*Lifting Entry Analysis for Manned Mars Exploration Missions DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101993*

Mars atmosphere, albeit a very thin one, thus reducing the peak heat rate and g-loads.

Although the above-mentioned aspects seem very promising, several issues have to be considered. First, Mars atmosphere is very different from the Earth's one, and past and present lifting body "know-how" is only related to Earth missions. Furthermore, current vehicles prototypes have not performed a complete re-entry from space yet, not even on Earth. Additionally, because of superior aerodynamic performances, the lifting vehicle would tend to skip out because of the thinner Martian atmosphere. Therefore, to perform a conventional entry and descent maneuver, a very shallow entry angle needs to be adopted [4]. Low flight-path angles are preferred in order to achieve a lower terminal velocity to ensure a safe landing phase.
