Voyage to Mars Scenario

The year is 2076. Is exploring Mars worth the journey? While going there offers untold scientific discoveries, carrying out such a mission holds a high degree of risks for those brave enough to make the voyage. Health problems, radiation exposure and just meeting the basic human requirements for life may prove to be an enormous challenge.

Humans have already established a permanent base on Mars for several decades, and scheduled crew changes are necessary. A spacecraft team is arriving from Earth bringing a fresh crew of specially trained astronauts. They are preparing to land and replace a team living on Mars for the past two years. The Mars Control team is anxious to go home, but must first safely guide the spacecraft through several manoeuvres before landing. Together they calculate trajectories and launch probes to the Martian moons. However, a raging dust storm capable of engulfing the entire planet threatens the success of the mission. No one said going to Mars would be easy.

The Mission Teams:

• Navigation Team
• Communication Team
• Data Team
• Life Support Team
• Remote Team
• Probe Team
• Isolation Team
• Medical Team

• Getting to Mars isn't easy; it's up to the Navigation Team.
• Mathematical computations must be made to keep a spacecraft on course. The precise manoeuvres such as launching, docking, and landing are critical to the mission's success.
• On board the Mars Transport Vehicle the NAV team verifies the spacecraft's position by triangulation and determines the proper angle for thruster firing to achieve Mars orbit.
• NAV then determines the landing path for landing the spacecraft on the rocky Martian surface.
• The final task is to prepare the spacecraft for proper lift-off and return to the mothership for the voyage back to Earth.

• The Communication team's mission is to establish a verbal link between the spacecraft and Mars Control on Mars.
• NASA Communication Officers or Capcoms are astronauts trained to give instructions to astronauts in orbit and funnel information between the spacecraft and the mission controllers, engineers and scientists on the ground.
• At the Challenger Centre, the COM officers are just as vital, sending messages among seven other teams and controlling remote cameras.

• Scientific data is often the main goal of a space mission. Ensuring that the data reach Mars is the responsibility of the DATA team.
• There are a lot of decisions to be made in any space mission, so accurate information is a must.
• The DATA team uses computers to send information between the Mars Transport Vehicle and Mission Control on Mars.
• They are a vital link helping to ensure the success of the mission.

• The Life Support team makes sure that there is enough air, water and electricity to complete the mission.
• The Life Support team makes sure that the spacecraft has enough air, water and electricity to function efficiently.
• Life support has to take accurate readings, change oxygen filters and deal with the occasional crisis. Don't forget: you might not notice when you are breathing, but you certainly will notice when you are not.
• The life support team will also be taking an inventory of new experimental crops that will be used for food production on Mars.

• Martian samples need to be tested in a self-contained environment, so the Remote team works with a glove box to provide the crew and Mission Control with geological information.
• The Remote team has several experiments to conduct, including testing soil for metal content, classifying rocks and identifying their characteristics.
• One of the questions they will attempt to seek answers to: "Was there ever life on Mars?"

• Space probes need to be assembled and launched to collect data from the two Martian moons - Phobos and Deimos. It's up to the Probe team to make it so.
• Space probes are very complex and expensive to build and launch, so a highly dedicated team is needed to design, test, and deploy them.
• During the MTV's flight to Mars, the probe team is in contact with its counterpart in Mars Control, double checking every step to ensure the probe provides valuable data after launch.

• Certain chemicals are needed to conduct some experiments. Using remote-controlled robots, the Isolation Team tests chemicals too dangerous to be handled directly by people.
• To keep the danger to a minimum, a shield protects the cabin crew.
• It's up to the Isolation team to conduct research and data analysis of radioactivity, meteorites, and hazardous chemicals.

• The doctors on the Medical team have one very important task: to keep everyone healthy and working at top efficiency.
• Radiation, motion sickness and muscle atrophy are very real problems in space, and are constantly being checked.
• The MED team on the MTV checks astronaut breathing rate, skin temperature, heart rate and radiation levels.
• If the need arises, the medical team is ready to perform any operation.