On the 180th day of flight,
the habitat arrives on Mars. Separating from the upper stage, the vehicle enters the
atmosphere and begins aerobraking procedure. The crew intends to land the Beagle
near the ERV using the ERV radio beacon, aerial maps, and a landing transponder as a
reference. If the Beagle were to miss the landing zone, there are three backup
plans. If they are within 1000 km of the ERV the rover can transport them. If
they are further than 1000 km from the ERV, there is a second ERV launched by Ares 2 on a
longer trajectory following the Beagle to Mars. Finally, the crew has enough
supplies to last three years.
However, the landing should be on target and the crew can begin exploring. There is an immense amount to be done just after touchdown, but they will take the moment to gaze out at Mars, to savor the fact tha no creature with eyes to see has ever gazed on this vista in the four billion year history of Mars and Earth.
With the Beagle down , the Ares 2 ERV lands 800 km away where it begins fuel making for the second human expedition, which will arrive in 2009 in Hab 2, along with another ERV which will pave the way for expedition 3. As the missions proceed, a network of exploratory bases will eventually be established, turning large areas of Mars into human territory.
The crew
of the Beagle will spend 500 days on Mars. During this time, they will explore and
learn to live on Mars. Usual missions rely on having an orbiting mothership and
small landing parties. This tends to be ineffective since the time exploring is cut
down by the dangers of leaving crewmen in orbit exposed to cosmic rays. Therefore,
the missions usually last thirty days or less, which is a great waste since it takes so
long to get to Mars. As a result, the only effective mission is a long one.
Even with such a long time on the surface, the crew will be occupied with many experiments that will pave the way for future missions. Geological investigations will allow scientists to probe into the past of Mars, how and when it was wet, find key clues to reviving Mars or saving the Earth. In addition, the crew will search for minerals and other resources. Above all, the mission will be the search for ice or water. If it is found, it will prevent the importation of hydrogen for fuel production, and pave the way for large scale greenhouses when a more permanent base is established.
Another goal of the astronauts will be to search for
evidence of life. This search will begin in the dried up riverbeds of Mars.
Current evidence suggests that Mars was warm and wet for the first billion years of its
existence, which is enough time for life to evolve, as theories suggest. If the
astronauts find any evidence of life present or past, it would mean that life exists
everywhere in the universe and we are not unique. On the other hand, if no evidence
is found, then we are a freak accident of nature, and we may be alone in this Universe. This search for life will happen not
only in the river beds, but on the poles, lake
beds, and anywhere subsurface water is found. This search for life will require the
astronauts to range over a vast area of the surface of Mars. Using the Rover powered
by methane/oxygen fuel, the astronauts could explore much of the landscape.
The enormous amount of exploring to be done will provide much data to be analyzed. Ideally, crew members will have specific expertise in which they would reseaerch, conferring their data to Earth with some lag time.