DELTA-SIERRA MARS TOOL
Cargo landings calculator
Turn a mass-to-deliver target into an explicit logistics cadence.
Essential answer
Landing count depends on campaign mass, the payload actually credited to each mission, and reserves. Lander capacity must be sourced or clearly labeled as a scenario.
Every value is editable. Scenario values are not an official NASA architecture.
Calculator
Method and limitations
The 50 t landed payload is a Delta-Sierra scenario. The cited NASA EDLAS study treats a 20 t human class and a 5–40 t parametric model; the tool therefore does not claim that a 50 t lander exists.
Primary sources and evidence status
The calculation distinguishes physical relation, demonstrated value, standard, educational assumption, and Delta-Sierra scenario.
- NASA NTRS — Human Mars EDL Architecture Study Overview
NASA study: 20 t human-class concepts and a parametric mass model spanning 5–40 t. The calculator default landing payload is a Delta-Sierra scenario, not a certified lander capacity.
Sources and further reading
Downloadable scenario data
Dataset v1.1 documents every prefilled value: unit, system boundary, time basis, evidence status, and source when one exists.
Entry, descent and landing (EDL)
- Mars entry, descent and landing: understanding the full EDL chain
- Mars atmospheric entry: heat shield, entry corridor and guidance
- Mars parachutes and supersonic retropropulsion: where architecture changes
- Terrain-relative navigation, hazards and Mars landing-site selection
- Terminal descent, engine plumes and the Mars landing zone
- Human Mars lander: the EDL problem above 20 tonnes
Survive: ECLSS, health and resilience
- Mars habitat ECLSS: complete architecture of survival loops
- Mars habitat air: oxygen, CO₂, humidity and contaminants
- Mars water: 98% recovery, storage, quality and make-up
- Fire, depressurization and refuge: surviving habitat emergencies
- Mars radiation: shielding, dose and storm shelter
- Spacesuits, EVA and dust: working outside without contaminating the base
- Food, crops and medicine: biological and medical autonomy on Mars
- Psychology, fatigue and multiple failures: human resilience of a Mars base
Operations, industry, reliability and team
- Choosing a site and deploying a Mars base
- Mars surface mobility, robotics and logistics
- Mars ISRU industry, construction and local manufacturing
- Reliability, redundancy and common causes in a Mars base
- Durability, tightness, electronics and FDIR on Mars
- Mars maintenance, spares, qualification and configuration
- Crew operations, procedures and Earth-Mars communications
- Human factors, anomalies and training for a Mars team