NASA Design Reference Mission 3.0

The term "Design Reference Mission 3.0" refers to a NASA study on a human exploration architecture for Mars. The study was performed by the NASA Mars Exploration Team at the NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the 1990s. Personnel representing several NASA field centers formulated a “Reference Mission” addressing human exploration of Mars. The plan describes the first human missions to Mars with concept of operations and technologies to be used as a first cut at an architecture. The architecture for the Mars Reference Mission builds on previous work, principally on the work of the Synthesis Group (1991) and Zubrin’s (1991) concepts for the use of propellants derived from the martian atmosphere. The primary purpose of the Reference Mission is to stimulate further thought and development of alternative approaches which can improve effectiveness, reduce risks, and reduce cost. Improvements can be made at several levels; for example, in the architectural, mission, and system levels.

The Mars Exploration Study Project was undertaken to establish a vision for the human exploration of Mars that would serve as a mechanism for understanding the programmatic and technical requirements that would be placed on existing and planned Agency [NASA] programs. In August 1992, the first workshop of the Mars Study Team held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, addressed the “whys” of Mars exploration to provide the top-level requirements from which the Mars exploration program could be built (Duke and Budden 1992). The study team of personnel from NASA field centers used these inputs to construct the Reference Mission, and then translated the inputs into a set of goals and objectives. Ground rules and assumptions were agreed upon and reflect the lessons learned from previous study efforts. From this work, a mission and a set of systems were developed.

(Artist's concept of possible exploration programs.) Remote surface exploration in regions around the habitat complex is accomplished by using pressurized rovers. These vehicles would allow the crew to explore beyond the range permitted by their space suits while allowing them to operate in a shirtsleeve environment. These images produced for NASA by John Frassanito and Associates. Technical concepts from NASA's Planetary Projects Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC).

(Artist's concept of possible exploration programs.) Approximately 200 kilometers above the Martian surface, a nuclear thermal propulsion transfer vehicle and the ascent stage of a two-stage Mars lander prepare to rendezvous. The vehicle's nuclear reactors also serve as the primary onboard electrical power source with solar arrays providing backup power. Looming behind the spacecraft, the enormous shield volcano, Ascraeus Mons, rises through early morning clouds with the caldera at its peak eventually reaching above Mars' tenuous atmosphere. This artwork was done for NASA by Pat Rawlings, of SAIC.

External links

• NASA Report, Mars Design Reference Mission 3
• Design Reference Mission 3.0 (Astronautix)
• "Reference Mission Version 3.0 Addendum to the Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team," Bret G. Drake, editor, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
• Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team
• MARS EXPLORATION STRATEGIES: A REFERENCE PROGRAM AND COMPARISON OF ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURES
• Spacecraft Design Reference Library