Mars Design Reference Mission

The NASA Mars Design Reference Mission ("DRM") refer to a series of NASA conceptual design studies of the missions to send humans to Mars. The related term, Design Reference Architecture (DRA), refers to the entire sequences of missions and supporting infrastructure.

These are reference baseline studies summarizing the current technology and possible approaches for a human mission to Mars, and are not actual mission programs. According to NASA, the documents "represent a 'snapshot' of work in progress in support of planning for future human exploration of the Martian surface." The design reference missions are used for technology trade studies, to analyze the effect of different approaches to the mission.

Reference Design Mission (1993)

The first Mars Design Reference Mission was a NASA study completed in May 1993, under the auspices of the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). The objective was to develop a "Reference Mission" based on previous studies and data, where the Reference Mission serves as a basis for comparing different approaches and criteria from future studies.

The study was based on Robert Zubrin's Mars Direct mission design. Thus dubbed Mars Semi-Direct by Zubrin, it also made several significant changes, for instance accounting for a larger crew and a dedicated Mars Ascent Vehicle that was to do an Apollo-style Mars-orbit rendezvous with the Earth Return Vehicle, which was to remain in orbit. The Design Reference Mission replaced the preceding SEI as the standing mission plan.

Approach and results

Limit the time that the crew is exposed to the harsh space environment by employing fast transits to and from Mars and abort to the surface strategy

Use local resources to reduce mission mass

Use split-mission strategy to pre-deploy mission hardware to reduce mass and minimize risk to the crew

Examine three human missions to Mars beginning in 2009

Use advanced space propulsion (e.g., nuclear thermal propulsion) for in-space transportation

Send payloads directly to Mars using a large launch vehicle (200+ t to low Earth orbit)

Use nuclear surface power for robust continuous power

The conclusions of the study were that the total mission mass was approximately 900 metric tons for the first crew (3 cargo vehicles, 1 piloted vehicle).