Nasa has selected six companies to develop prototypes and concepts of deep space habitats for future manned missions to Mars.
Nasa has selected six companies to develop prototypes and concepts of deep space habitats for future manned missions to Mars. Habitation systems provide a safe place for humans to live as we move beyond Earth on our journey to Mars, Nasa said.
“Nasa is on an ambitious expansion of human spaceflight, including the journey to Mars, and we’re utilising the innovation, skill and knowledge of the both the government and private sectors,” said Jason Crusan, director of Nasa’s Advanced Exploration Systems, adding, “We are now adding focus and specifics on the deep space habitats where humans will live and work independently for months or years at a time, without cargo supply deliveries from Earth.”
The selected companies are Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems and NanoRacks. The six partners will have up to about 24 months to develop prototypes and conduct concept studies for deep space habitats.
Nasa has estimated that the combined total of all the awards, covering work in 2016 and 2017, will be about $65 million.
The ground prototypes will be used for three main purposes: supporting integrated systems testing, human factors and operations testing, and to help define overall system functionality.
These are part of a phased approach that will catalyse commercial investment in low-Earth orbit and lead to an operational deep space habitation capability for missions such as to Mars during the 2020s.
These missions will demonstrate human, robotic and spacecraft operations in a true deep space environment that is still relatively close to Earth and validate technologies for the longer journey to Mars.
