Nuclear thermal propulsion vehicle design for the Mars flyby with surface exploration mission

What is it about?

The Mars flyby with surface exploration mission, hereafter referred to as the 'dash/flyby' exploration mission, is a special mission trajectory that provides for the lowest vehicle Initial Mass in Low Earth Orbit (IMLEO) for any opposition class Mars mission of a given trip time, payload and propulsion system specific impulse (Isp). The variations in IMLEO associated with the standard opposition class Venus swingby missions over the 15 year Earth-Mars synodic cycle are significantly reduced with this mission type, allowing for the use of essentially one size vehicle for all opportunity years. Analysis of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) spacecraft tailored to this special mission mode was completed in support of a three year Boeing study for the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) led Space Transfer Concepts and Analysis for Exploration Mission (STCAEM) contract which began in August 1989.

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