Original subtitles

- [Narrator] For over 50 years,

we have bombarded Mars with our probes and landers,

spying from orbit to map the terrain,

finding her strengths and weaknesses.

On the surface, probing for her resources

and learning of her defenses.

The next generation of robots are readying to

establish the beachhead.

The time is approaching for the

full scale invasion of the planet when

humans walk on Mars and claim it for their own.

(energetic orchestral music)

(exploding)

The conquest of this enigmatic planet so far away,

has been both challenging and rewarding.

ESA has delivered the latest conspirator,

the Exomars trace gas orbiter,

to search out the source of Methane in the atmosphere.

Its landing craft, the Scaparelli Lander,

failed and crashed, yet another victim of Mar's defenses.

The Exomars orbiter, now captured by Mar's gravity,

has begun the challenging process of adjusting

to a circular orbit without fuel.

This involved using the shifting Martian atmosphere

to gradually slow the satellite

in a process known as aero-braking.

With Exomars, ESA is going to use for the first time

a method called aero-braking for a spacecraft

in orbit around Mars, to decrease the orbit by

letting it fly through the atmosphere

and using the atmospheric density to slow it down

instead of using fuel for the engines.

- We have to take a lot of margin to be sure that

even if we go for a moment where the atmosphere is

more dense at the altitude where we are flying,

we are still safe with the spacecraft.

- [Narrator] That aero-braking process

took more than a year to complete.

It was complicated by the changing nature of

the Marian atmosphere.

- The transgas orbiter is really looking at active processes

ongoing on Mars today and life, present life,

is one of the possible explanations.

So it will be really a Sherlock Holmes work to try to

put together a case for whether it's geological

or biological activity that is responsible for the methane.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, plans are well advanced

for the Exomars 2020 mission with the final design

of the rover nearing completion.

And scientists have short-listed two possible

landing sites to put it to use,

Oxyar Planum and Mawrth Vallis.

Both are short-listed because they have had

an abundance of water in the plant's early history,

the main building block for life.

- First of all, we want a landing site

that is ancient because the hypothesis is that

conditions on the surface of Mars,

4.3 to 3.9 billion years ago were similar to those on Earth

when life started here.

So the site has to be old.

The second condition is we want a site

where we had liquid water present

over hundreds of millions of years and

we want this liquid water to be what we call

low energy or slow flowing water,

like on the canals in Amsterdam.

(humming)

- [Narrator] The rover then scouts around for

the ideal locations and with its driller apparatus,

digs deep into the earth to extract soil samples

which will be placed into its on board

chemical analysis equipment,

hoping to find ancient signs of life.

(whirring)

Beginning this year, the next wave of spacecraft

begin their sorjun to the red planet.

NASA's inside mission, the first to be launched from

Vandenberg Air Force base in California,

for another planet, is preparing for lift off.

The vehicle had already been through its pre-flight tests

and had been shipped to the launch facility.

It is crucial that all aspects of the lander

are in perfect operational readiness.

The probe is destined for the equatorial region of Mars

and will look deep into the heart of the planet.

- The inside mission is a geo-physical mission to Mars.

It's going to go to Mars and take its vital signs.

It's going to take its heartbeat,

the seismic activity of the planet.

So we're going to be doing that using a seismometer,

a very high precision seismometer,

using techniques that have been well developed

on Earth to get the understanding of the crust, mantle,

and core and sort of the relationship between those.

It's going to take its temperature by measuring

the thermal gradient of the surface

which tells how much heat is coming out.

- We also have a heat flow probe called HPQ

and what that does is gonna basically

take the temperature of Mars and from that

it will be able to understand what the

thermal flux is over the course of a full Martian year.

- And it's going to sort of measure its

reflexes by looking at how the rotation wobbles

with the tiled effects of the sun.

- Our final experiment is called rise and

that's going to be looking at the,

basically the wobble of Mars to help understand

what the core size may be and composition.

Insight isn't just a Mars mission,

it's really a mission to the terrestrial planet interior.

So Mars is kind of the Goldilocks planet.

It's not too big, it's not too small, it's just right.

If it was too big, it would have retained

a lot of activity and erased all the evidence

that we're looking for.

If it was too small, it never would have

undergone the same processes that formed the Earth

and so it's really just right.

- [Woman] Mars will give us this insight into early

planet formation and early planetary processes.

- [Man] Understanding the details of the structure

of the interior of Mars will allow us to address

questions of planetary formation that we've only

been able to guess at before.

- We are missing cold hard data and this is what

this mission will provide.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, NASA, ESA, and the Russians

are continuing their programs.

Soon, new missions from China, Japan, India,

and the United Arab Emirates will begin.

(dramatic orchestral music)

Getting humans to Mars is the pressing goal

of NASA and other adventurous parties.

Many big aerospace corporations contractors

have all been at the drawing board,

working out the immense engineering

and the logistical challenges.

They all concur that to get to Mars

you need more than a big rocket.

NASA's SLS and Orion spacecraft are only

two of many components that will be needed.

With some more political emphasis,

NASA, in concert with other agencies

including ESA, Canada, and the Russian space agencies,

are able to push ahead with a gateway facility concept.

Effectively building a space station

in SIS lunar orbit between the moon and Earth,

it would be a staging post for a return to the moon,

the gathering of resources from the lunar surface

and an assembly point for a Mars flight and beyond.

Orbital ATK is one of six companies selected

for NASA's Next Step Two program,

a public, private partnership for commercial development

of deep space exploration.

Not the first to suggest the moon be a staging post,

Orbital ATK recommends a parking orbit in SIS lunar space

built from its successful Signas cargo craft.

First they will launch an initial habitat module

aboard NASA's heavy-lift SLS rocket

with a crude Orion capsule.

Placed in a parking orbit, it will act as a platform

for experiments and serve as a destination for

future crude missions.

By 2025, additional modules would be added to the habitat

allowing deliveries of crew supplies and experiments

and serve as a waste disposal vehicle

at the end of their missions.

The modularity of the system also allows for

multiple visiting vehicles,

providing a base for lunar sorties.

Mining for resources, in particular water,

would allow for more cost-effective

and longer duration missions to Mars.

From water, you gain hydrogen for fuel,

oxygen as the oxidizer and for breathing

and of course, drinking water.

- We have places on moon which are,

at least, especially at the south pole

which has permanent darkness where we can find water

and we know from some missions that there is water.

Water is a good source to produce hydrogen and oxygen

and also to go into the shadow of the moon,

we will have places where we don't have

the radiation coming from the Earth.

So building a telescope over there,

by using the material we find on the moon,

so not bringing all the stuff on the Earth,

that could also open new possibilities

to look deep into our universe.

- [Narrator] These crude missions would also help

with man's understanding of how we can best survive

long duration space exploration.

By 2030, with additional modules,

the habitat could be expanded

to provide a Mars transit capability

for demonstration expeditions lasting 1000 days or more.

Boeing, the primary contractor for the SLS rocket system

believe their plan will require five or six SLS launches

to be able to get to Mars.

- So we want to make sure that we've checked everything out

and that we know that it's good to go before

we actually leave for Mars because once we leave,

we can't come back for over two years.

And the reason for this is because of the

alignment of the planets.

The way the planets revolved around the sun,

it allows a window of opportunity to go

from Earth to Mars basically every two years.

Just to get to Mars, before you even land or anything,

it's going to take seven or eight months.

The reality is, you're going to be there for a year

waiting until that window opens and we come back.

And then it's going to take

seven or eight months to come home.

- Having a SIS outpost enables international partnerships

and commercial opportunities such as

exploration of the lunar surface,

and scientific and technological research.

After SIS lunar space,

we'll start the actual missions to Mars.

The first mission will be to Mars orbit.

This mission will teach us about the space systems

that will take us to Mars and back.

The next mission will send humans to the surface of Mars.

The crews will undertake detailed scientific research

and investigation.

They will start to unlock the secrets of Mars.

- [Narrator] The initial concept, now under development,

consists of a power and propulsion bus

to provide electric power and propulsion

to habitat modules, an airlock module

and a logistic work module then supplied by

cargo and crude modules from the U.S. and Russia.

And finally, it could be used as the vehicle

and habitat for long term exploration of space.

Lockheed Martin's concept for transporting to Mars

has resulted in a holistic view of the mission.

They too will assemble a space gateway in SIS lunar orbit.

This will provide the platform to build

the Mars space base camp and

get it ready for flights to Mars.

(serene orchestral music)

They see that Orion is part of a larger system

that provides the supplies and the

scientific equipment needed for the journey.

This resulted in what they are calling Mar's base camp.

Mar's base camp is an orbiting mission

with four main sections and

two of almost everything for backup.

Four large commercial solar arrays to generate electricity

to power the spacecraft.

For propulsion, we have two cryogenic stages,

one on either end, and two tank farms

to store the fuel and oxidizer.

Within those stacks lie two habitat modules and

a large central living space to eat, sleep, and exercise.

Most importantly, we have Orion.

It is the command deck with all the avionics,

navigation and communications.

Orion makes the spacecraft more reliable

and gives the astronauts a safe ride home.

The orbiting crew could also investigate

the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos,

deploying landers or robots for sampling,

even astronauts to explore the surfaces of these moons.

The main mission, however, will after careful examination

confirm a landing site for the next mission

and the first human landing.

(calming orchestral music)

From orbit, the astronaut scientists will have

access to the entire planet's surface for

rovers and drones to be able to make

real-time decisions about where to go and what to examine,

retrieving samples from the surface for study.

(calming FE orchestral music)

Lockheed Martin's concept, the almost retro rocket ship,

the MEDV Lander, is their design for a

reusable launch and landing vehicle

and is based on the current technology

including the Orion and shuttle systems

and not as far fetched as first thought.

(calming orchestral music)

(dramatic orchestral music)

Re usability and innovation will conquer Mars,

keeping costs down will make it viable,

and making it doable is innovation.

That's something that SpaceX is founded on.

Their BFR is the direct Mars transport system.

From liftoff on a reusable booster,

a short time parked in low Earth orbit for a fuel topper,

then direct to Mars and a three month cruise.

Then, landing directly on the surface of the red planet,

ready to be refueled from local resources

for return journey, landing back on Earth

in the one reusable spacecraft.

(dramatic orchestral music)

In the meantime, SpaceX is testing its Falcon Heavy

rocket system in preparation for its maiden voyage.

(engines blasting)

(dramatic orchestral music)

One of the issues of flights to Mars,

which is addressed in part by the BFR, is the cruise time.

In theory, SpaceX has it down to three months.

The other NASA led systems will take seven to eight months,

a long time to house, feed,

and power a crew with little to do.

Getting there much faster would be a game changer.

One possible way to achieve this is nuclear power.

Nuclear thermal propulsion or NTP,

could enable faster transit time, both to Mars and beyond.

NTP is powered by nuclear fission.

How it works is conceptually simple.

Energy from fission is used to heat a

hydrogen propellant to about 2,420 degrees Celsius.

This hydrogen is then accelerated through

an exhaust nozzle resulting in a propellant efficiency

of roughly twice that of the best chemical rocket engines.

For example, it may be possible to fuel modern NTP systems

with low enriched uranium instead of highly enriched.

The physical size of an NTP engine

is largely determined by the rate at which

efficient energy can be transferred

to the hydrogen propellant,

but the equivalent volume of the uranium that would be

split is actually quite small, roughly that of a toy marble.

Getting travelers to Mars faster,

NTP can take months off the trip

compared to using traditional chemical systems.

This would reduce the need for payload,

food and power for the crew,

minimizing the risks associated with

exposure to galactic cosmic radiation,

micro-gravity and other hazards of deep space travel.

The maturation of nuclear thermal propulsion

will also promote the successful development

of the kilo power fishing power systems for

use on the moon, Mars, and other destinations.

As a main source insitu for life support,

communication, industrial and other diverse applications.

Harnessing first generation NTP systems

is a first step towards advanced nuclear

propulsion systems capable of travel

throughout the solar system.

(calming orchestral music)