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It's refueled in-situ and launched back up with a minimal payload weight. Getting off the surface of Mars back into an orbit with a low weight (basically crew
by daeken 12y ago
It's refueled in-situ and launched back up with a minimal payload weight. Getting off the surface of Mars back into an orbit with a low weight (basically crew + life support + minimal payload) is pretty straightforward, considering the low gravity and thin atmosphere. From there, you can dock to a much larger tug ship and go back to Earth orbit, refueling on orbit and landing propulsively again.
- toomuchtodo 12y agoI didn't spend the time searching google to provide citations, but it is feasible to generate fuel autonomously on the Martian surface and store it for future use. Can we launch a vehicle that will de-orbit, safely land, and then begin processing fuel using nuclear (edit: I removed solar here; solar would not provide enough power for such a facility) for power and the Martian atmosphere and soil as feedstock? Not quite yet, but we're getting there.
- el_zorro 12y agoI don't think it is so much an issue of ability so much as desire. Most of the tech has been dreamed up for decades, but it needs funding and a green light (particularly the nuclear reactor, given that there were protests about even Curiosity's RTG). Personally, I think there's a huge amount of talent just waiting for the right moment to strike, and then the whole Mars thing is going to burst right open.
- danielweber 12y agoI believe solar would work, but it would just take longer. EDL for a substantial payload to Mars hasn't been done before, but there's no reason to think it's a show-stopper. A lot of the engineering challenges for that are the same as the engineering challenges for returning the first-stage to Earth, like supersonic retrorockets.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoFrom what I read around the Internet, they're planning on using methane-powered engines since methane gas is apparently present on Mars.
- vectorjohn 12y agoThere's not enough to harvest. The idea is to make the methane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction
- AYBABTME 12y agoSide note, I'd recommend to you the book "The Martian", which just happens to involve a man stuck on Mars doing about just what you described. I had the audiobook, the narration is crazy awesome. http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Martian-Audiobook/B00B5HZGUG http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Martian-Audiobo...