What are the moon landing plans in history? Is Mars the next landing target for mankind?

At present, only the United States has clearly put forward the plan of manned landing on the moon and subsequent manned landing in the mission to mars. From 2065438 to September 2008, NASA released the Report on National Space Exploration Activities, which determined the route and plan of American space exploration activities in four fields: orbit around the moon, lunar surface, near-earth orbit and Mars after 2018. 2065438+On March 26th, 2009, US Vice President Burns announced that the schedule of manned return to the moon will be advanced to 2024, and NASA is stepping up relevant planning. There have been many moon landing programs in American history, including Apollo program, constellation program to return to the moon, and now the space station around the moon (LOP-G) program.

Apollo plans to adopt the lunar orbit rendezvous and docking scheme, and the overall layout of the spacecraft consists of command module, service module and lunar module. Saturn V rocket sent Apollo spacecraft into the earth-moon transfer orbit, and then started the engine of the spacecraft for lunar orbit injection. Then the command module and service module of the spacecraft continued to fly around the moon, and astronauts landed on the moon with the lunar module. After completing the mission around the moon, the astronauts docked with the command module and the service module in the lunar orbit, then gave up the upgrade and left the lunar orbit; Before re-entering the atmosphere, abandon the service module, and the command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

The plan to return to the moon adopts the rendezvous and docking of the Earth orbit and the Moon orbit, and uses two rockets Ares-5 and Ares- 1 respectively to transport goods and astronauts, which is one more rendezvous and docking of the Earth orbit than the Apollo plan. The plan to return to the moon will increase the time spent on the surface of the moon from the longest three days in the Apollo program to the longest seven days, and it is proposed that the time spent on the surface of the moon will be extended to six months with the deepening of the plan, and a lunar base consisting of astronauts' living facilities, power stations and communication stations will be established on the moon. Compared with the "Apollo" plan, the overall plan has changed obviously.

At present, NASA's thinking on the future development of manned deep space exploration has changed substantially compared with the past, and the concept of "Earth-Moon Economic Circle" has been put forward. NASA will build a LOP-G space station in the lunar near-line halo orbit (NRHO) through international cooperation, which can realize landing on the moon at any time, develop lunar resources on this basis, verify the key technologies needed for manned landing on Mars, and finally realize the goal of manned exploration on Mars. According to the development plan of NASA, the near-earth orbit space station will be mainly used to verify the required deep space exploration technology and capabilities, and the LOP-G space station will be mainly used to understand the problems existing in the long-term survival of human beings in deep space, carry out robot exploration missions and manned exploration missions on the surface of the moon, and meet the needs of landing on Mars in the future (a propellant library may be deployed in LOP-G).

Since the budget of NASA for manned exploration has been kept at a low level since the Apollo program, NASA will accelerate manned exploration through the commercialization of manned space flight in the future without expecting a substantial increase in future funds. 2065438+February 2009, NASA officially issued an announcement calling on private enterprises to participate in the development of manned moon landing technology, including the early research and development of the landing module, space refueling system and spacecraft of the moon landing system. In addition, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has also announced a road map for returning to the moon with the assistance of private enterprises in 2028. Like supporting space exploration technology companies and ATK Orbital companies, NASA will select some participating companies to provide financial support, and at least two companies will be selected to enter the mission demonstration stage, giving financial support of up to hundreds of millions of dollars. In the future, NASA will share the development costs with these companies.

Musk, the founder of American Space Exploration Technology Company, announced his manned landing plan on Mars at the 20 17 International Astronautical Congress (IAC). The plan includes BFR rockets, BFS, ground launch infrastructure for rapid launch and restart, and low-orbit microgravity propellant transmission facilities. The overall scheme is as follows: BFR rocket with Raptor engine is launched, and the rocket is separated from the spacecraft. After the rocket returned to the launch site, it was launched again with a refueling ship filled with oil. The refueling ship docked with BFS in Earth orbit, and then the spacecraft flew to the moon or Mars, where it landed in reverse.

If you go to the moon, carry enough fuel to return after landing on the moon; If you go to Mars, you will use the original resources on the surface of Mars and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars to generate liquid oxygen and methane through methanation reaction. After refueling, the spacecraft will return to Earth independently, re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, and land in reverse to prepare for the next mission. Different from the plan put forward by NASA, Space Exploration Technology will use a completely reusable route to realize manned landing on the moon and Mars in the future, thus reducing the cost. Space Exploration Technology Company's manned deep space exploration plan has many new technical points and faces great technical challenges. So far, there is no government financial support, and it is supported by launch contracts and financing. However, once the space exploration technology company's plan is successful, it will subvert the existing manned space mode.

1, the research and development of launch vehicles and manned spacecraft entered a new stage.

With the development of technologies related to manned deep space exploration, the research and development of large rockets and manned spacecraft has entered a new stage, and new types of rockets are constantly emerging. Rockets used for manned deep space exploration are developing in the direction of heavy and super heavy. In addition to high specific impulse and large thrust, having throttling ability is the basis for reuse in the future, and it is also one of the development trends of rocket research and development in the future, thanks to the development of new rocket engines. Although the thrust of the new engine is not large, it has the advantages of light weight, large thrust-to-weight ratio, strong throttling ability, multiple ignition and low cost. Such engines and rockets are obviously more in line with the future development trend of human space, and are also an effective way to reduce the cost of manned space flight. Except for the first time, with the manned exploration of Mars being put on the agenda, the research and development of liquid oxygen methane rocket is also a research hotspot of various countries and companies. In terms of new manned spacecraft, more attention will be paid to the mission requirements of manned deep space round trip, and the concept of reusable will gradually take root in people's hearts.

2. Commercial companies are increasingly involved in manned deep space exploration.

With the rise of commercial aerospace companies such as American Space Exploration Technology Company and Blue Source, the role of commercial companies in manned deep space exploration will become more and more important. Commercial companies do not have a lot of government funds to support their new technology research and development, and it is an inevitable trend that the cost of manned deep space exploration will gradually decrease in the future. In addition, the manned exploration scheme proposed by commercial companies is often quite different from the traditional mission scheme. Once successful, it will subvert the existing manned space flight mode, and the traditional mission plan proposed by NASA and other government agencies will not be sustainable.

3. Manned Mars exploration is the future development goal.

Whether it is the United States, the Russian government or commercial space companies, manned Mars exploration is their long-term goal. Through manned activities in near-earth orbit and manned landing on the moon, we will develop and reserve the technology needed to land on Mars. From this point of view, manned landing on the moon is only the transition and support of manned landing on Mars, and manned landing on Mars or even building a base for long-term survival of human beings in rockets is its ultimate goal.

Major space powers continue to take manned deep space exploration as an important national strategic investment, and the research and development of advanced technologies and systems for low-orbit and long-range target detection such as the moon and Mars continue to advance. With the rapid rise of commercial aerospace companies, they are deeply involved in manned deep space exploration, locking the moon, developing space between the earth and the moon, and constantly developing new systems and technologies with the long-term goal of Mars, which has promoted the exploration of commercial operation mode of manned space activities. In order to consolidate the status of manned space flight, Russia also indicated that it will further develop rockets and manned spacecraft and participate in the construction of the LOP-G space station in the United States. However, the technological gap between the United States and other countries has obviously widened and is far ahead. In-depth international cooperation and commercialization is the development trend of manned deep space exploration in the future.