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Aaron S Weaver

Publications and source records attributed to Aaron S Weaver.

Long -Term Architecture Development For The Moon And M

Developing an enterprise-level architecture encompassing future human-robotic science and exploration at the Moon and Mars requires a visionary approach that ensures NASA is responsive to national priorities and global science and technology advancement objectives. While the initial capabilities needed to return humans to the Moon may be well understood, NASA is still formulating a long-term infrastructure at the Moon and working to narrow the trade space for the first human missions to Mars. This paper will focus on the formulation and current status of engineering and design applications for a long-term and robust lunar architecture that will implement the Artemis Base Camp concept, including pre-formulation activities and elements currently in formulation. Authors will demonstrate how the Moon-to-Mars campaign approach fosters commonality of requirements and standards across individual mission elements, as well as multi-destination systems and operations, to reduce risk and encourage healthy competition in the growing space market. Among the Artemis Base Camp elements discussed will be multiple surface mobility elements, a fixed, anchoring surface habitat, fission surface power, and an in-situ resource development pilot plant. The narrative will clearly illustrate the direct evolution of the base camp elements to a minimal Mars architecture concept, and also outline unique development efforts that will be required in the next decade to make it possible to send humans to the Red Planet as early as the 2030s.

Greg Chavers↗

Current Status of NASA's Fission Surface Power Project

Small nuclear fission systems are powerful and could enable robust space operations for planetary habitation and exploration. On Earth, unless disrupted by storms or grid problems, electrical power for most people is no further than an outlet away. However, the solar system does not provide such easy access to electricity as we know it. Astronauts could take advantage of a reliable power supply to explore both the Moon and Mars. The system will need to be lightweight and capable of running regardless of its location, the weather, or available sunlight and other natural resources. NASA’s Fission Surface Power (FSP) project expands on the efforts of the agency’s Kilopower project, which ended in 2018. Currently, NASA is working with the US Department of Energy and industry to design a fission power system that would provide at least 40 kilowatts of power – enough to continuously run 30 households for ten years. A future lunar demonstration will pave the way for sustainable operations and even base camps on the Moon and Mars. This manuscript will showcase the current state of the FSP project, technical goals and accomplishments, future plans, and how this technology paves the way for exciting future applications.

Nuclear↗