I didn't know better, I'd believe that we had a plan to go to Mars in 2014! Very nice work on the modeling and the storytelling!

Excellent as usual!

superlative as usual

Awesome work, on the ship, the background, and everything!

Fantastic modeling, as usual. :-) Corrie

Very inmpressove in all respects, you have a way of bringing the future into the present. The Mars background looks great and the ship design is spot on, RZ would be proud!!! All the best, David

Gefällt mir sehr gut!

You must have the patience of a saint to complete these enormously complex spacecraft. Nicely done!