Mars hopper versus Mars rover

The paper explores the feasibility of using ballistic hopper vehicles with CO2/metal rocket engines instead of rovers in Mars missions. The hopper mission scenario involves several ballistic flights and hence visiting several sites on Mars surface. The Martian CO2 is acquired before every takeoff; the liquid CO2 is used directly as oxidiser for powdered magnesium fuel transported from Earth. The mission analysis takes into account the power and time required for CO2 acquisition. The mathematical simulation shows possibilities to fulfil the exploration programme typically assigned for a rover. It is also shown that the CO2/metal propulsion promises much longer hops as compared with engines using conventional bipropellant transported from Earth.