Cooke D R, Joosten B J, Lo M W, Ford K M, Hansen R J
NASA, Johnson Space Center, USA.
Acta Astronaut. 2003 Aug-Nov;53(4-10):387-97. doi: 10.1016/s0094-5765(03)80006-1.
Through the application of advanced technologies and mission concepts, architectures for missions beyond Earth orbit have been dramatically simplified. These concepts enable a stepping stone approach to science driven; technology enabled human and robotic exploration. Numbers and masses of vehicles required are greatly reduced, yet the pursuit of a broader range of science objectives is enabled. The scope of human missions considered range from the assembly and maintenance of large aperture telescopes for emplacement at the Sun-Earth libration point L2, to human missions to asteroids, the moon and Mars. The vehicle designs are developed for proof of concept, to validate mission approaches and understand the value of new technologies. The stepping stone approach employs an incremental buildup of capabilities, which allows for future decision points on exploration objectives. It enables testing of technologies to achieve greater reliability and understanding of costs for the next steps in exploration.
通过应用先进技术和任务概念，地月轨道以外任务的架构已大幅简化。这些概念为以科学为驱动、技术助力的人类和机器人探索提供了一种循序渐进的方法。所需飞行器的数量和质量大幅减少，但仍能追求更广泛的科学目标。所考虑的人类任务范围从在日地拉格朗日点L2组装和维护大口径望远镜，到前往小行星、月球和火星的人类任务。飞行器设计旨在进行概念验证，以验证任务方法并了解新技术的价值。循序渐进的方法采用能力的逐步积累，这为未来关于探索目标的决策点提供了可能。它能够对技术进行测试，以实现更高的可靠性，并了解探索下一步的成本。
