The Vision

Imagine attending a large technology or aviation event. In one pavilion is a life-size mock-up of the Mars Sample Return vehicle, transparent, with blue foam blocks representing the ten components to be designed and built in the upcoming competition.

Brochures explain the competition with details on each challenge and a link to a web site with the requirements specifications. A summer of such exhibits ends with the team registration deadline.  A science documentary or television series crew follows the development of a new core MSR prototype vehicle with power, computer control, and other slots for the competition entries.  Meanwhile, worldwide, teams consisting of small aerospace companies, universities, garage mechanics, hobbyists, and experimental aircraft builders quietly document their progress in building functional solar array deployment systems, earth entry capsules, robotic software, and other components.

The following Spring, competitors and components arrive at a hangar containing the core prototype vehicle and a television crew.  Each entry is extensively tested and a winner is chosen based on performance, mass, power, reliability, and other criteria.  With fanfare, each team is awarded a trophy and the entry is placed in the core prototype.  That Summer, the MSR prototype with the winning components repeats and expands the exhibit tour from the previous year, this time with working components being demonstrated and supported by a TV series. Interest in Mars exploration is promoted, along with the engineering skills of the communities who worked on the project.  Next to the working MSR prototype is another clear plastic exhibit – perhaps a suit, rover, or crew module.  The winners may also be on hand to explain their systems and sign autographs, inspiring the competitors for next year.

Years later, the competitors reunite at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Milestones of Flight Hall.  They are there along with NASA and aerospace contractor engineers for the dedication of the exhibit of the first Mars Sample Return capsule.  Next to that capsule is a mars rock that can be touched by the public, and the prototype that paved the way for its return.

Background

If you can’t bring a kilogram back from Mars, you can’t bring back a crew.

After the Mars Science Lab launches in 2011, the next flagship Mars mission should be a Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. However, plans for such a mission have floundered for many years.  Currently, the ever-shifting timeline has been delayed to the year 2020 and a price tag exceeding $3 billion.  As with many post-Apollo NASA programs, anything with a budget and challenge over $2 billion turns into a money and time pit that will block our progress in sending crews to Mars.

MarsDrive hosted a competition in 2008 to create an MSR design that would cost under $2 billion.  Of the five entries, Project Rigel was selected as the winning entry by NASA’s Chris McKay and executive director of The Planetary Society Louis Friedman.  When Kent Nebergall designed this vehicle, one of his design criteria was to relentlessly simplify elements to the point that they could be prototyped by hobbyists.  While he did this for cost reasons, it inspired him to submit the original version of Mars Workbench (then called the MSR Prototype Challenge) to the Mars Society in a competition to build their next major project.  It came in second in voting, but gained sufficient support that he continued to move forward with a newly-recruited international team of engineers.

The Mars Workbench

Sixty-six years separate Kitty Hawk from Apollo 11.  Thirty-three years separate Burt Rutan’s first aircraft from the exhibit of his SpaceShipOne vehicle in the Milestones of Flight hall with the Wright Flyer and Apollo 11.  There is no reason we can’t put a Mars rock in that same hall in eleven years.

While some aspects of a ground prototype are expensive (engine design) or impractical to model (ascent thrust to achieve orbit on Mars won't allow the same vehicle to even hover on Earth), many aspects are simply mechanical, computational, or otherwise affordable to model with high fidelity. These include deploying a large solar array in rough terrain, cleaning dust from that array, surface and atmospheric sampling, coordination between a lander and rover, having a rover to return to base without GPS navigational aids, and so on.

Mars Workbench puts the skills of talented people outside NASA in direct, project-driven cooperation with NASA. This effort could bridge the gap between NASA and the “hobbyist” community the same way that the Experimental Aircraft Association bridges everything from the hangar mechanic to the aerospace giant in a massive idea and prototype “workshop” with dramatic benefits to all levels. Recent NASA competitions, such as the moon glove prototype winner developed at a hobbyist's kitchen table, show that working for NASA and working in one's garage aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

Mars Workbench deeply reinforces an ongoing relationship between the aerospace activist community and NASA in shared efforts to advance Mars exploration and engineering education. Furthermore, it promotes Mars exploration to the public, media, industry, and government in a very visible way with a focus on technologies needed for a human mission. Such an association has strong potential synergy for political lobbying efforts, education, and recruitment into aviation and space organizations.

Goals and Timeline

The goals and timeline listed here are the current vision for where we are aiming.  Mars Workbench could be scaled up or scaled back depending on funding and interest.

Summer 2009

• Promote the concept of Mars Workbench at the International Space Development Conference, Mars Society Conference, and via the Internet.
• Present the concept to possible corporate and non-profit sponsors, including Discovery Communications and the Experimental Aircraft Association.
• Recruit additional volunteer talent to the team.

Fall/Winter 2009

• Further refine the MSR design.
• Refine the component benchmark selections for the competition entries.
• Design the MSR Prototype test-bed.
• Seek and work with sponsors to officially launch the effort.

Spring 2010

• If sponsorship is found, build the touring exhibit and reserve space at various technology shows, airshows, museums, and other related venues.
• Refine the design for the MSR Prototype Testbed and begin construction.
• Begin documenting the promotional tour on video.
• Refine and expand the education/promotion web site.

Summer 2010

• Tour the promotional exhibit and give talks on the competition and the specific modules within the competition.
• Gather entries for the competition.
• Continue building the testbed.
• Document these activities on video for later use with the series launch.

Fall and Winter 2010

• Teams build entries and work on the testbed is completed.
• Testing equipment, judges, and other elements are secured.
• The second promotional tour of the prototype is arranged.

Spring 2011

• Competition launched and filmed for documentary or television series.
• Winners selected and integration tests of prototype with multiple systems are completed.
• Engineering data is gathered and submitted to NASA. It is also included in a series of AIAA papers and the educational web site for the project.
• Exhibits are built for the second tour, including one promoting the next competition.

Summer 2011

• Television documentary or series airs shortly before the tour.
• Prototype is placed on promotional tour at the original venues plus others as appropriate.
• The next series is promoted.

Fall 2011

• The prototype is put on exhibit with NASA, an aerospace museum, the sponsoring organization, or any of the above in rotation as appropriate.

The cycle continues as long as there is sufficient interest in the project.

For More Information

To join this effort or simply to get more information, please contact Kent Nebergall (knebergall AT gmail DOT com).

Donations to this project can be made through PayPal using the link below.