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A Mars cycler, as described in <ref>https://youtu.be/42Je9Xczu0o?t=653</ref>, is a hypothetical [[Mission concepts|transportation]] system between Earth and Mars proposed by Buzz Aldrin as a way to reach Mars more economically.<ref>Wikipedia Mars Cycler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_cycler</ref>.

It is a vehicle on an elliptical orbit the crosses both the Earth's and Mars' orbits with transit times of about 5 month in either direction.  This allows it periodically to be reached by a shuttle, either from Earth of from Mars. While moving with the cycler, no energy is expended by the shuttle. The cycler can serve as a more hospitable habitat than the shuttles: in particular it can provide better radiation protection from relatively heavy construction, artificial spin gravity and larger amounts of electricity for its [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hotel_load hotel load].

The shuttles require about 6km/s of [[Propulsion#Velocity_.28Rocket_equation.29|deltaV]] to reach the cycler from Earth and another 9.7km/s to slow down when they reach Mars, possibly reduced with the aid of [[skyhook|skyhooks]] or the use of aerodynamic capture.  On the reverse leg of the journey, the [[Propulsion#Velocity_.28Rocket_equation.29|deltaV]] requirements would be similar.

The large deltaV requirements for the Mars cycler shuttles are a significant problem compared to more direct approaches.  Aldrin proposed using high ISP engines to put the cycler itself into Mars orbit in a semi-cycler arrangement. 


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