Austere Human Missions to Mars is a concept for a human mission to Mars by the United States space agency, NASA. Released in 2009, it proposed a modified and even less costly version of Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0, itself a combination of nearly 20 years of Mars planning design work. The mission profile was for a conjunction class with a long surface stay, pre-deployed cargo, aerocapture and propulsive capture, and some in-situ resource production. As of 2015, the concept had not yet been adapted to the Space Launch System that replaced NASA's Constellation program in 2011. Key measures Technologically and financially the concept remains conservative, with both peak yearly and total funding to be less than the ISS up to the first mission. The plan would use standardized systems to launch a crew of 4 every four years, but accomplish the same major goals as DRA 5.0, which included a crew of six. Scaled down from DRA 5.0 and its requirements, it claims to be still acceptable from a science and exploration standpoint. Simplifications and cost cutting are obtained mainly by avoiding high risk or high cost technology development and maximizing development and production commonality: Using a blunt-body entry vehicle having no deployable decelerators Aerobraking rather than aerocapture for placing the crewed element into low Mars orbit Avoiding the use of liquid hydrogen with its low temperature and large volume issues Standard bipropellant propulsion for the landers and ascent vehicle Radioisotope surface power systems rather than a nuclear reactor or large area deployable solar arrays Multiple Ares V launchers used for setting up and maintaining the Mars installations Mission Equipment The mission comprises the following basic equipment: Crew exploration vehicle (CEV, Orion class), lifts the crew to earth orbit where it docks to the Transit Hab, and takes it down to earth on return Mars Transit Habitat (TransHab), takes the crew to Mars orbit and stays there until a crew returns, shielded against radiation, supports a crew of four for up to three years Mars descent/ascent vehicle (DAV and MAV), takes the crew from the orbit down to Mars surface and vice versa Contingency Consumables Module (CCM), can be jettisoned if depleted Mars surface habitat (SurfHab), where the crew lives on the planet, transferred once in advance Surface Power and Logistics Module, transferred once in advance to provide basic surface machinery Procedures A standardized liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen (LOX/LH2) propulsive