Mars mission duration
Manned missions to Mars split in two different types. They are named after astronomical names of the moments of departure of the ships from Mars: conjunction and opposition. Opposition type mission have less total time but more time spent travel in weightless conditions, conjunction mission have much more time spent in Mars surface.
Comparison conjunction and opposite mission type:
| Mission type [1] | Total mission duration, days | Earth-Mars trip, days | Time spent at destination | Mars-Earth trip, days | Total ∆V, km/s | Trans-Mars Injection, km/s | Mars Orbital Insertion, km/s | Trans-Earth Injection, km/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conjuction | 1005 | 198 | 558 | 197 | 2.81 | 0.50 | 1.25 | 1.06 |
| Opposition | 560 | 177 | 40 | 342 | 5.69 | 0.61 | 1.75 | 3.33 |
Mars have very elliptical orbit relatively to Earth. The eccentricity of the orbit of Mars is 0.0935 – second among the planets after Mercury. Launch windows to Mars opened approximately every 2.14 years (26 months) but because of Mars orbit eccentricity and differences in his orbital speed this time changes a little bit from time. The same way changes a distance between Earth and Mars in moment of oppositions, time travel to Mars and necessary for this delva-V.
Examples of the near future missions opportunities
Mars short-stay (opposition) mission:
| Departure Date [2] | Mission Duration (years) | Time spent at destination | Injection (C3/∆v), km/s | Post-escape ∆v, km/s | Destination Aerocapture (∆V/Inertial), km/s | Earth Aerocapture (∆V/Inertial), km/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19-Jul-2020 | 1.50 | 1 month | 14.5/3.87 | 2.80 | 1.41/6.2 | 0.86/11.8 |
| 22-Oct-2021 | 1.39 | 1 month | 14.4/3.86 | 2.80 | 3.48/8.2 | 0.47/11.4 |
| 14-Sep-2023 | 1.64 | 1 month | 25.7/4.34 | 0.99 | 3.29/8.0 | 0.48/11.4 |
Mars long-stay (conjunction) mission:
| Departure Date [2] | Mission Duration (years) | Time spent at destination | Injection (C3/∆v), km/s | Post-escape ∆v, km/s | Destination Aerocapture (∆V/Inertial), km/s | Earth Aerocapture (∆V/Inertial), km/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-Aug-2020 | 2.53 | 1.40 years | 15.7/3.92 | 1.45 | 0.70/5.5 | 0.80/11.7 |
| 15-Sep-2022 | 2.63 | 0.85 years | 14.4/3.86 | 0.94 | 0.88/5.6 | 0.50/11.4 |
| 14-Oct-2024 | 2.62 | 0.87 years | 12.1/3.76 | 0.82 | 0.73/5.5 | 0.58/11.5 |
References
- ↑ Bryan Mattfeld, Chel Stromgren - Trades Between Opposition and Conjunction Class Trajectories for Early Human Mission to Mars in AIAA Space 2014; 4-7 Aug. 2014; San Diego, California
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cyrus Foster, Matthew Daniels - Mission Opportunities for Human Exploration of Nearby Planetary Bodies in AIAA SPACE 2010 Conference & Exposition, 30 August - 2 September 2010, Anaheim, California ISBN AIAA 2010-8609
