Mars Surface Science Laboratory Accommodations and Operations

The NASA Mars Exploration Design Reference Mission asserts two equal goals: scientific exploration of Mars and human habitation on Mars. However, at present, the Design Reference Mission does not provide a substantive accommodation for the science component of Mars Exploration. This essay describes the design strategy to develop the Mars Surface Science capability as embodied in the crew, lab facilities at the base and mobile laboratories in the pressurized rover.

Clearly, NASA has a great deal of work ahead to supply the mission requirements and design rationale the science laboratory capabilities at a human Mars Base. The purpose of this essay is to begin to create a specific focus on Mars’s surface science laboratory requirements, operations and accommodations