Mars Direct is a proposal for a relatively low-cost manned mission to Mars with current rocket technology. The plan was originally detailed in a research paper by Robert Zubrin and David Baker in 1990. The mission was expanded upon in Zubrin's 1996 book The Case For Mars. The plan is now a staple of Zubrin's speaking engagements and general advocacy as head of the Mars Society, an organization devoted to the colonization of Mars, and has been released in video format. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... Zubrin giving a talk in 2005. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... The Case For Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must is a nonfiction science book by Robert Zubrin, first published in 1996. ... Mars Society logo. ... Mars Mars is the focus of much speculation and serious study about possible human colonization. ...

The proposal

The plan involves launching an unmanned Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) directly from Earth's surface to Mars using a heavy-lift booster (no bigger than the Saturn V used for the Apollo missions), containing a supply of hydrogen, a chemical plant and a small nuclear reactor. Earth Return Vehicle (credit: Mars Society UK) Overview The Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) forms a part of the Mars Direct humans-to-Mars mission concept first developed by Doctor Robert Zubrin and David Baker in the early 1990s. ... For the moon designated Saturn V, see Rhea. ... Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America (NASA) using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961 – 1975. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... Core of a small nuclear reactor used for research. ...

The ERV would take some 8 months to reach Mars. Once there, a relatively simple set of chemical reactions (the Sabatier reaction coupled with electrolysis) would combine a small amount of hydrogen carried by the ERV with the carbon dioxide of the Martian atmosphere to create up to 112 tonnes of methane and oxygen propellants, 96 tonnes of which would be needed to return the ERV to Earth at the end of the mission. This process would take approximately 10 months to complete. The Sabatier process involves the reaction of hydrogen with carbon dioxide at elevated temperatures and pressures in the presence of a nickel catalyst to produce methane and water. ... Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ... Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Standard atomic weight 15. ...

Some 26 months after the ERV was originally launched from Earth, a second vehicle, the Mars Habitat Unit would be launched on a high-energy transfer to Mars carrying a crew of 4. This vehicle would take some 6 months to reach Mars. During the trip, artificial gravity would be generated by tying the spent upper stage of the booster to the Habitat Unit, and setting them both rotating about a common axis. Mars Habitat Unit (credit: The Mars Society UK) The Mars Habitat Unit forms a part of the Mars Direct humans-to-Mars mission concept first developed by Doctor Robert Zubrin and David Baker in the early 1990s. ... Artificial gravity is a simulation of gravity in outer space or free-fall. ...

On reaching Mars, the useless spent upper stage would be jettisoned, with the Habitat Unit aerobraking into Mars orbit before soft-landing in proximity to the ERV. Aerobraking is an advanced interplanetary space navigation technique, whereby the velocity vector of a space vehicle is modified by interaction with a target bodys atmosphere. ...

Once on Mars, the crew would spend 18 months on the surface, carrying out a range of scientific research, aided by a small rover vehicle carried aboard their Habitat Unit, and powered by excess methane produced by the ERV.

To return, they would use the ERV, leaving the habitat for the possible use of subsequent explorers. The propulsion stage of the ERV would be used as a counterweight to generate artificial gravity for the trip back. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The initial cost estimate for Mars Direct was put at $20 billion, including development costs. In today's terms, this equates to some $30-35 billion. In 2004, NASA and ESA undertook cost modeling exercises to review the cost of human space missions. While neither exercise was an endorsement of Mars Direct, both cost models found Zubrin and Baker's cost estimate to be remarkably accurate.^{[citation needed]} The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States federal government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... This article is about the European Space Agency. ...

Revisions

Since Mars Direct was initially conceived, it has undergone considerable review by the Mars Society, NASA and Stanford University. Mars Society logo. ... Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in Stanford, California. ...

The NASA model, referred to as the Design Reference Mission, currently on version 3, calls for a significant upgrade in hardware (up to 3 launches per mission, not two), and sends the ERV to Mars fully fuelled, parking it in orbit above the planet, where it is reached by a small ascent craft.

The Mars Society and Stanford studies retain the original 2-vehicle mission profile of Mars Direct, but increase the crew size to 6.

The Mars Society has demonstrated the viability of the Mars Habitat Unit concept through their Mars Analogue Research Station program. FMARS, Devon Island (credit: The Mars Society UK) // Overview The Mars Analogue Research Station (MARS) Programme is an international effort spearheaded by The Mars Society to establish a network of prototype research centres where scientists and engineers can live and work as if they were on Mars, to develop the...

Mars Direct was featured on a Discovery Channel program 'Mars: The Next Frontier' in which were discussed, in part, issues surrounding NASA funding of the project. Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel distributed by Discovery Communications that provides non-fiction variety programming focused primarily on the themes of popular science, history, and knowledge about the world. ...

A modified proposal, "Mars For Less" [1], was developed by Grant Bonin and has been adopted as the design reference mission for a new umbrella group of advocates, the MarsDrive consortium [2]. The design retains most of the essential features of Mars Direct, but uses multiple medium-lift rocket launchers that are commercially available today (such as the Ariane V or the Delta rocket) to launch the crew vehicles, and their propulsion, separately, and mate them in orbit. By doing so, the multi-billion dollar development cost of a new launch vehicle is avoided. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta probe on 2 March 2004. ... The Delta family of rockets is used in an expendable launch system that has provided space launch capability for the United States since 1960. ...

In fiction

• Mars Direct is the mission mode used in Gregory Benford's novel, The Martian Race, and in Geoffrey A. Landis's novel Mars Crossing, as well as Zubrin's own novel, First Landing.

• Mars Direct forms the basis for the 2000 film Mission to Mars.

• In the Futurama episode The Luck of the Fryrish, a short clip shows the first man on Mars with a spacecraft that resembles the Mars Habitat Unit.

• In the West Wing episode The Warfare of Genghis Khan, a NASA staffer describes Mars Direct to the skeptical White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman and is able to convince him of its merit.

Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941 in Mobile, Alabama) is an American science fiction author and physicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. ... Geoffrey A. Landis emerged in the late 1980s as one of the foremost scientist-writers in the science fiction genre. ... First Landing is a science fiction novel by Robert Zubrin that tells the story of the first manned space expedition to Mars. ... Mission to Mars is a 2000 U.S. made movie directed by Brian de Palma. ... Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated sitcom created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. ... The Luck of the Fryrish is the 4th episode in season 3 of Futurama. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... Mars Habitat Unit (credit: The Mars Society UK) The Mars Habitat Unit forms a part of the Mars Direct humans-to-Mars mission concept first developed by Doctor Robert Zubrin and David Baker in the early 1990s. ... “The West Wing” redirects here. ... The Warfare of Genghis Khan is episode 101 of The West Wing. ... Joshua Josh Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. ...

See also

• Zubrin, Baker. (1990). "Mars Direct, Humans to the Red Planet by 1999." 41st Congress of the International Astronautical Federation
• The Case for Mars
• In-Situ Resource Utilization

International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is based in Paris. ... The Case For Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must is a nonfiction science book by Robert Zubrin, first published in 1996. ... In astronautics, In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is the way to describe the use the resources of the planetary body which is explored (Moon, Mars,...) to provide propellant, energy or consumables to the science payload or to the crew which has been deployed there. ...

External links

• The Mars Society