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Trip to Mars: Introduction

Image of Mars as the sun begins to rise over the horizon.Mission Scenario
NASA is in the early stages of planning a manned mission to Mars. Landing a human crew on Mars would mark the first time a human has visited another planet. Not since Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon have humans embarked on such a daring adventure.

Depending on the launch date, Mars is closest to Earth at 56 million km (35 million miles) and farthest at 399 million km (249 million miles) away. Compared to a trip to the moon, how much farther must astronauts travel to reach the red planet?

Image of the International Space Station in orbit.To make the long, complex journey, the trip will involve a two-phase process. The first step is to lift off from Earth and enter into low-Earth orbit. The International Space Station (ISS) is currently in low-Earth orbit approximately 380 kilometers (240 miles) above the Earth. The second step is to leave low-Earth orbit and travel to Mars. The ISS will likely act as a launch platform for the second phase of the journey.

Image of astronaut Susan J. Helms looking at Earth through a window on the International Space Station.
Astronaut Susan J. Helms views Earth from the U.S. Destiny module of the ISS.

You are a member of NASA’s newest research group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Your team will do research on three possible means of propulsion: solar sails, chemical rockets, and plasma rockets. Your team will evaluate these propulsion systems for their ability to complete phase 1 and/or phase 2 of the journey to Mars.

To better understand and compare these three propulsion systems, your team will study orbital mechanics and Newton’s laws.

 

Images courtesy of:
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Malin Space Science Systems
Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center
NASA/Johnson Space Center

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