Exploration Systems Architecture Study: Overview of Architecture and Mission Operations Approach

In January 2004, President George W. Bush announced a new Vision for Space Exploration for NASA that would return humans to the Moon by 2020 in preparation for human exploration of Mars. As part of this vision, NASA would retire the Space Shuttle in 2010 and build and fly a new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) no later than 2014. To determine the best exploration architecture and strategy to implement this vision, the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS) team was established at NASA Headquarters (HQ) during May, June, and July of 2005. Design Reference Missions (DRMs) were established to facilitate the derivation of requirements and the allocation of functionality between the major architecture elements. Three of the DRMs were for ISSrelated missions: transportation of crew to and from the ISS, transportation of pressurized cargo to and from the ISS, and transportation of unpressurized cargo to the ISS. Three of the DRMs were for lunar missions: transportation of crew and cargo to and from anywhere on the lunar surface in support of 7-day ‘sortie’ missions, transportation of crew and cargo to and from an outpost at the lunar South Pole, and one-way transportation of cargo to anywhere on the lunar surface. A DRM was also established for transporting crew and cargo to and from the surface of Mars for a 6-month stay. This paper provides an overview of the study results, including a description of how the selected architecture meets each of the design reference missions and a discussion of a number of key features of the mission operations approach.