Lesson plan
Mars Excursion Module
The Mars Excursion Module (MEM) was a spacecraft proposed by NASA in the 1960s for use in a human mission to Mars, and this can refer to any number of studies by corporations and spaceflight centers for Mars landers. However, primarily a MEM referred to a combination of a Manned Mars lander, short-stay surface habitat, and Mars ascent stage. Variations on a MEM included spacecraft designs like an uncrewed Mars surface cargo delivery, and there was a MEM lander that combined a communications center, living habitat, and laboratory. A MEM formed part of Mars orbit rendezvous (MOR) and flyby-rendezvous mission profiles studied at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in the 1960s. A Mars Excursion Module would have been a combination of a Mars lander, short-stay surface habitat, and ascent vehicle; the ascent stage performed the rendezvous. One design for a MEM would have been used for a 40-day stay on the Martian surface in the flyby-rendezvous mission profile or for a 10- to 40-day stay in the MOR profiles. There was also a descent-only uncrewed MEM for delivering cargo, like a rover to the surface of Mars. Another MEM cargo lander variant would deliver a nuclear reactor to support the surface operations, and there was another with a communications, living quarters and lab in one landing-only MEM unit.
Article summary
The Mars Excursion Module (MEM) was a spacecraft proposed by NASA in the 1960s for use in a human mission to Mars, and this can refer to any number of studies by corporations and spaceflight centers for Mars landers. However, primarily a MEM referred to a combination of a Manned Mars lander, short-stay surface habitat, and Mars ascent stage. Variations on a MEM included spacecraft designs like an uncrewed Mars surface cargo delivery, and there was a MEM lander that combined a communications center, living habitat, and laboratory. A MEM formed part of Mars orbit rendezvous (MOR) and flyby-rendezvous mission profiles studied at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in the 1960s. A Mars Excursion Module would have been a combination of a Mars lander, short-stay surface habitat, and ascent vehicle; the ascent stage performed the rendezvous. One design for a MEM would have been used for a 40-day stay on the Martian surface in the flyby-rendezvous mission profile or for a 10- to 40-day stay in the MOR profiles. There was also a descent-only uncrewed MEM for delivering cargo, like a rover to the surface of Mars. Another MEM cargo lander variant would deliver a nuclear reactor to support the surface operations, and there was another with a communications, living quarters and lab in one landing-only MEM unit.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.