Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Public Documents
07.27.09
The documents made available here have been authorized for public use by the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.
Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Implementation Plan
The ESMD Implementation Plan communicates our approach for achieving the Agency’s ambitious exploration goals. In addition, it provides NASA employees, external partners, and stakeholders with an overall understanding of the ESMD mission, goals, objectives, and priorities across the organization.
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Advanced Capabilities Division Planning Documents for ISS Utilization
These documents provide context for the utilization and management of research on the International Space Station by the Advanced Capabilities Division.
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Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0
The human exploration of Mars would be a complex undertaking. It is an enterprise that would confirm the potential for humans to leave our home planet and make our way deep outward into the cosmos. Though just a small step on a cosmic scale, it would be a significant one for humans, because it would require leaving Earth on a long mission with very limited return capability.
The strategy and implementation concepts that are described in these documents should not be viewed as constituting a formal plan for the human exploration of Mars. Instead, these documents provide a reference for integration between multiple agency efforts including Mars robitic missions, research that is conducted on the International Space Station, as well as future lunar exploration missions and systems.
› Click here to download the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (NASA SP-2009-566) (3.7 MB PDF)
› Click here to download an executive summary of the the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (15.9 MB PDF)
› Click here to download an addendum to the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (35.5 MB PDF)
Exploration 101
NASA's 101 lesson on the future of space exploration.
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