Lockheed Martin hopes to orbit Mars by 2028 with new base camp design
- 8 years ago
SPACE — Space engineering giant Lockheed Martin has released the concept design for a base camp that will orbit Mars.
The company unveiled its Mars Base Camp design at the Humans to Mars conference on May 18 in Washington, D.C., with hopes that the facility will be in orbit in 2028.
The six-person spacecraft will have living quarters, laboratory, solar arrays to generate power, and more.
Mars Base Camp relies on near-term technologies, equipment already proven or currently in development. The camp will include two Orion capsules currently being tested by NASA. The two capsules will link up with the larger habitat and laboratory modules. One of the Orions will also act as the brain of the vessel, providing navigation and communications systems, while the other acts as a backup.
Lockheed Martin plans to launch the spacecraft in pieces, which will be assembled in space around the moon. Solar electric propulsion, which NASA is currently fine-tuning, would pre-deliver non-essential elements, like rovers or UAVs, to Mars orbit or the surface.
With the base camp, astronauts would be able to better explore the Red Planet. They would be able to control drones and rovers on the surface of Mars in real-time, as opposed to the 20-minute delayed connection currently used between Mars and Earth.
Later, modules could be added to allow astronauts to land on Mars and head to the base camp for the return trip to Earth.
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The company unveiled its Mars Base Camp design at the Humans to Mars conference on May 18 in Washington, D.C., with hopes that the facility will be in orbit in 2028.
The six-person spacecraft will have living quarters, laboratory, solar arrays to generate power, and more.
Mars Base Camp relies on near-term technologies, equipment already proven or currently in development. The camp will include two Orion capsules currently being tested by NASA. The two capsules will link up with the larger habitat and laboratory modules. One of the Orions will also act as the brain of the vessel, providing navigation and communications systems, while the other acts as a backup.
Lockheed Martin plans to launch the spacecraft in pieces, which will be assembled in space around the moon. Solar electric propulsion, which NASA is currently fine-tuning, would pre-deliver non-essential elements, like rovers or UAVs, to Mars orbit or the surface.
With the base camp, astronauts would be able to better explore the Red Planet. They would be able to control drones and rovers on the surface of Mars in real-time, as opposed to the 20-minute delayed connection currently used between Mars and Earth.
Later, modules could be added to allow astronauts to land on Mars and head to the base camp for the return trip to Earth.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
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