Lockheed Martin Wants Orbital Laboratory for Mars
May 18th, 2016Via: Popular Science:
Before our species set foot on the moon, we orbited it first. The same will probably be true for Mars, and on Wednesday, Lockheed Martin plans to unveil its vision for a spacecraft that could make it happen. The “Mars Base Camp,” as the company is calling it, would set up a laboratory, staffed by 6 astronauts, in Mars orbit in 2028.
Up to now, NASA has outlined the first few steps to Mars. It’s building a heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and working with Lockheed to build the Orion crew capsule. The rocket and capsule will launch for the first time, uncrewed, in 2018, and then in 2023 they’ll carry astronauts into deep space, just beyond the moon, for the first time ever.
But after the moon it’s still a very long way to Mars, filled with unknowns, and then once you get to Mars, landing is a whole new challenge. This is where NASA’s plans get particularly vague.
Six astronauts could live in Mars orbit, piloting rovers and UAVs
“We think that orbiting Mars is a necessary precursor to landing humans on the surface,” Tony Antonelli, Lockheed Martin’s chief technologist for civil space exploration, and a former NASA astronaut, told Popular Science. “NASA has that in their plans, and we’re coloring in the details.”
Although NASA didn’t commission Lockheed to come up with the Base Camp concept, the company is hoping the space agency will consider the design as it continues to solidify plans to land on Mars in the 2030s or 40s.
