Space race, the purpose of which is to deliver a man to Mars, is rapidly gaining momentum. Not so long ago, she was joined by the brilliant inventor and engineer Elon Musk, who dreams of "completing his days on Mars." The space agency NASA has been exploring the Red Planet for several decades, creating an extensive information base before sending the first people there in the 2030s. But more and more new players like Lockheed Martin are constantly joining the Martian race. The latter plans to deliver the first humans to the orbit of Mars by 2028.
The company Lockheed Martin announced its space program called Mars Base Camp, which involves sending a space research lab to Mars, where six astronauts will live and work. The device will go into orbit of the Red Planet after 10-11 months, after which the team will begin research on Mars and its satellites Phobos and Deimos. The program also plans to launch several new rovers and drones to the surface of the planet, which operators will be able to control for the first time in real time. We remind you that earlier, the rovers had to literally manage blindly, since the signal from Earth to Mars reached in about 20 minutes.
“We think that going into the Martian orbit is a necessary and necessary step before a person sets foot on this planet for the first time. We believe that the delivery of scientists and research laboratories directly to Mars will allow us in just a few months to learn more about this planet than we have known about it for the past 40 years, ”said Tony Antonelli, head of space research at Lockheed Martin and astronaut nasa.
The space base will be built on the basis of existing and time-tested technologies. It will consist of a residential compartment, a research laboratory, two Orion transport ships, four massive solar panels, folding radiators for heat removal, as well as a multitude of fuel tanks that astronauts will need to get to Mars, complete the task, and then come back.
The transport ship Orion was first sent to space in 2014. True people in it was not for security reasons. The following unmanned trials, including flyby of the moon, are scheduled for 2018. In the Lockheed Martin mission, the Orion ship will act as the “brain” of the space base and communications center with Earth. The reserve ship Orion in the base plays the role of safety net, if suddenly something goes wrong and the crew will need to be evacuated. Between the two Orion modules there will be a living compartment and a laboratory.
The space base will be sent into space in parts and assemble right there near the moon. In the future, Lockheed Martin engineers plan to equip the base with modules with which astronauts will be able to descend from it to the surface of Mars, and then return back. But this is only far-reaching plans. First of all, you need to collect the base and deliver it to Mars. If NASA supports Lockheed Martin and gives the project a green light, then the latter even has one volunteer ready to take part in this risky mission. Of course, we are talking about Tony Antonelli himself. According to the former astronaut, “microgravity is addictive.”
“When I was still a child, I always thought it was an incredibly cool profession. I always dreamed that I would think of one day and be able to realize the method of delivering people to the moon. Much has changed since then, and now we are preparing for a manned journey to Mars. ”
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