Mission Opportunities for Human Exploration of Nearby Planetary Bodies

Abstract

We characterize mission profiles for human expeditions to near-Earth asteroids, Venus, and Mars. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are the closest destinations beyond cis-lunar space and present a compelling target with capabilities already under development by NASA and its partners. We present manned NEO mission options that would require between 90 days and one year. We next consider planetary flyby missions for Venus along the lines of plans that were first drafted during the Apollo program for human exploration of Venus. We also characterize a Mars flyby, and a double-flyby variant that would include close passes to both Venus and Mars. Finally, we consider orbital missions to Venus and Mars with capability for rendezvous with Phobos or Deimos. This would be a truly new class of mission for astronauts and could serve as a precursor to a human landing on Mars. We present launch opportunities, transit time, requisite ΔV, and approximate radiation environment parameters for each mission class. We find that ΔV requirements for each class of mission match near-term chemical propulsion system capabilities. Nomenclature

Seismology in the Solar System

“…The place deep in the gravity well of the sun means that a lander mission will require at least one flyby on Venus or Earth to reduce its ∆V to an acceptable level. The Ames trajectory database (Foster and Daniels 2010) lists no trajectories with a single Venus flyby and ∆V < 20 km/s until 2040. Therefore, any mission would involve rather complex and long duration trajectories.…”

Fast Mars Free-Returns via Venus Gravity Assist

“…In the last several decades, there have been many trajectory designs for human missions to Mars. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]24 Despite this effort to show the way to Mars, humans have yet to stand on the surface of the red planet, and it remains a long-term goal of the US and several other nations.…”