Lockheed Martin’s Mars Base Camp Idea For 2028 [Video]

American aerospace company Lockheed Martin has reportedly launched a Mars Base Camp campaign to showcase the planned project for human inhabitation on Martian surface by the 2030s. The campaign video shows an elaborate plan which would start with astronauts travelling to a science laboratory that orbits Mars, and subsequently their real time scientific exploration by studying Martian soil and rock samples. The future analysis from Mars's orbit will set the ground for determining the ideal place for landing humans on the planet's surface.

According to Lockheed Martin reports, the Mars‐orbiting science station is tentatively scheduled to be launched in 2028, and will create the right platform for the astronauts subsequently supposed to land on the Martian surface. The key components needed for the Mars mission will be launched at different points of time, by when some other prepositioned components in Mar's orbit like the Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and MAVEN will already have gathered ample information.

The Mars Base Camp will be designed around four technologies. The astronauts for the Mars mission will travel in the Orion, which is the only deep space crew capsule in the world built with navigation, communications and life support viable for making such journey. The capsule will serve as the main part of the Mars Base Camp interplanetary ship, and will have six astronauts on-board. The Super Launch System will send the supplies, habitats and critical labs to Mars. The Solar Electric Propulsion technology will preposition necessary supplies in the orbit of the red planet.

Currently, Lockheed Martin is analyzing the capabilities necessary for habitats that support human forays in deep space. "The habitat will support missions in the proving of deep space exploration," said Bill Pratt from Lockheed Martin. "Basically, the habitat would be located just far enough away that astronauts cannot easily turn around and come home when problems arise. That really forces us to operate in a different mindset that's more akin to a long trip to Mars".

Watch the Mars Base Camp concept that will provide a blueprint for NASA's journey to Mars, by building upon the deep space technologies that are currently being developed.