sciencetech-blog

comments

Nasa has reveal new details of its plan to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s.

The space agency was recently given the go-ahead for a mission to redirect an asteroid into the moon's orbit, land astronauts there and use the asteroid as a testing outpost and way station on the way to Mars.

Development of key components of the deep-space rocket, capsule and infrastructure needed to reach Mars are already underway

Scroll down for video

Nasa's path to Mars graphic sets out the steps needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s.

Nasa's top human exploration chief has revealed to a Senate panel plans for a manned mission Mars in the 2030s are on track.

Development of key components of the deep-space rocket, capsule and infrastructure needed to reach Mars are already underway - and today Nasa was given the go-ahead for a mission to land on an asteroid as part of a 'stepping stone' to Mars.

'Our next step is deep space, where NASA will send a robotic mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon,' Nasa said today.

'Astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft will explore the asteroid in the 2020s, returning to Earth with samples.

'This experience in human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit will help NASA test new systems and capabilities, such as Solar Electric Propulsion, which we'll need to send cargo as part of human missions to Mars.'

A House subcommittee recently approved an authorization bill that would allow Nasa to redirect an asteroid into the moon's orbit, land astronauts there and use the asteroid as a testing outpost and way station on the way to Mars.

'Beginning in FY 2018, NASA's powerful Space Launch System rocket will enable these "proving ground" missions to test new capabilities,' Nasa said.

'Human missions to Mars will rely on Orion and an evolved version of SLS that will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown.'

How it compares: The SLS system is larger than the Saturn rockets than launched man to the moon in its final configuration

The agency will now have to spell out the cost and details of the mission as part of an exploration 'roadmap' to Mars that Nasa will have to submit to Congress.

The approval came as associate Nasa  Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier told members of a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee that the agency remains on target to launch an uncrewed mission in 2017 to test the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle that will carry astronauts to Mars.

Avionics testing of solid rocket boosters was completed this week at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for a test of the SLS rocket later this year, and acoustic testing is also underway.

'There is real hardware in manufacture for the path to Mars,' Gerstenmaier told senators.

'Our architecture is designed for long-term human exploration of our solar system, including the goal of human missions to Mars.'

The hearing, called 'From Here to Mars,' outlined intermediate space missions being planned as steps toward long-duration space travel. 

'With the technologies and techniques we develop, we will enable expeditions to multiple destinations, ultimately allowing us to pioneer Mars and other destinations as we lay the  groundwork for permanent human settlements in the solar system,' Gerstenmaier  said.

HOW NASA PLANS TO USE AN ASTEROID AS A STEPPING STONE TO MARS

NASA would find an asteroid which is between seven and 10m wide.

They would then tow or push it towards Earth so that it ends up in a stable orbit near the moon.

In 2021 astronauts would then use an Orion capsule - a manned spacecraft - to land on the asteroid and bring back soil and rock samples for analysis.

This asteroid would also, probably in the 2030s, be used as a stop-off point for astronauts on their way to Mars.

Exact details on how Nasa plans to pluck an asteroid out of its trajectory are not yet known, but the most recent rendering rendering shows it is captured and held inside what looks like a giant plastic bag.

Animation reveals NASA's proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission

The mission involves astronauts making the journey to their captive space rock by hitching a ride on the next-generation Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.

After the Orion and the asteroid are attached, the astronauts take a spacewalk to the captured object.

Once the Orion docks with the remote-operated asteroid capture device, the crew performs a spacewalk that sees them climb almost the length of the conjoined vehicles to an exposed section of the asteroid they take photos of and scoop samples from, the video shows.

After the mission is complete, Orion returns to Earth on the same path it journeyed out on, loops around the moon included, and splashes down in an ocean – likely the Pacific – 10 days later, as seen in the video.

One planned mission is to a near-Earth asteroid, Gerstenmaier said.

'NASA will employ SLS and Orion for an early human exploration mission to perform pioneering human operations further from the Earth than ever before, rendezvousing with and returning samples from an asteroid redirected to at stable orbit around the Moon by the robotic segment of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM),' he explained.

'We're going to grab a piece of the solar system, we're going to deflect it around the moon and insert it into a distant retrograde orbit around the moon where our crews can go visit," he said.

'To think we're moving a piece of the solar system for our use that will allow us to learn skills and techniques that we need to push the human presence into the solar system, that's a pretty awe-inspiring statement.'

However, the ambitious Mars mission could be delayed or derailed if funding from a budget-conscious Congress continues to erode, or if other countries' plans for a lunar mission force the U.S. to change course for security reasons.

NASA's proposed rocket to carry 130 ton cargo to space