Project Mars Design Reference Mission 1

[markp]

Got UMMU working. At first glance the lander seemed rather huge. But I guess they are not really that big compared to the space shuttle and other things.

 

[Wishbone]

The position of the airlock is suspect, shouldn't it be in the aeroshell's tail instead?

 

[markp]

Maybe but I'm thinking the habitat lander (stowed inside the aeroshell) has its airlock in this position. A connecting tunnel is then straight forward to install between the outside hatch and the habitat airlock. A connection with the aeroshell tail would have to navigate around the engines and landing gear of the lander.

I've put a docking port on the tail for connection to propulsive stages.

 

[markp]

Just a little update. Now have UMMU compatible habitat lander, Mars Ascent Vehicle and pressurised rover. So in theory it is possible to bring some crew from Earth to Mars and back again. Also it is possible to transfer them across the surface of Mars in the rover.

Added a ladder to allow the crew to access the Mars Ascent Vehicle. It's very tall. Not sure in reality the crew could climb this safely without some kind of safety harness!

 

[Wishbone]

Strapping carabiners to the railing would be IMHO sufficient. A full harness would be used to move an injured crewmember.

EDIT: has the new version been uploaded? Sometimes people update the file but do not change the date at OHM, so it doesn't show in the most recent add-ons list...

 

[markp]

Ah ok I didn't realise the date could be changed on OHM! Thanks for bringing that to my attention. A couple of weeks ago I uploaded a small modification with an update of the docking ports and some other things but I didn't edit the date.

No the UMMU version hasn't been uploaded yet. I'll probable upload the new version in a couple of days time once I'm sure it's working ok.

 

[Capt_hensley]

Strapping carabiners to the railing would be IMHO sufficient. A full harness would be used to move an injured crewmember.

EDIT: has the new version been uploaded? Sometimes people update the file but do not change the date at OHM, so it doesn't show in the most recent add-ons list...

Could you include a disposable staircase? Something that is part of the exterior, but is not required post acent and pressurization. Simply push a button and bam the stairway falls to the surface, and the acent stage is free of excess weight.

 

[markp]

Hadn't thought of a staircase. That would make climbing easier and speed up things for the for the crew.

 

[Wishbone]

I kinda assumed there was a ladder when wrote about the carabiners, should have looked more attentively But the general idea still holds...

 

[markp]

Well I guess text and pictures are a poor substitute for face to face communications. It is a ladder in the pictures btw!

At the moment I am pondering some kind of drop down staircase like one might find on the side of a building as a fire escape. Then maybe a ladder for the final link to the capsule hatch. Carabiners would be required in any case to keep the crew secured. A ladder might be more practical in the end though due to mass considerations and also if the crew need to escape quickly, they could perhaps just slide down it.

For the time being I'll stick with the ladder as that is implemented at the moment. Before launch the MAV retracts the ladder then launches with the ladder attached and then jettisons it (using explosive bolts?) after it has cleared the lander structure.

 

[markp]

UMmu version is on Orbit Hanger Mods. Also added a ladder to the MAV and coloured beacons to the lander aeroshells. Fixed some old and new bugs along the way.

 

[markp]

So just a quick report on activities / direction of the DRM landers. Been a bit sidetracked at the moment.

I have been focusing on developing a Mars dual thermal / gas balloon which is partly working now. This is a tool to test out and explore adding winds to Mars in Orbiter (with storms etc calculated from a given pressure map, I think this can be done). Also plan / hope to improve the landers powered descent autopilot to compensate for wonky releases from the aeroshell.

Then try and add UCGO compatibility and add some other things.

 

[markp]

I'm playing around with a purely solar heated hot air balloon for the time being. The idea is the black envelope absorbs the suns radiation and heats up the Martian atmospheric gas inside. It's quite an old idea studied by space agencies for exploring the planets.

Not entirely sure what all the benefits are over a helium superpressure balloon are yet except I know at least there is the possibility of multiple controlled descents and ascents (to explore the vertical structure of the atmosphere or to land on the surface). I think they also might be good for exploring the poles during the summer.

Here is a pic of the new balloon, it's quite big



And here is an pic of some HUD text showing useful information for planning a flight and a chart of flight data from a test launch.



A few more modifications and then it's time to add winds to Mars for some extra fun.

 

[markp]

I have used some basic mathematical functions to reproduce the important circulation patterns in the Martian atmosphere (will document it fully later). No storms or jet streams yet just the basic zonal winds (west-east component). There are not very many calculations so it will be fast (I hope).

Below are plots of the wind speeds with latitude and altitude taken from the model at two times in the Martian year. The first one is at the time of northern hemisphere summer and the second one down is approaching the time of northern hemisphere autumn.





The next step is to apply the wind forces to the balloon, play a bit with that, then add the wind to the landers and their parachutes and see what happens!

 

[markp]

Have added winds to the balloon and is working very nicely so far.

 

[Wishbone]

It is said that balloons/weather rockets will be essential for launch safety...

 

[Interceptor]

Hi MarkP,I am not trying to nitpick whatsoever,I am just letting you know theres some bugs.1. the connecting passage from the cargo lander to the habitat is not textured,and,2.the orginal UMMMU menu still shows the default keys,I know you changed the open-close airlock key to P,but it says in the menu A still.BTW I love this addon,and am looking foward to future versions.Thanks

 

[markp]

Thanks very much for spotting those bugs!

 

[Interceptor]

Your very welcome

 

[markp]

Landers, after release from the aeroshell, will now not be tail sitters. That was causing problems (entry and descent phase orientations will remain as before though). So that's good for a number of things such as autopilots and UCGO.

Some recent screen shots:

Lander engines can be fired independently of aeroshell engines.



Helium weather balloon for high altitude probing of the atmosphere and the winds



UCGO cargo part working on the solar hot air balloon! It's just a test.