‘Man to Mars’ is a dream for all of us on Earth. NASA is assessing the feasibility of adding a crew to the first integrated flight of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). It is building new deep space capabilities to take humans farther into the solar system, to Mars.
Robert Lightfoot, acting administrator announced on February 15, that he had asked William Gerstenmaier to conduct the study and its now underway. William Gerstenmaier is associate administrator for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate in Washington. He and his team expect it to be completed in early spring.
This assessment will review the technical feasibility, risks and also benefits. It will also review additional work required and resources needed. Gerstenmaier said, “Our priority is to ensure the safe and effective execution of all our planned exploration missions with the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket”. “This is an assessment and not a decision as the primary mission for EM-1 remains an un-crewed flight test”, he further added.
The team will assume launching two crew members in mid-2019, and consider adjustments to the current EM-1 mission profile. NASA plans to send the spacecraft into a distant lunar retrograde orbit during the first mission of SLS and Orion. If the agency decides to put crew on the first flight, the mission profile for EM-2 would likely replace it. The Exploration Mission-2 is an approximately eight-day mission.
The space agency is doing the very best to explore the space in depth. The SLS and Orion missions will help put the agency in a position to unlock the mysteries of space.
