What is it about?
NASA plans are for supporting astronauts to explore Mars starting in the late 2030s or early 2040s and return. Brought to the surface by a lander, a massive Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) or rocket, fueled from a pre-existing surface in situ resource extraction system, must have the capability of transporting astronauts (4 to 6 in number) from the surface into a High Mars orbit (HMO), allowing them to rendezvous with an orbiting spacecraft for their journey back to Earth. To create a MAV with this type of capability, a rigorous flight test program must be put in place that includes landing large supporting systems. This paper describes the necessity of evolving MAV's in a measured fashioned to ensure success.
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Why is it important?
By linking Mars sample return to human exploration, new options or opportunities may be realized. Before a human rated Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) is accomplished, many test and operational flights of landed systems must be performed which opens the opportunity for newly collected samples or Perseverance rover acquired samples to be a payload to be returned. This paper outlines a strategy of connecting planetary science and human exploration systems that are needed to support the evolution of Mars landing and ascent vehicles meeting both science and human exploration objectives.
Perspectives
The use of the initial sample-return MAV as a foundation for learning how to land large mass systems and then progressively evolve it to meet the demands of a human-rated ascent vehicle provides several strategic, technical, and logistical advantages. This paper describes some of the key advantages of this scalable approach as an evolutionary capability. Employing a unified MAV architecture offers considerable advantages in cost-effectiveness and resource optimization. By leveraging a common design approach, NASA can substantially reduce expenses through shared development, testing, and production processes.
Mr. Benjamin Donahue
Boeing Co
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From Returning Samples to Returning Humans: Evolution of Mars Landing and Ascent Vehicles, July 2025, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2025-4103.
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