MARTEMIS: Mars architecture research using Taguchi experiments on the Moon with international solidarity

We present the multi-mission MARTEMIS campaign, designed to affordably, comprehensively, and definitively retire risks of future Mars mission architectures and to deliver substantial science, inspiration, and national posture benefits to NASA and its international and commercial partners. The MARTEMIS concept won Best-in-Theme for the “Long-duration Mars Simulation on the Moon” category of the 2024 NASA Revolutionary Aero-Space Concepts Aca- demic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition, and its primary innovation is the robust risk reduction afforded by thousands of crew-months on the Moon within a framework that also optimizes exploration time and the cost of the campaign. A trade study of 23 alternative campaign architectures, each with 1 to 17 missions of varying crew size, surface time, transit time, and margin parameters was conducted. The estimated lifecycle cost of each campaign architecture was traded off against novel benefit metrics aligned with NASA’s Moon to Mars (M2M) Strategy and Objectives. These included metrics for the elimination of knowledge gaps, the degree of international participation, crew time available for science, as well as proxies for commercial alignment such as total investment in lunar infrastructure. The recommended MARTEMIS campaign of 13 missions was optimized using a Design of Experiments process and Standard Taguchi Orthogonal Arrays [1] for efficient knowledge acquisition. This report also includes comprehensive descriptions of the dual-habitat architecture; Concept of Operations (CONOPS); mission control operations under nominal, contingency, and emergency conditions; a full technology roadmap; and a risk burn-down plan. A total of 154 crew over 6 years representing 26 countries participate in MARTEMIS, resulting in a predicted 77% knowledge gap closure, 296 crew months of lunar science time, and the establishment of 56 habitable modules/rovers for a lifecycle cost of $91B. An affordability sub-model supports cost-sharing between 26 Artemis Accords partners who can afford at least one astronaut on an annual “subscription price” basis, with NASA liable for about $1.6B per annum, and the remaining 112 crew representing all continents. Overall, MARTEMIS informs and accelerates the development of a safe and cost-effective lunar permanence campaign by NASA and its international and commercial partners. It promotes the required thematic objective of a safe and sustainable human presence on Mars, while also delivering immediate returns in terms of science, inspiration, national posture, and a robust foundation for a future lunar economy.