February 2024 workshop: Moon to Mars Architecture Overview and Updates¶
Document: 01-2024-architecture-workshop-architecture-overview-and-updates.pdf, 14 slides, 3,274,114 bytes,
from https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/, fetched 2026-10-01T18:28:03Z (sources/manifest.csv).
Title slide: "Moon to Mars Architecture Overview and Updates" (slide 1, image); no presenter or date is printed.
Every slide's footer reads "2024 Moon to Mars Architecture Workshops". It is the first of the 15 decks NASA's
Architecture Workshops page lists under "February 2024".
Text: sources/text/docs/2024-02-01-2024-architecture-workshop-architecture-overview-and-updates.txt; images
in sources/raw/slides/2024-02-01-2024-architecture-workshop-architecture-overview-and-updates/.
Rank and method. A briefing, not the architecture of record (SCHEMA, "Workshop slides"). It is older than ADD Rev C, and older than Rev B: it came a few weeks after Revision A (released 01/22/2024; ADD Rev C, p. 3) and reports the 2023 review (ACR23). So it is context, like the 2023 executive overview, which it repeats in part; its content goes in "In the February 2024 workshop briefing" lines, not under "Changes since Rev C". All 14 slides were read in the text layer. The images of slides 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 were viewed (1 and 8 are text-poor; the others carry charts or keys). The text has no "Moon Base", "CUI" or "Pre-Decisional" (searched); the deck predates the Moon Base.
Summary. The opening briefing of the February 2024 workshops: why go, the objectives, "architecting from the right", the components, then what ACR23 produced. Three things in it are in no other source the wiki holds: Rev A's lunar decomposition changes in numbers (slide 9), a seventh hexagon on the "New Elements" slide, the airlock again as the UAE's "Crew and Science Airlock Module", with an Implementing Arrangement signed "shortly after ACR23" and the collaboration promised for Rev B (slide 10; open question 90), and "nearly 90" Mars decisions behind the first seven priority decisions (slide 12). It also marks which 2023 white paper was added after the review (slide 11) and lists the 2024 cycle's planned work (slide 14).
Slides¶
| Slide | Title (as printed) | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Moon to Mars Architecture Overview and Updates" | Title over three astronaut silhouettes (image) |
| 2 | "Why Go?" | Three sentences, one per pillar ("Investigations in deep space, on the Moon, and on Mars will enhance our understanding of the universe and our place in it"; "Accepting audacious challenges motivates current and future generations …"; "What is done, how it's accomplished, and who participates affect our world, quality of life, and humanity's future") (Why Moon to Mars) |
| 3 | "Moon to Mars Objectives" | The 2022 objectives cover; "an objectives-based approach focuses on the big picture, the 'what' and 'why,' before prescribing the 'how'"; the five principles (Objectives) |
| 4 | "Architecting from the Right" | "The Architecture process requires a decomposition of Moon to Mars Objectives to element functions and mission use cases to complete the process of 'architecting from the right.' This establishes the relationship of executing programs and projects to the driving goals and objectives." (Objective decomposition) |
| 5 | "Architecture Components" | Segment, sub-architecture and element defined in the overviews' words (Architecture framework) |
| 6 | "Architecture Segments" | The four segments and Future Segments, one line each (Segments) |
| 7 | "Sub-architectures" | All twelve with one line each, four marked "NEW for 2023" (Sub-architectures) |
| 8 | "ACR23 Updates" | "ACR23 Products": "Architecture Definition Document - Revision A", "Moon to Mars Architecture Executive Overview", "13 White Papers", with three covers and a photo of the review table (image) |
| 9 | "Decomposition Updates" | Rev A's decomposition in numbers |
| 10 | "New Elements" | Seven hexagons |
| 11 | "White Papers" | The 13 papers |
| 12 | "Mars Priority Decisions" | Seven decisions out of nearly 90 |
| 13 | "Architecture Concept Review Process" | The process figure |
| 14 | "Forward Work" | What the 2024 cycle would do |
Rev A's decomposition in numbers (slide 9)¶
Text beside the charts: "ADD Rev-A includes refined and expanded Moon to Mars objective decomposition, sub-architectures, and elements"; "Added, refined, removed, or modified characteristics and needs, use cases, and functions for lunar objectives"; "179 characteristics and needs added for Mars objectives".
Three pie charts headed "Lunar Objective Decomposition", read from the image (the text layer drops the numbers):
| Unchanged | Modified | Added | Removed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics & Needs | 57 | 174 | — | — |
| Use Cases | 18 | 64 | 85 | 22 |
| Functions | 20 | 111 | 120 | 27 |
The slide gives no totals and doesn't say what the changes were measured against; the wiki reads it as Rev A against the first ADD (2022). Adding up the slices (the wiki's arithmetic, not printed): Rev A's lunar decomposition had 231 characteristics and needs, 167 use cases and 251 functions; the earlier list had 104 use cases and 158 functions (unchanged + modified + removed). For comparison, NASA's 2024 lunar tables (Rev B era) hold 133 characteristics and needs, 162 use cases and 206 functions (2024 lunar tables), and Rev C 163 lunar use cases and 208 lunar functions (Lunar use cases, Lunar functions). The drop from 231 to 133 characteristics and needs fits the February 2025 briefing's note that Rev B "Implemented new numbering schema" and rewrote them (Architecture Updates 2025, slide 11), but no source counts what was merged or dropped; the comparison is the wiki's.
The new elements (slide 10)¶
Seven hexagons with renderings, three with partner dots keyed "Canadian Space Agency", "European Space Agency" and "United Arab Emirates" (read from the image):
| Hexagon, as printed | Partner dot |
|---|---|
| Pressurized Rover (PR) | none |
| Human-class Delivery Lander (HDL) | none |
| Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) | none |
| Gateway Airlock Module | none |
| Gateway ESPIRIT Refueling Module (ERM) | European Space Agency |
| Gateway Extra-Vehicular Robotic System (GERS) | Canadian Space Agency |
| Crew and Science Airlock Module | United Arab Emirates (hexagon dashed) |
A dashed box beside the last: "The United Arab Emirates Implementing Arrangement was signed shortly after ACR23. The collaboration will be included in ADD Rev-B during ACR24."
The first six are the 2023 overview's six cards, with the same spelling "ESPIRIT" (Elements). The seventh hexagon reuses the airlock rendering. The slide doesn't say whether the UAE's module is the same as the "Gateway Airlock Module"; by the 2024 overview, Gateway's airlock is the "Crew and Science Airlock" with the MBRSC badge, and Rev C's one-pager says it is "provided by the United Arab Emirates Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre" (p. 54). Reading the two hexagons as one module is the wiki's; see Gateway. The slide is the only source with the order of events: arrangement signed after the review, element to show the partner in the next revision. That is the sequence the 2024 partnerships paper describes ("Only once that international agreement is completed will NASA document elements as partner-provided in the next revision of the ADD"; RT-1); the pairing is the wiki's.
The 2023 white papers (slide 11)¶
Thirteen titles in two columns, with a Moon, Mars, split Moon–Mars or space-station icon each, and a key: blue "Suggestion from 2023 Architecture Workshops" and green "White paper added after ACR23 Concurrence" (read from the image).
| Title, as printed | Icon | Marked |
|---|---|---|
| Surface EVA Architectural Drivers | Moon–Mars | |
| Lunar Logistics Drivers and Needs | Moon–Mars | |
| Lunar Communications and Navigation Architecture | Moon | |
| Lunar Site Selection | Moon | |
| Analytical Capabilities In-situ vs. Returned | Moon | workshop suggestion |
| Safe and Precise Landing at Lunar Sites | Moon | workshop suggestion |
| Mars Communication Disruption and Delay | Mars | |
| Mars Mission Abort Considerations | Mars | |
| Mars Surface Power Generation | Mars | |
| Mars Priority Decisions | Mars | added after ACR23 concurrence |
| Round Trip Mars Mission Mass Challenges | Mars | workshop suggestion |
| Human Health and Performance for Mars Missions | Mars | workshop suggestion |
| Exploration Lessons Learned from the Space Station | station | workshop suggestion |
The five workshop suggestions are the five the 2023 overview marks with its note-pad icon
(source page).
Three titles differ from the overview's cards (the wiki's comparison): "Surface EVA" for "Surface Extravehicular
Activity", "Mars Communication" for "Mars Communications", and "Mars Priority Decisions" for "Key Mars
Architecture Decisions", the paper the 2025 "Architecture Definition" paper supersedes
(source page). Only this slide says that paper was added after
the review's concurrence. One of the 13 is among the wiki's sources: the file 2024-02-15, listed with the
February 2024 briefings, is the "Lunar Site Selection" paper itself, not a deck
(its page; open question 92). Nine more
are briefed in the seven decks 2024-02-08 to 2024-02-14: one deck, "Mars Challenges", covers three (abort,
round-trip mass, communications disruption;
its page), and decks 11 to 14 one each by
their titles. The three neither held nor briefed by title are "Lunar Communications and Navigation Architecture",
"Safe and Precise Landing at Lunar Sites" and "Mars Surface Power Generation" (the wiki's count).
Mars priority decisions (slide 12)¶
"NASA catalogued nearly 90 needed decisions for an initial crewed Mars mission and developed a decision roadmap. That process resulted in seven interrelated decisions needed to begin planning. In 2024, NASA has begun analyses needed to allow for informed decision-making by agency leadership."
Seven hexagons, colored by a five-color key ("WHY we will go", "WHEN we will go", "WHAT we will do there", "WHO will be involved", "HOW we will get there and back"), read from the image: "Initial Human Mars Segment Cadence" (When), "Initial Human Mars Segment Target State" (What), "Number of Crew to Mars Vicinity" (Who), "Mars Science Priorities" (Why), "Mars Surface Power Generation Tech" (How), "Number of Crew to Mars Surface" (Who), "Mars Loss of Crew Risk Posture" (How).
These are the seven hexagons on the "ACR23" side of the 2024 overview's chart, with the same colors (Key definition tasks; the wiki's comparison). Two differences: this key has no "Where" (the 2024 key has six, Where among them), and it carries no credit line. "Nearly 90" here; the briefing of the Mars decisions paper at the same workshop says "nearly 100 key architecture decisions" (Mars decisions briefing, slide 4), and so does the 2025 "Architecture Definition" paper ("nearly 100 candidate definition tasks"; Architecture definition process). Both figures appear at one workshop and neither deck says how they relate (the other calls its figure "Preliminary analysis"), so the wiki can't read 2024 to 2025 as a change in either direction (the wiki's comparison). The slide says "decisions", the paper "definition tasks"; Rev C renamed the one to the other (ADD Rev C, p. 4).
The process figure (slide 13)¶
"Architecture Concept Review Process"; "An Evolutionary Architecture Process"; "Formulating an Architecture and Exploration Strategy Based on Objectives". Read from the image: a chain of arrows from a Moon–Mars globe labeled "MOON TO MARS OBJECTIVES", through "PRODUCT REVIEW", "ARCHITECTURE DEFINITION DOCUMENT", "REVISED ARCHITECTURE" (with an ADD cover), "ARCHITECTURE CONCEPT REVIEW", "ARCHITECTURE CONFIRMATION" (with white-paper covers), "PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT REVIEW", "ARCHITECTURE DEFINITION DOCUMENT EXPANSION", "REFINED/EXPANDED ARCHITECTURE", to a second "ARCHITECTURE CONCEPT REVIEW"; an arrow "ANNUAL CYCLE TO MATURE ARCHITECTURE" loops from the second review back to "Architecture Confirmation". Three boxes below: "TRACEABILITY: Decomposition of Blueprint Objectives to executing Architecture elements"; "ARCHITECTURE FRAMEWORK: Organizational construct to ensure system/element relationships are understood and gaps can be identified"; "PROCESS AND PRODUCTS: Clear communication and review integration paths for stakeholders".
The three boxes recur word for word in February 2025 ("PROCESS & PRODUCTS"), above a redrawn chain of "ARCHITECTURE STUDIES", "ELEMENT DEFINITION" and "ARCHITECTURE REFINEMENT" stages (Architecture Updates 2025, slide 6; the wiki's comparison). It is not the 2023 overview's Figure 4, a four-step loop with months (Architecture definition process).
Forward work (slide 14)¶
"The 2024 Strategic Analysis Cycle (SAC24) will focus on:
- Addressing Human Lunar Return and Foundational Exploration segment gaps, including lunar logistics, large cargo return, conceptual reference missions, and cargo offloading/relocation.
- Performing strategic analysis for segment sub-architectures, including surface communication, large-scale mobility, power systems, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and ingress/egress strategies.
- Developing decision packages for initial seven Mars exploration decisions and continuing progress on other Mars trade studies."
This is the 2023 overview's "Forward Work" (PDF p. 11) in other words, with three items whose words the overview's text doesn't have (searched): "conceptual reference missions", "large-scale" mobility, and "ingress/egress strategies" (the wiki's comparison).
What changed by Rev C¶
These comparisons are the wiki's.
- The decomposition shrank and was renumbered. 231 lunar characteristics and needs by the slices of slide 9; 133 in the 2024 tables; Rev C prints none (Lunar characteristics and needs). Use cases 167 then, 163 now; functions 251 then, 208 now, with IDs that now carry a sub-architecture letter (Use cases and functions).
- The UAE airlock is in. Rev C's Gateway one-pager names the MBRSC as the airlock's provider (p. 54), as the slide promised for Rev B.
- The seven decisions are MD-01 to MD-07, by title (the wiki's match; Key definition tasks). By Rev C, MD-02, MD-04, MD-05 and MD-07 are closed.
- The 2023 elements are Foundational Exploration elements in Rev C, and Gateway's three components carry new names (Lunar View; Gateway External Robotic System; Crew and Science Airlock) (pp. 26, 53–54).
- "Mars Priority Decisions" is not on NASA's white papers page; the 2025 "Architecture Definition" paper supersedes it under its other title (White Papers page).
Oddities¶
As printed, images checked:
- "ESPIRIT" for ESPRIT (slide 10), as in the 2023 overview.
- "Extra-Vehicular Robotic System" (slide 10); the 2023 overview has "Extravehicular".
- "Communications, Navigation, Positioning, and Timing Systems" (slide 7), the 2023 name.
- The process figure's "Blueprint" is not expanded (slide 13), as in February 2025 and January 2026.
Related pages¶
2023 executive overview · Architecture Updates deck, February 2025 · Program Office updates, February 2024 · Mission Directorate Panel, February 2024 · Element initiation breakout, February 2024 · Elements · Gateway · Key definition tasks · Architecture definition process · ADD Rev C