Related papers: Human Mars Exploration and Expedition Challenges
Earth is the only known inhabited planet in the universe to date. However, advancements in the fields of astrobiology and observational astronomy, and the discovery of large varieties of extremophiles with extraordinary capablities to…
The lunar poles are unique environments of both great scientific and, increasingly, commercial interest. Consequently, a tension exists between the twin objectives of (a) Exploring the lunar poles for both scientific and commercial purposes…
Space Science enjoys broad public support in the US. People say they follow developments with interest, and that the programs are worth their cost. This attitude seems to arise in part because of the intrinsic accessibility and appeal of…
A foundational model has been developed based on trends built from empirical data of space exploration and computing power through the first six plus decades of the Space Age which projects earliest possible launch dates for human-crewed…
Robot navigation in crowded public spaces is a complex task that requires addressing a variety of engineering and human factors challenges. These challenges have motivated a great amount of research resulting in important developments for…
An origin of Earth life on Mars would resolve significant inconsistencies between the inferred history of life and Earth's geologic history. Life as we know it utilizes amino acids, nucleic acids, and lipids for the metabolic,…
The next generation of space-based experiments will go hunting for answers to cosmology's key open questions which revolve around inflation, dark matter and dark energy. Low earth orbit and lunar missions within the European Space Agency's…
The impact of exposure to astrophysical ionizing radiation on astronaut health is one of the main concerns in planning crewed missions to Mars. Astronauts will be exposed to energetic charged particles from Galactic and Solar origin for a…
In the early days of space exploration, when Sally Ride was offered 100 tampons for a week-long mission, menstrual medical devices first began to be used in space conditions. Since then, hormonal menstrual suppression has become the…
Autonomous terrain classification is an important problem in planetary navigation, whether the goal is to identify scientific sites of interest or to traverse treacherous areas safely. Past Martian rovers have relied on human operators to…
The national space programs have an historic opportunity to help solve the global-scale economic and environmental problems of Earth while becoming more effective at science through the use of space resources. Space programs will be more…
In robotic planetary surface exploration, strategic mobility planning is an important task that involves finding candidate long-distance routes on orbital maps and identifying segments with uncertain traversability. Then, expert human…
Geophysical imaging of the lunar near-surface structure will be key for in situ resource utilization, identification of hazards for crews and infrastructure, and answering science questions on the formation and interior of the Moon. The…
Two decades ago, astronomers began detecting planets orbiting stars other than our Sun, so-called exoplanets. Since that time, the rate of detections and the sensitivity to ever-smaller planets has improved dramatically with several…
A novel concept is presented in this paper for a human mission to the lunar L2 (Lagrange) point that would be a proving ground for future exploration missions to deep space while also overseeing scientifically important investigations. In…
Human space exploration beyond low Earth orbit will involve missions of significant distance and duration. To effectively mitigate myriad space health hazards, paradigm shifts in data and space health systems are necessary to enable…
People with impairments are not able to participate in space missions. However, this is not because they cannot; instead, spacecraft have not been designed for them. Therefore, instead of simply excluding people with impairments, they…
The upcoming phase of space exploration not only includes trips to Mars and beyond, but also holds great promise for human progress. However, the harm caused by cosmic radiation, consisting of Galactic Cosmic Rays and Solar Particle Events,…
Martian subsurface habitability and astrobiology can be evaluated via a lava tube cave, without drilling. MACIE addresses two key goals of the Decadal Survey (2013-2022) and three MEPAG goals. New advances in robotic architectures,…
Our ability to explore the cosmos by direct contact has been limited to a small number of lunar and interplanetary missions. However, the NASA Starlight program points a path forward to send small, relativistic spacecraft far outside our…