Mars Base Camp design unveiled by Lockheed Martin, humans to orbit Mars in 2028 - TomoNews
SPACE —
Space engineering giant
Lockheed Martin has released the concept design for a base camp that will orbit
Mars.
The company unveiled its Mars
Base Camp design at the
Humans to Mars conference on
May 18 in
Washington, D.C., with hopes that the facility will be in orbit in 2028.
The six-person spacecraft will have living quarters, laboratory, solar arrays to generate power, and more.
Mars Base Camp relies on near-term technologies, equipment already proven or currently in development. The camp will include two
Orion capsules currently being tested by
NASA. The two capsules will link up with the larger habitat and laboratory modules. One of the Orions will also act as the brain of the vessel, providing navigation and communications systems, while the other acts as a backup.
Lockheed Martin plans to launch the spacecraft in pieces, which will be assembled in space around the moon.
Solar electric propulsion, which NASA is currently fine-tuning, would pre-deliver non-essential elements, like rovers or
UAVs, to
Mars orbit or the surface.
With the base camp, astronauts would be able to better explore the
Red Planet. They would be able to control drones and rovers on the surface of Mars in real-time, as opposed to the 20-minute delayed connection currently used between Mars and
Earth.
Later, modules could be added to allow astronauts to land on Mars and head to the base camp for the return trip to Earth.
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