ARGOSY: ARchitecture for Going to the Outer solar SYstem

Abstract

ll solar system objects are, in principle, targets for human in situ exploration. ARGOSY (ARchitecture for Going to the Outer solar SYstem) addresses anew the problem of human exploration to the outer planets. The ARGOSY architecture approach is scalable in size and power so that increasingly distant destinations—the systems of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—can be reached with the same crew size and time requirements. To enable such missions, achievable technologies with appropriate margins must be used to construct a viable technical approach at the systems level. ARGOSY thus takes the step past Mars in addressing the most difficult part of the Vision for Space Exploration: To extend human presence across the solar system.