ESA assesses human mission to Mars
An assessment study of a human mission to Mars, under the framework of ESA’s European Space Exploration Programme, Aurora, is now available online. The study was carried out between September 2003 and February 2004 by ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility based at ESTEC.
The main objective of the study was to start an iteration cycle to support the definition of an exploration strategy and not to define an ESA reference human mission to Mars. The mission concept examined in the Human Mission to Mars (HMM) report is a design case. It will allow a reliable quantitative assessment to be made and the results can be extended to more generic missions. The report did not address prior technology demonstrations or missions to build up infrastructure.
An added benefit of the study is that it extends the capabilities of the ESTEC Concurrent Design Facility in the area of human spaceflight, thus paving the way for future studies on the architecture of human missions.
Representatives of European industry, members of CNES involved in Aurora activities and a team of Russian experts have all reviewed the study. A copy of the study can be found under Documents on the Aurora Programme website.
For more information please contact:
Loredana Bessone
ESTEC Tel. +31 71 565 3457
email: loredana.bessone@esa.int
or
Piero Messina
ESA/HQ
Tel.: +33 1 53697410
email: piero.messina@esa.int
