An automatic cargo ship en route to Mars - Unmanned cargo capsule departs Mars cycler...

An automatic cargo ship en route to Mars - Unmanned cargo capsule departs Mars cycler - An automatic cargo ship separates from the Mars Cycler to bring equipment to Mars. Mars Cycler is a space station placed in orbit between Mars and Earth whose trajectory would alternate between Mars and Earth. Once positioned in orbit, this gravitational assistance vessel would use very little fuel. This project would make a permanent link between the two planets. With small bursts from its reaction control thrusters, an automated cargo capsule begins its one-way journey from a Mars cycler to the surface of Mars. A Mars cycler is a permanently orbiting vehicle with a path that alternately brings it near Earth and Mars. Once a cycler has been accelerated into orbit it continues on its own momentum, going back and forth between the two planets, only requiring propellant for occasional course adjustments. A one-way trip between Earth and Mars involves six to eight months of space travel, therefore a large and well-equipped Mars cycler would offer space explorers, and possibly even space tourists, better accommodations for these long journeys. Smaller spacecraft would ferry travelers between the planets and the cycle