The Next Giant Leap for Mankind

Approximately twenty-four hours before landing, the crew will move from the transit habitat into the landing module, bringing some of the supplies from the transit habitat. The landing module will then detach from the transit habitat, which is too large to land on Mars. The transit habitat is discarded and stays in orbit around the sun.



The landing technology will be the same as used for previous cargo missions. This will ensure that the human crew lands in a system that has been tested several times already. Upon landing, the crew takes up to forty-eight hours to get used to gravity after spending six to eight months in space. The astronauts will leave the lander in their Mars suits and will be picked up by the rover that will bring them to the outpost. They will enter the settlement through an airlock and spend the next few days in one of the living units, recovering and settling into their new environment. After their acclimatization period, the crew will deploy the rest of the solar panels, install the hallways between the landers, and set up food production units.

Redundancy is extremely important, because the astronauts can't abandon their mission in case of an emergency. When the first crew lands, it will find the established outpost with good redundancy as it will include two living units, each large enough to house the crew of four, and two life support units that are each capable of providing enough water, power, and breathable air for the entire crew. To add even more redundancy, the cargo for the second crew will land within a few weeks after the first crew has landed.

When the hardware for the second crew is incorporated, the crew of four astronauts will have four living units and four life support units, enough to sustain a crew of sixteen astronauts.