I've included wheeled vehicles where possible because tracked vehicles require considerably more maintenance than wheeled vehicles.
This is a typical Bobcat skid-steer loader. There are various sizes. This one is S450. ("S" for skid) Rated Operating Capacity: 1,370lb. Operating weight: 5,370lb
The thing that makes it "skid-steer" is it's wheels. It's wheels don't turn, to steer the vehicle you turn the wheels on one side while wheels on the other do not turn. Or to pivot in place, turn wheels on the other side backward. This means the wheels literally "skid" across the ground as it's steering. Be advised: operating this on grass will tear up the grass. This works very well on pavement or hard or very firm ground. It doesn't work so well on loose soil/dirt/sand/gravel at an incline.
This is a typical Bobcat compact track loader. This one is T450. ("T" for track) ROC: 1,490lb. Operating weight: 6,424lb
Track vehicles work better on loose ground and inclines. The track provides more traction. I'm suggesting a compact track loader would be more appropriate for Mars.
An excavator can be compact. The first is E10, Rated Lift Capacity 527lb, Operating weight 2,593lb. The second is E20, RLC 1,098lb, Operating weight 4,306lb.
Bobcat has become known for compact construction vehicles. Other brands manufacture competing vehicles: John Deere, Case, Caterpillar, New Holland, others.
]]>This is an initial "short list," but what I as a chemist would want available to determine whether or not we have found evidence of life--past or present.
I elected to go with HPLC rather that a GLC chromatograph because of sample volatility issues.
]]>Will continue more later...
]]>1 unloading equipment
2 unloading nuclear reactor
3 move and bury or create a berm for the reactor
4 connecting reactor and turning it on
5 unload equipment shelter
Construction and Maintenance Triads:
All members of this particular group should be qualified and experienced operators of a tracked Bobcat style front end loader and all the associated accessories. I also think that we should include 2 such pieces of equipment, as preparation of a future landing site is paramount for any ongoing research station/colony headquarters. I'm including 2 of these because of the individual size is pretty small and the jobs are large. Having some duplication is prudent as a backup in case of an accident with one of them or irreparable damage during use.
Electrician/electronics technician: 2 of these with the primary specialty. There will be lots of wires involves running from Hab to shop to power sources. Hooking up all the necessary equipment and construction will keep them very busy.
Heavy equipment operators: 2, with this as as their specialty and also primary maintenance tech for the earth(Mars regolith) moving equipment.
Habitat construction specialists. 2 I envision some temporary inflatable habitation vis a vis Bigelow-style, or more recently Sierra Nevada Corporation designs. Until the permanent living accommodations are finished, living onboard the Starship is fine. I'm thinking that once the inflatable Habs are ready, this will allow the construction crews to start building more permanent structures. I'm envisioning either excavation into a hillside as the basis of permanent facilities, or if landed in a non-hilly area, using the front loaders to excavate large trenches for "pit houses." The construction crews will be responsible for airlock installation and all the associated electrical, heating, and life maintenance equipment--including sanitation. These structures will be in a prefabricated form. Some of this work will be too much for the construction triads and everyone will be involved. suggested pit house construction, and the spoil from the excavation can subsequently used for a regolith layer over the roofs to reduce radiation exposure of the occupants. After the regolith layer is in place, a set of Solar panels can be installed where they can be easily maintained and "dusted off." This also reduces the line loss of the generated power. I envision at least 5 pit-style buildings. Initially, a living module for sleeping, bathing, food preparation, recreation time. Second module will be a shop for vehicle maintenance: 2 rovers and 2 Bobcat-style regolith movers. Third module will be the science and sample analysis building. Module 4 will be a storehouse for food, and where samples destined for transshipment to Earth will be held. These will all require lots of airlocks. My mission envisions a crewed vessel with most of the primary living essentials onboard, and a second freighter with the nuclear reactor and solar panels as their loads. This will be a larger than necessary nuclear reactor for fuel preparation and the necessary chemical processing apparatus; Sabatier reactor and Moxie system, and a water hydrolysis system. Actually there will be two of such loadouts on duplicate transport Starships--in case one goes missing. If we are doing well, the 2 transport craft will be making Methane and Oxygen for the return to Earth within the first month of setup. The primary crewed Starship will have a small nuclear reactor onboard for life maintenance requirements.
Moving on to module 5, which will be a greenhouse module for food growing experiments and dietary supplementation. It would be best if this module could be built into a hillside to prevent radiative heat loss during nighttime, and allow steeper window panels to be included.
I'm envisioning that the primary nuclear reactor will be located more remotely from the camp, as a self-contained and exposure to the elements should not bother this module.
Hydrologist. Need this particular specialty for finding easily obtainable water and doing some seismic studies.
Stratigrapher. This is for determining which formations may yield fossils, and supports the work of hydrologist in finding water.
Minerologist. Finding usable minerals is extremely important for future development of Mars based industry.
Identification of water ice isn't necessarily the problem, but finding easily extractable water is advantageous. That's where these skills are invaluable.
All geologists will participate in seismic studies.
]]>Either a prepositioned set of equipment or a pair of duplicate starship freight vessels accompany the crewed vessel.
]]>Trip to Mars on a fast track of 185-200 days; stay on Mars as 550-575 days; return to Earth as 185-200 days. For grins, I'm estimating food for 2000 days for a crew of 17 and theses are on the average 185 pounds per person. My best information regarding food consumption required for both weight maintenance and having sufficient energy for heavy tasks is based on the Colorado State University Veterinary school figure of 2% of body weight per day. This is food already prepared and ready to eat. Food required for the entire mission with the 100+% emergency quantity included:
Food Required = (0.02)x(170)x(17)x(2000); FR = 115,600 pounds of food; this includes dry, long term storage foods such as beans, split peas, rice, and whole grain wheat and barley; also included would be freeze dried meals; fresh-frozen foods require freezer storage, and canned or otherwise vacuum packed foods are also included. Altogether 52.5 metric tons of food alone.
Water recycling is a "given," and I'm estimating 30 metric tons of water taken along. Weight of crew is 1.31 tons. Oxygen is another consumable, and I'd appreciate input on Oxygen needed for the overall trip and with scrubbing and conversion of CO2 back to breathable Oxygen using Moxie or electrolysis of water.
Here's a recalculation on the food taken along; I doubled the time required for return flight to Earth in my initial calculation.
Food required = (0.2)x(170)x(17)x(200+200+1150) =41 tons
The food and water requirements can vary with what is found on Mars as available water resource, and Oxygen can also be replenished via electrolysis. I am confident that water will be found and through either distillation or combination of filtration and using ion exchange columns, can be made into potable water.
This leaves about 30 tons of capacity for equipment and habs, instrumentation for laboratory, and construction supplies. We'll need at least 2 rovers, and a Bobcat-type tracked front loader with auger attachments. Either a small nuclear reactor and a modest number of solar panels, or a duplicate reactor. I'm asking for other members to input some estimates on the mass involved.
I may be too conservative in my estimates and have too much food along; this could be altered significantly by having a prepositioned food and some habs and heavy equipment.
]]>(1) Chemist. The principal investigator will be doing sample analysis of many things: soil (regolith) samples from the surface and from excavated samples. Mineral specimens collected by the geologist/exploration triad will also be subjected to analysis. Water testing when found; is it potable (drinkable); what needs to be done to make it suitable for human consumption and bathing. Be in charge of starting an electrolysis system for production of Hydrogen and Oxygen. Monitor performance of this system. In charge of starting and operating the Sabatier reaction system
(2) Microscopist and biochemist. Examine samples for evidence of past bacterial and monocellular life forms. Do testing of samples for organic molecules that are related to life (as we know it) forms. Look for amino acids and other stable molecules of biological origin.
(3) Chemical technician. Will keep instrumentation working and do sample preparation. Keep working area clean from sample cross-contamination. Will do cataloguing of samples and results. Operate both electrolysis and Sabatier reactor systems and monitor performance.
This activity should be accomplished in a standard 6 hour workday. Then the triad members will assist in construction labor and/or accompany the geology field triad for about 3-4 more hours. I am planning on a 6 Sol work week. I do not want the expedition to become burned out by overwork for 18 months on Mars.
There needs to be some time for EVERYONE to get out and "go exploring."
Note added in Edit: I may require the principal Chemist to be a Chemical Engineer and at least a MS in Chemistry. Running the Sabatier and Electrolysis systems will be more of an engineering task than chemistry.
]]>In a follow-up post to this, I will outline why a laboratory needs to be brought along, what instrumentation will be needed, and why. This will become part of the proposal of Mission 1.
]]>Each of the groups I have described will burgeon into the industrial basis for long term habitation.
A second Starship landing site could be congruent with the first, thereby doubling the hands available to build Marsbase 1.
I indicated there will be at least 2 to 4 supply vessels already landed or accompanying the first crewed lander. If we bring in a second crewed vessel in the same Hohmann transfer window, additional supplies will be needed for support.
This means at least another 2-3 cargo ships with additional food and building supplies/heavy equipment. Musk has indicated that many of these cargo vessels would be making one-way flights to Mars and could be disassembled for building materials.
The plan for going to mars needs a manifest of what we take and quite possible how and when its to be used but it means we need a logistics person. Record keeping of what is made use of is part of the plan to be successful. Duties also includes the schedule for all to follow for the work load aspects for each day activities.
In order to have NASA as a partner on Mission 1, Science has to have a very high priority. SpaceX hasn't really worked that much on habitat design or long term life support systems, whereas NASA has been in the business with ISS for 20+ years. It's a perfect symbiosis: NASA needs SpaceX and SpaceX needs NASA. No science = no NASA participation.
1) Scientific value
-Finding life
-Development of cutting edge technology
-Increasing efficiency
-A Step Towards commoditized interplanetary travel and deep space exploration
2) Economic value
-Developing cutting edge Technology
-Mining for valuable natural resources
-Boost for global cooperation
3) Inspirational value
-Inspiring children
-Restoring the 'Can Do' spirit in society
4) Growing as a species
-'Safety' planet
-Drive to expand beyond the solar system
I don't think we'll be bringing any farm animals or poultry or aquaculture projects along, but with Elon running his program, anything is possible.
Here's a short list of priorities:
(1) Stay alive and healthy
(2) Do the primary tasks assigned
(3) Make the efforts pay off through establishment of a permanent outpost and habitation center for future visits that pave the way for colonization.
(4) Do some significant exploration and make finding water the top priority
(5) Return home safely
Please remove posts from it to this topic area
Companion for Mars Expedition Number One; 17 crew members discusion area.
oldfart1939 will evaluate our comments here on the topics adjustments that we would like to see if possible and or plausible in the wiki's creation page.
this edit can be removed or modified as needed once posts have been moved.
end edit
Thomas, here it is!
I am suggesting as a first Starship Mission to the Red Planet Mars and having a crew composition of 17 astronauts
This is based on the "Triad concept," and a somewhat military style organization. There will be a relatively loose hierarchical structure, but there needs to be a leadership pyramid established before anyone sets foot inside a Starship.
Triads: Three astronauts with a particular set of skills assigned to complete a certain set of tasks; particularly important for working outside in the hazardous desert-like environment. It's not possible to find a single individual who has all the necessary skills that will be utilized when the skill set required is enormous. There also needs to be inspection of work done by at least a second individual when so much is "on the line." Medical skills are also sometimes requiring a second or third set of skilled hands.
What have I planned as the necessary sets of skills"
Leadership: A group commander and an assistant commander; both with great communications skills and abilities to do lots of data management. They will be tasked with work assignments and difference resolution. There needs to be a final authority when differences of opinion arise between crew members.
Geologist triad: They will be tasked with collection of samples and determination of WHERE to put the permanent habitation modules. Do studies of weight bearing capabilities of potential landing sites and layout of the landing complex. Search for water.
Construction and maintenance triads; there will be 2 of these because they will be the most important set of tasks needed to keep everyone else alive. Maintain the rovers, Set up a solar farm or a nuclear reactor system.
Scientist triad: a good biologist and microscropist to examine samples looking for signs of life, past and present; a chemist with skills in elemental analysis to determine the contents of various samples returned by the geologist triad. A molecular biologist with instrumentation skills (polarimetry, gas chromatography, HPLC, and other skills needed to analyze samples for signs of life).
Medical triad: One Surgeon, one GP, cross trained as a dentist, and one nurse with Nurse Practitioner certification.
OK, this is my baseline for a crewed mission.
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