Station permanente entre Mars et la Terre - Vue d'artiste - Mars cycler and manned...

Station permanente entre Mars et la Terre - Vue d'artiste - Mars cycler and manned maneuvering units - Artist view - Le Mars Cycler arrive pres de la Terre. Des astronautes effectuent une sortie extravehiculaire. Mars Cycler est une station spatiale placee en orbite entre Mars et la Terre dont la trajectoire l'amenerait alternativement pres de Mars et pres de la Terre. Une fois positionne sur son orbite, ce vaisseau en assistance gravitationnelle n'utiliserait que tres peu de carburant. Ce projet permettrait de faire une liaison permanente entre les deux planetes. A Mars cycler swings by the Earth and onward to Mars while two astronauts in manned maneuvering units (AKA, MMUs) watch from afar. A Mars cycler is a permanently orbiting vehicle with a path that alternately brings it near Earth and Mars. Once a cycler has been accelerated into orbit it continues on its own momentum, going back and forth between the two planets, only requiring propellant for occasional course adjustments. A one-way trip between Earth and Mars involves six to eight months of space travel, therefore a large and well-equipped Mars cycler would offer space explorers, and possibly even space tourists, better accommodations for these long journeys. Smaller spacecraft would ferry travelers between the planets and the cycle