After landing the moon for a while, I will catch the asteroids. What is NASA doing to emigrate Mars?

Humans have never been so close to Mars. Eating potatoes on Mars is no longer a dream!

Recently, NASA was testing rockets again, this time testing the RS-25 engine of the Space Launch System (SLS) at the scenic St. Louis Bay Stanley Space Center. As a result, we saw news items such as "The most successful rocket test in history, immigration Mars just around the corner."

However, NASA seems to be doing something else. "NASA captures asteroids" and "NASA sends astronauts into the orbit of the moon" are also frequent news. Lei Fengnet (searching for "Lei Feng Net" public numbers) can not help but be puzzled. What is the ghost of the planet and the moon? Say good Mars immigration!

So, with serious curiosity, Lei Feng network digging a bit of NASA's Web site, only to find that NASA's Mars immigration this game is a bit big.

Big Board: NASA's Mars Tour

Let’s take a look at the grand vision of NASA’s so-called "Journey to Mars":

There are so many things here!

The top row, from left to right:

Hubble Space Telescope, International Space Station, SLS Space Launch System, Mars Orbit Observation Satellite, Mars Lander;

The following row, from left to right:

Commercial supplies and personnel transportation, "Orion" capsule (the star next to it is the moon), solar power system / asteroid redirection mission, space residence / Mars transport bay.

Through this map, you can almost know what the entire US government and private space companies are doing. .

Transportation of commercial goods and personnel: SpaceX headlines the SpaceX at present mainly to bring some satellites and international space station supplies to near-Earth orbit;

Space Housing / Mars Transport Cabin: NASA, together with 6 private companies (including Boeing, Bigelow, etc.) to build deep-space residential cabins, has planned to build a 1:1 deep-space residential module on the Earth;

Asteroid Reorientation Mission: The two private companies in the United States, “deep space industry” and “planetary resources” are going to asteroid exploration. . . . . .

These tasks set a ring, and ultimately point to the goal of Mars immigration!

"Capture Star" Mission

In theory, all tasks shown on the way are covered by NASA. The most important of these, however, are the ones identified in the figure by the red round boxes: the SLS Rocket, the Orion capsule, the solar power propulsion system, and the asteroid reorientation mission. Together these tasks can be collectively referred to as the " catching asteroids " mission (abbreviated as "catching stars").

NASA's plan is to send humans to Mars in the 1930s, not necessarily 2030, or maybe 2039. So you may have to wait a little more than 20 years.

The mission of “catching stars” will be closer and it is expected to happen in the 2020s. NASA will send an unmanned spacecraft to visit an asteroid and collect a large stone about 6 meters in diameter from the surface of the asteroid and move it to the orbit of the moon. The astronaut boarded the boulder for research and collected samples to bring it back to Earth. What is clear is that during this process, astronauts do not directly land on the surface of the moon, but only reach the lunar orbit.

"Star catching" concept illustration

The aircraft used in the "star catching" mission, including the SLS rocket, the "Orion" capsule, and the solar power push system, are key technologies that will be used when humans land on Mars. "Acquiring Stars" is actually a "proving ground" for visiting Mars technology. Moreover, the boulder that the humans will mount at that time will also be the furthest distance humans can reach in space.

So, it seems that what NASA does is seem complicated. One will have to go to the moon, and one will capture the asteroid. It is actually preparing for landing on Mars.

So what phase of the "star catching" mission?


The answer is: Still in the experimental stage called "EM-1".

EM-1 Mission: The Strongest SLS Rocket in History

The project at this pilot stage was called EM-1 (Explore Mission-1): the unmanned Orion capsule was launched, allowed to orbit the moon and eventually returned to Earth .

The following is a demonstration of the EM-1 task:

By then, the "Orion" space capsule will reach 280,000 miles (about 450,000 kilometers) of the moon's surface orbiting the Earth. Before that, the human's most distant space footprint was Apollo 11, which reached 249,000 miles from Earth (about 40 miles). Million kilometers).

The SLS system that launched the "Orion" capsule is the so-called " best rocket in history " reported by the media this year. This title is not excessive, it is indeed the strongest, and it must be the strongest.

Robotic detectors have been on Mars for more than 40 years, so it's not hard to put a small aircraft on Mars, but it's not like putting people on it. To survive on Mars, people need various life-sustaining systems such as oxygen, food, accommodation, and radiation protection. The rockets that are needed to ship these materials to Mars are not in general order of magnitude.

Specifically, where is SLS strong?

Compared to the Saturn V rocket that sent American astronauts to the moon, the SLS manned version is 322 feet (about 98 meters) high and the thrust is 8.8 million pounds (about 3,990 tons), which is 17% more than the Saturn V. The payload of 70 tons is roughly equivalent to the weight of 40 SUVs, which is 45% more than Saturn V.

The right side of the figure below shows the basic structure of SLS:

The top of the rocket is the Orion spacecraft, which will take 4 astronauts.

The middle blue and red parts are called the "Core Stage" of the rocket. It is actually a fuel tank filled with the fuel needed for the rocket's propulsion process: the blue canister is filled with 196,000 gallons. LOX, the red tank was filled with 537,000 gallons of LH2.

The bottom is the four RS-25 engines, with two solid propellers (SRBs) on either side. The main builder of the RS-25 engine is Aerojet Rocketdyne, a traditional American arms company, and the main builder of solid thrusters is Orbital ATK.

At present, most of the “test rockets” we see in the news refer to test engines and solid propellers. According to the plan, the RS-25 engine will be tested six times. The latest test on August 19 is the third time, and there will be three more tests in the next few months. (So ​​if the next friends see a news headline similar to "NASA's test rocket success, human immigration Mars is just around the corner," it can be overwhelming, and a lot of repeatable tests are basic tasks.)

However, the Rocket Engine Test, why is it chosen in such a beautiful place as St. Louis Bay? Not afraid of pollution?

Aug. 19 RS-25 Engine Ignition Test Picture

This is because the RS-25's fuel is pollution-free. It uses only Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid hydrogen (LH2). The product after combustion is just water vapor, but due to its large amount, the emission center will really form a heavy rain from the sky.

Solid propellants have also been tested twice, and the most recent test took place in June of this year. The thrust of each booster can reach 3.6 million pounds (about 1,633 tons). This was the scene of the solid-propellor test at that time and the test results were relatively successful.

Therefore, the above are all phased tests of SLS rocket components. The first test of the entire SLS rocket will be conducted in 2018. At that time, the implementation of the EM-1 mission will not be far behind.

Mars is the most distant and deep dream of mankind. We never cover up our desire to embark on this planet. Just as the American contemporary poet John C. Mannone stated in his poem:

Is there life on Mars?

Of course, (Of course that is,)

When we got there. (When we get there.)

We hope that one day we can really see the Martians with our own eyes. That is our humanity.

Via NASA

Extended reading

"Space UAE": The two companies want to change the asteroids to printing machines (I)

"Space UAE": The two companies want to change the asteroids to banknote printing machines (below)

NASA has millions of dollars, AI robots will be accompanied by astronauts on Mars

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