How NASA’s 1960 Mars crew would split between orbit and the surface
NASA Lewis’s 1960 nuclear-thermal Mars study described a proposed mission, not one that flew. Its basic plan was to take a seven-person crew from Earth orbit to Mars using a high-thrust nuclear rocket. The spacecraft could reach Earth orbit in one piece or be assembled there from major parts[1].
At Mars, the main spacecraft would enter orbit. Two crew members would descend in a landing vehicle; the other five would remain in Mars orbit. After exploring the surface, the landing pair would take off using chemical-rocket power and rendezvous with their crewmates. The reunited crew would then head home, with a separate Earth landing vehicle returning all seven to the ground[2].
The researchers modeled a 420-day round trip with a 40-day stay at Mars. They used the 1971 launch opportunity to calculate the mission, but explicitly said this did not mean an actual trip was planned for then[3].
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