Space access

If colonists are to have access to space, they will need a craft to transport them.

Requirements

The craft should be:

• Reusable
• Single Stage to Orbit (SSTA)
• Use propellants that can be obtained from Mars.
• Able to share components with other machines

SSTO

the craft should have SSTO capability. It has proved very difficult to build an SSTO launcher on Earth, but the lower Martian gravity would be of assistance to any launching spacecraft. If the craft uses multiple stages, these will all have to be recovered separately, which complicates the process of reuse.

Propellant

Hydrogen and oxygen propellants can be obtained from Martian ice. The attitude control thrusters could use gaseous oxygen and methane, kept under pressure.

Early landers

Early landers will probably be non-reusable or only partially reusable. The decent stages of these landers could be dismantled and reused.

Guidance

The guidance systems on the lander need not be hi-tech. The Apollo spacecraft flew to the Moon using less computing power then a pocket calculator. A simple computer, or a pneumatic system could be used. Although there are advantages with hi-tech systems, lo-tech systems could be included as a backup.

Uses

Uses for the lander include: Trips to Low Mars Orbit and possible space stations residing there, Trips to Phobos and Deimos Trips to ferry crews to and from space craft that have arrived from, or are headed for, Earth, or other planets. Possible satellite repair, not a dissimilar task as to what was imagined for the space shuttle in the 1970's