TomKerbal Posted December 17 Share Posted December 17 (edited) A friend and I have been working on the implementation of Dr. Robert Zubrin's Mars Direct 2.0 mission (described in his book “The Case for Mars”) for quite some time. For this we use KSP with the most realistic mods possible (RO, RP-1 etc.), some of which I try to make even more realistic, although this is not normally necessary as they are already excellent! But for the mission, for example, the new Raptor v3 engine is necessary, things like that. At the end there is the execution of the mission. We are also planning and working on a small publication to show things. Hopefully Dr. Zubrin's Mars Society, for example, will be interested. I would also like to reflect that here in the forum, I think that's important. We live in turbulent times! And we may not even have realized what is currently happening at SpaceX and what significance it could have for the whole of humanity. I will report here from time to time. Models will be published by me on KerbalX, videos etc. I will host and share here. Per Aspera Ad Astra. Tom. Brief description of the main mission components The aim is to establish a Mars colony. First of all, an Earth Return Vehicle (ERV1) is sent to Mars, where it lands at the planned site of the colony. ERV1 now begins to convert the CO2 from the Martian atmosphere into methane and oxygen with the help of the hydrogen it has brought with it. The ERV uses this to replenish its fuel reserves. After 2 years, the habitat ship HAB1 flies to Mars with 4 astronauts on board, accompanied by another ERV, the ERV2. During the flight, the TMI (Trans Mars Injection) stage is detached and connected to the habitation unit of the HAB by a long steel cable. The habitation unit and the TMI stage then orbit around each other and generate an artificial gravity that corresponds to that of Mars. Course corrections must still be possible with the RCS. HAB1 and ERV2 land at the colony landing site on Mars after a 9-month flight. The astronauts can leave Mars at any time with ERV1. Otherwise, the 4 astronauts stay for 2 years, then board the ERV1 and fly back to Earth in it, leaving the HAB1 behind. Artificial gravity is generated on the return flight in the same way as on the outward flight to Mars. Once on Earth, the steel cable is cut, the habitation unit enters the Earth's atmosphere with its heat shield and then lands on parachutes in an Earth ocean. At the same time as the first crew begins its return flight with ERV1, the third ERV (ERV3) and the second HAB (HAB2), again with four astronauts on board, fly from Earth to the Mars colony. Once there, HAB2 is docked to HAB1. The 4 astronauts stay for another 2 years and now have twice as much living space as the first pioneers. After 2 years, they also fly back with an ERV (the ERV2), while at the same time ERV4 and HAB3 fly to the colony. And so on. This is how a colony gradually develops. If the colony is to grow faster, any number of ERVs and HABs can of course be sent out at the same time. An immediate evacuation must be possible at any time with a sufficiently high number of refueled ERVs. Edited Tuesday at 08:32 PM by TomKerbal Update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted December 17 Share Posted December 17 10 minutes ago, TomKerbal said: A friend and I have been working on the implementation of Dr. Robert Zubrin's Mars Direct 2.0 mission (described in his book “The Case for Mars”) for quite some time. For this we use KSP with the most realistic mods possible (RO, RP-1 etc.), some of which I try to make even more realistic, although this is not normally necessary as they are already excellent! But for the mission, for example, the new Raptor v3 engine is necessary, things like that. At the end there is the execution of the mission. We are also planning and working on a small publication to show things. Hopefully Dr. Zubrin's Mars Society, for example, will be interested. I would also like to reflect that here in the forum, I think that's important. We live in turbulent times! And we may not even have realized what is currently happening at SpaceX and what significance it could have for the whole of humanity. I will report here from time to time. Models will be published by me on KerbalX, videos etc. I will host and share here. Per Aspera Ad Astra. Tom. Cool! Looking forward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomKerbal Posted December 17 Author Share Posted December 17 Testing Video Hosting ( hosted by "Dailymotion". You can see the 2nd Rover tests for the HAB) https://dai.ly/k7aZVkfB6MUmTzC4jFQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomKerbal Posted Wednesday at 09:21 AM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 09:21 AM (edited) You can see here the ERV ready to launch at Starbase. Launch Mass: 5495t , Height: 138m Edited Wednesday at 09:23 AM by TomKerbal Picture too large Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomKerbal Posted Wednesday at 09:39 AM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 09:39 AM The ERV has a lot of functions, which have to be explained in detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomKerbal Posted Wednesday at 09:52 AM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 09:52 AM The HAB with its greenhouses is also very complex: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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