SPACEPHOTOS

Though no concrete plans are underway for a manned Mars visit early in the next century, several studies have been launched to investigate possibilities for such visits following possible unmanned missions. This artist's concept depicts hardware which might be involved in the event manned visits ever occur. The artist depicts Pavonis Mons, a large shield volcano on Mars' equator overlooking the ancient water eroded canyon in which the base is located. Hardware seen here include the Mars explorer, a traverse vehicle, a habitation module, a power module, greenhouses, central base, lightweight crane and trailer, launch and landing facility, water well pumping station, a maintenance garage, tunneling device, water well drilling rig, large dish antennae, mast antenna, even a Mars airplane. here serves as a comprehensive study of various concepts and ideas developed as possibilities over a period of years.