"Lockheed Martin's Mars Base Camp: A Promising Investment for the Future"
Lockheed Martin is advocating for its Mars Base Camp (MBC) concept, which involves building a Mars-orbiting station as a base for crewed expeditions and excursions to the Martian moons. The MBC program is expected to take about a decade to reach fruition and would allow for telerobotic exploration of the Martian surface and sample return. The company supports long-duration conjunction class missions, which provide more science and exploration time. The propulsion system of choice is nuclear thermal propulsion, which enables shorter trajectories for human missions. Lockheed Martin's MBC is not contingent on the success of NASA's Artemis program and aims to reduce risk and demonstrate capabilities. The challenge lies in garnering political support due to the cost and long timelines associated with Mars missions.