А review of projects for manned missions to Mars

The paper presents a historical survey of some of the projects for manned missions to Mars in USA and in our country, describes design features of interplanetary vehicles and reconstructs their configurations. It also presents the current concepts, projects, plans, prospects for study and exploration of Mars. It proposes a strategy and objectives for the first manned missions to Mars, a possible configuration and features of a reusable interplanetary expedition complex (including an interplanetary orbital vehicle, power-generation and propulsion system, landing and ascent vehicle, crew delivery and return vehicle), that is capable to support manned exploration of interplanetary space from Venus to Mars, including the Moon, moons of Mars and asteroids, taking into account current safety requirements and a relatively low cost of the interplanetary complex. It proposes an alternative design of the reusable interplanetary complex which uses liquid-propellant propulsion system and aerocapture in planetary atmospheres.