NASA's Mars exploration plans need 'paradigm shifts' to succeed, report finds

NASA has released a new document that highlights planned programmatic paradigm shifts in Mars exploration over the next 20 years.

This plan was prepared for the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Mars Exploration Program (MEP).

The report is titled "Expanding the Horizons of Mars Science: A Plan for a Sustainable Science Program at Mars — Mars Exploration Program 2024-2044."

Core questions

Highlighted in the document are several “paradigm shift” prospects to further address several core questions, which include:

How has the habitability of Mars evolved over the history of the planet?

Did life ever arise on Mars, and if so, does it exist today?

Related: Life on Mars: Exploration & evidence

The document also looks at lower-cost Mars missions. Commercial services, the human exploration of the Red Planet and international Mars ambitions are also flagged as paradigm shifts.

"NASA is no longer one of the few with focused Mars exploration ambitions," observes the report.

New, different model

"To remain a vanguard in Mars exploration, MEP must embrace a new, different model: the ability to send more — and more frequent — missions to Mars in an affordable and achievable manner, and to do so while cultivating a diversity of talent and engaging the public in opportunities to explore Mars,” the report points out.

The report defines a "lower-cost mission” as approximately $100 million to $300 million, exclusive of the launch vehicle and mission operations.

A “medium-class strategic mission" is pegged at between approximately $1 billion and $2 billion, exclusive of the launch vehicle and mission operations.

Partnerships

As for tapping into commercial services, the report states that exploring Mars together "through new partnership models with the international, commercial and academic communities is essential."

This type of paradigm shift would mimic other innovative public-private partnership solutions, such as NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) endeavors.

Life on Mars

The search for life on Mars remains a significant undertaking, according to the new report.

“Any potential oasis for present life or preservation of ancient life are likely located in terrains that have historically been more challenging to access," the document states. "Some of the most fascinating landscapes on Mars, for example, are found in the southern hemisphere, where the mean surface elevation has prevented robotic spacecraft from landing by traditional means.”

At the same time, there are other locales providing conditions potentially conducive to life, such as the subsurface (including caves, subsurface ice deposits and volcanic environments), "where suitable chemistry and environmental conditions may have allowed life to gain a foothold," the report adds.

However, given the prospect of boots on Mars, NASA’s Mars Exploration Program "has a small window of opportunity to seek life in a pristine Martian environment, as human exploration may be possible as early as the late 2030s, following successes at the moon."

Challenge conventional thinking

Eric Ianson, director of the NASA Mars Exploration Program, states in the report that there’s a need to "challenge conventional thinking and look to new and creative solutions for the exploration of Mars."

This can include “seeking lower-cost science investigations, strengthening our infrastructure around Mars, seeking new enabling technologies and creating an environment that broadens participation in Mars exploration,” Ianson states.

You can read the new report here.