Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> Mars lander departs cycler - Artist view

Mars lander departs cycler - Artist view

author: Walter B. Myers/Novapix

reference: e-exm01-00012

Image Size 300 DPI: 34 * 27 cm

A manned Mars lander/return vehicle, upper left, disembarks from a Mars cycler for the surface of Mars. 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 cycler

Keywords for this photo:

ILLUSTRATION - MANNED SPACEFLIGHT - MARS - MARS CYCLER - PLANET - SCIENCE FICTION - SPACE - SPACE STATION - SPACE TOURISM - SPACESHIP -