NASA’s Moon to Mars (M2M) Transit Habitat Refinement Point of Departure Design

As NASA prepares for the next human footsteps on the lunar surface, the Agency is already looking ahead to systems that will enable a sustained human presence on the lunar surface and mission to Mars, including a lunar Surface Habitat (SH) and Mars Transit Habitat (TH). This paper describes the latest NASA government reference design for the TH and how it will support NASA's Moon to Mars human exploration architecture. First, it will serve as a test and demonstration platform in lunar orbit, demonstrating capabilities required for long-duration microgravity human spaceflight as part of the lunar-Mars analog missions. Then, the TH will serve as a major Mars exploration element to support crew habitation during their transit from the Earth’s orbit to Mars and returning safely before TH’s return to a lunar orbit. This paper will cover several considerations contributing to the latest habitat design refinement, including the TH's concept of operations, system functional definition, subsystem assumptions, notional interior layouts, a detailed mass and volume breakdown, and identify future trade studies and analyses required to close identified technology/ development/architecture gaps.

In addition to a technical description of the TH, this paper describes how the current TH government reference design will achieve many of the current lunar and Mars mission goals. Additionally, there are many assumed technological advances needed to support the prescribed mission phases leading up to the crewed mission to Mars in the late 2030s. The paper will describe many of the TH systems requiring further technology development and identify architectural solutions to achieve these mass, reliability, autonomy, and crew health targets.

As a whole, the data shows the government reference TH design meeting the 26.4 metric ton launch /trans-Mars injection burn control mass limit outlined within NASA’s Moon to Mars Campaign. This is achievable near the desired timeframe with moderate strategic investments including maintainable life support systems, innovative structures configuration and materials, and system/ logistics packaging.

The resulting design detail and data contained in this paper are intended to help teams across NASA and potential commercial, academic, or international partners understand the current performance targets of the Transit Habitat and vehicle interface considerations imposed by the latest Moon to Mars mission scope.