If only there were gas pumps on Mars.
That is the wishful thinking NASA is doing now as it contemplates sending humans to the Red Planet, as directed by President Bush.
NASA is considering proposals submitted last month from a handful of companies for a spacecraft propulsion system that could refuel on Mars and other planets. Some of the companies that submitted bids include Alliant Techsystems Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corp., which both employ hundreds of people in Maryland.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in yesterday's Business section erroneously reported that NASA technology aided the development of Velcro and the microwave.
The Sun regrets the errors.
The designs center on an engine fueled by a mix of liquid oxygen and liquid methane, the components of which are found naturally on Mars. The propellants, which NASA dubs "LOX/methane," are nontoxic and safer than those that power the space shuttle. And astronauts would not have to carry heavy fuel for the return trip but could fill up at an outpost in deep space.
"If we go to Mars at some point, it will be a method of living off the land," said Mark D. Klem, project manager for NASA's Propulsion and Cryogenic Advanced Development project, which seeks out technologies that could be developed for future NASA missions.
"It's far off," he said, noting that NASA does not have a timetable for a potential Mars mission. "But like anything, you have to start small."
While NASA has given some of the companies contracts valued at $7 million to $10 million each for development, the businesses are making their own investments.
Alliant Techsystems, which is better known by its ticker symbol ATK, has committed money and employees to the development of such an engine with partner XCOR Aerospace.
Last year, the company successfully test fired a 7,500-pound thrust LOX/methane engine in the Mojave Desert to demonstrate that the technology works.
John "Jack" Cronin, president of ATK's Mission Systems division, based in Canton, believes a LOX/methane engine is "in lock-step with NASA's future."
The company has been working on the technology for a decade, and it will be an important program as ATK shifts more of its focus to space, Cronin said.
ATK recently made two significant acquisitions - Swales Aerospace of Beltsville and the space and radar business of Canada's largest space company, MDA - and aspires to be one of the nation's largest space companies.
"I think [the LOX/methane engine is] critical for both us and NASA," he said.
