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NASA NTRS2021

Instrumentation for Exploring Mars with High Science Return Small Payload Missions

The Mars Exploration Directorate at the JPL is sponsoring a study to examine technical feasibility of developing small spacecraft missions (SSc) capable of low-cost compelling science. Low cost small spacecraft missions can enable unique mission concepts with higher than normal mission risk. This increase in risk can create opportunities for low-cost, compelling science missions in regions that may be otherwise unexplored, provide opportunities for constellations, networks scouts, and fundamentally new measurements. Potential science instruments for MEPAG high-priority investigations suited to small spacecraft mass, volume, power, and cost constraints include compact versions of a camera (MSL EECam), Meteorology (MEDA-ATS or FMI wind, barometry, T, and P), Seismometer (INSIGHT SEIS), Atmosphere and trace Gases (MSL Tunable Laser Spectrometer), Dust (ExoMars MicroMED) analyzers, and fluxgate magnetometers (INSIGHT Mag). Two examples of low cost mission concepts are LOKI (Localizing Organic Key Ingredients), an areostationary SmallSat orbital constellation designed to measure trace gases, and TH2OR, a time-domain EM sound capable of water detection to a depth of many kilometers which would be landed via a small high impact energy device (SHIELD).

Anderson, R.↗

NASA NTRS2024

NASA's Human Research Program: Evolving Collaborations to Enable the Future of Human Spaceflight

Since its formation in 2007, the NASA Human Research Program’s (HRP) mission has been to reduce human health and performance risks for spaceflight exploration missions. The program has achieved this mission primarily through work in ground analogs and on the International Space Station. Over the last three years, NASA overall has seen transformative changes with the flight of Artemis I, formation of the Commercial LEO Destinations Program, commercial flights to the ISS, and new International Partners participating in human spaceflight. NASA’s HRP has embraced these new opportunities and is collaborating on all these fronts to collect biomedical research data. Artemis I marked the arrival of NASA’s new human spaceflight exploration missions. NASA has developed a Moon-to-Mars Architecture to map out how it will use the moon to de-risk and enable Mars missions. NASA’s HRP is a critical component to develop and deliver research and technologies for future Artemis Crew Health and Performance (CHP) Systems. The program is working closely with NASA’s Moon-to-Mars Office to ensure CHP deliverables are ready to demonstrate on the moon, as we also look toward Mars, and is developing the partnership strategies required to support these deliverables. Commercial space flights, both free flyer and suborbital missions and private astronaut missions to the ISS, are providing broader opportunities and subjects to characterize the space-induced changes to the human system and to test countermeasures. To better use these opportunities to achieve its mission, HRP has been working to understand the commercial spaceflight companies’ needs and then partner with them on aspects of mutual interest. In addition, NASA HRP continues to engage in long-standing relationships with its international partners through the International Space Life Sciences Working Group (ISLSWG) and other joint international groups. The Program is now also interested in sharing its knowledge and ability to collaborate on projects of mutual interest with new countries developing capabilities for human spaceflight. The next 10 years will shape how humanity partners on exploration missions to Mars. NASA’s HRP is committed to enabling and developing collaborative strategies with commercial and international partners to keep humans safe and productive as we explore longer and further into space.

Jancy McPhee↗

NASA NTRS2016

MoonRIDERS: NASA and Hawaiis Innovative Lunar Surface Flight Experiment for Landing in Late 2017

Recently, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Hawaii's state aerospace agency PISCES, and two Hawaii high schools Iolani and Kealakehe have come together in a unique collaboration called MoonRIDERS. This strategic partnership will allow Hawaii students to participate directly in sending a science experiment to the surface of the moon. The MoonRIDERS project started in the spring of 2014, with each institution responsible for its own project costs and activities. PISCES, given its legislative direction in advancing planetary surface systems, saw this collaboration as an important opportunity to inspire a young generation and encourage STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning. Under the guidance of PISCES and NASA, the students will be involved hands-on from start to finish in the engineering, testing, and validation of a space technology called the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS). Dust is a critical issue for space exploration, as evidenced by the Apollo lunar missions and Mars rovers and landers. Dust creates a number of problems for humans and hardware, including inhalation, mechanical interference, wear and tear on spacesuits, inhibition of heat transfer on radiators, and reduced efficiency of solar panels. To address this, the EDS is designed to work on a variety of materials, and functions by generatingelectrodynamic fields to clear away the dust. The Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), a space competition "designed to inspire pioneers to do robotic space transport on a budget," serves as a likely method for the MoonRIDERS to get their project to the moon. The EDS would potentially be flown as a hosted payload on a competitor's lander (still to be chosen). This briefing will provide an overview of the technology, the unique partnership, progress update and testing leading to this flight opportunity.

Payload experiment↗

NASA NTRS2014

Concepts of Operations for Asteroid Rendezvous Missions Focused on Resources Utilization

Several asteroids are the targets of international robotic space missions currently manifested or in the planning stage. This global interest reflects a need to study these celestial bodies for the scientific information they provide about our solar system, and to better understand how to mitigate the collision threats some of them pose to Earth. Another important objective of these missions is providing assessments of the potential resources that asteroids could provide to future space architectures. In this paper, we examine a series of possible mission operations focused on advancing both our knowledge of the types of asteroids suited for different forms of resource extraction, and the capabilities required to extract those resources for mission enhancing and enabling uses such as radiation protection, propulsion, life support, shelter and manufacturing. An evolutionary development and demonstration approach is recommended within the framework of a larger campaign that prepares for the first landings of humans on Mars. As is the case for terrestrial mining, the development and demonstration approach progresses from resource prospecting (understanding the resource, and mapping the 'ore body'), mining/extraction feasibility and product assessment, pilot operations, to full in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Opportunities to gather specific knowledge for ISRU via resource prospecting during science missions to asteroids are also examined to maximize the pace of development of needed ISRU capabilities and technologies for deep space missions.

radiation protection↗

NASA NTRS2009

Austere Human Missions to Mars

The Design Reference Architecture 5 (DRA 5) is the most recent concept developed by NASA to send humans to Mars in the 2030 time frame using Constellation Program elements. DRA 5 is optimized to meet a specific set of requirements that would provide for a robust exploration program to deliver a new six-person crew at each biennial Mars opportunity and provide for power and infrastructure to maintain a highly capable continuing human presence on Mars. This paper examines an alternate architecture that is scaled back from DRA 5 and might offer lower development cost, lower flight cost, and lower development risk. It is recognized that a mission set using this approach would not meet all the current Constellation Mars mission requirements; however, this 'austere' architecture may represent a minimum mission set that would be acceptable from a science and exploration standpoint. The austere approach is driven by a philosophy of minimizing high risk or high cost technology development and maximizing development and production commonality in order to achieve a program that could be sustained in a flat-funded budget environment. Key features that would enable a lower technology implementation are as follows: using a blunt-body entry vehicle having no deployable decelerators, utilizing aerobraking rather than aerocapture for placing the crewed element into low Mars orbit, avoiding the use of liquid hydrogen with its low temperature and large volume issues, using standard bipropellant propulsion for the landers and ascent vehicle, and using radioisotope surface power systems rather than a nuclear reactor or large area deployable solar arrays. Flat funding within the expected NASA budget for a sustained program could be facilitated by alternating cargo and crew launches for the biennial Mars opportunities. This would result in two assembled vehicles leaving Earth orbit for Mars per Mars opportunity. The first opportunity would send two cargo landers to the Mars surface to preposition a habitat, supplies, and exploration equipment. The next opportunity, two years later, would send to Mars orbit 1) a lander with a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and 2) a crewed Mars Transit Habitat with an Orion CEV for Earth return. The following opportunity, two years after the first crew, would go back to cargo-only launches. This alternation of cargo and crew opportunities results in a sustainable launch rate of six Ares V launches every two years. It is notable that four of the six launches per Mars opportunity are identical, build-to-print, Tran-Mars Injection stages. This type of production rate could lend itself well to a COTStype service provider, and would make it feasible to have a live spare in place in the event of a single launch failure.

landers↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

COCPIT: Collaborative Activity Planning Software for Mars Perseverance Rover

Since landing on the Martian surface, the Perseverance rover has relied on a distributed team to generate commands for exploring its new environment each sol(Martian day). The team uses a complex suite of software tools to accomplish this challenging task in time for the next window of opportunity to send commands to the rover. A key piece of this software ecosystem is COCPIT (Component-based Campaign Planning, Implementation, and Tactical). COCPIT is part of the next generation of planning and scheduling software tools developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in partnership with NASA's Ames Research Center. COCPIT is a web-based application that allows users to collaboratively view and update the Perseverance rover's activity plans, continuously verify that the plan satisfies constraints, assign targets for directing scientific instruments, document science intent, and model power and data resources. Mars Surface Operations requires diverse expertise from team members within the Engineering, Science, Robotic, and Instrument Operations groups, distributed across North America and Europe. In order to improve efficiency and reduce risk, all teams are able to review and edit their activities simultaneously and see the effects on the plan in its entirety. As part of the Ground Data System (GDS) tool suite, COCPIT is responsible for the activity plan. It provides specialized views that allow operators to understand where there may be room for additional observations, see whether any planning constraints are being violated, and confirm that energy usage and data generation are within the defined limits. It contains details such as which filters a camera will use for a given observation, what the resolution of the images should be, where to store the data onboard, and how long the observation is expected to take. It predicts when specific data will be downlinked from the rover to a passing orbiter, so that the team knows when to expect that data on Earth for evaluation in future planning. Ultimately the information from the COCPIT plan is translated to sequences that will be bundled and radiated to Perseverance for execution. The COCPIT tool is used throughout all planning phases.

activity planning↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

COCPIT: Collaborative Activity Planning Software for Mars Perseverance Rover

activity planning↗

NASA NTRS2022

COCPIT: Collaborative Activity Planning Software for Mars Perseverance Rover

Since landing on the Martian surface, the Perseverance rover has relied on a distributed team to generate commands for exploring its new environment each sol (Martian day). The team uses a complex suite of software tools to accomplish this challenging task in time for the next window of opportunity to send commands to the rover. A key piece of this software ecosystem is COCPIT (Component-based Campaign Planning, Implementation, and Tactical). COCPIT is part of the next generation of planning and scheduling software tools developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in partnership with NASA's Ames Research Center. COCPIT is a web-based application that allows users to collaboratively view and update the Perseverance rover's activity plans, continuously verify that the plan satisfies constraints, assign targets for directing scientific instruments, document science intent, and model power and data resources. Mars Surface Operations requires diverse expertise from team members within the Engineering, Science, Robotic, and Instrument Operations groups, distributed across North America and Europe. In order to improve efficiency and reduce risk, all teams are able to review and edit their activities simultaneously and see the effects on the plan in its entirety. As part of the Ground Data System (GDS) tool suite, COCPIT is responsible for the activity plan. It provides specialized views that allow operators to understand where there may be room for additional observations, see whether any planning constraints are being violated, and confirm that energy usage and data generation are within the defined limits. It contains details such as which filters a camera will use for a given observation, what the resolution of the images should be, where to store the data onboard, and how long the observation is expected to take. It predicts when specific data will be downlinked from the rover to a passing orbiter, so that the team knows when to expect that data on Earth for evaluation in future planning. Ultimately the information from the COCPIT plan is translated to sequences that will be bundled and radiated to Perseverance for execution. The COCPIT tool is used throughout all planning phases.

Kanefsky, Bob↗

NASA NTRS2005

Abundance and Speciation of Water and Sulfate at Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum

A major science goal of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission is to search for evidence of water activity, and direct mineralogical evidence for aqueous activity has been reported for Meridiani Planum in the form of the iron sulfate hydroxide mineral jarosite and at Gusev crater in the form of goethite. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers have each collected 110+ Moessbauer (MB) and 75+ Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) spectra from Gusev crater and Meridiani Planum [1 - 4]. In this abstract, we use mineralogical and elemental data, primarily from the Moessbauer and APXS instruments, to infer the speciation and estimate the abundance of sulfate and water (as either the H2O molecule or the hydroxyl anion) at Gusev crater and Meridiani Planum. Throughout the abstract, we adopt a format for mineral formulas that shows water explicitly rather than the usual practice of structure-based formulas (e.g., for goethite we write Fe2O3xH2O instead of FeOOH).

Ming, D. W.↗

NASA NTRS2024

NASA's Human Research Program: Evolving Collaborations to Enable the Future of Human Spaceflight

Since its formation in 2007, the NASA Human Research Program’s (HRP) mission has been to protect the health and performance of astronauts as they explore beyond low Earth orbit. The HRP helps enable exploration spaceflight through a focused program of research that leads to the development and delivery of solutions to protect human health and performance during and after these missions. This research is conducted primarily in ground analogs of the spaceflight environment and on the International Space Station (ISS). Over the last 3 years, NASA has undergone transformative changes with the flight of Artemis I, the formation of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations Program, commercial flights to the ISS, and collaboration with new international partners participating in human spaceflight. The HRP has embraced these new opportunities and is collaborating on all these fronts to collect biomedical research data. Artemis I marked the arrival of NASA’s new human spaceflight exploration missions. NASA established the Moon to Mars Program Office to design a roadmap for the exploration of the lunar surface and the journey beyond to Mars. The HRP has a critical role in conducting research and delivering technologies that will lead to solutions that protect human health and performance, and is working closely with the Moon to Mars Office to ensure these deliverables are ready in time to support their strategy. The HRP is also developing the partnership strategies required to support these deliverables. Commercial space flights, both free flyer and suborbital missions and private astronaut missions to the ISS, are providing broader opportunities and more subjects to characterize spaceflight-induced changes to the human system and to test countermeasures. To better use these opportunities to achieve its mission, the HRP has been working to understand the commercial spaceflight companies’ needs and then partnering with them on aspects of mutual interest. In addition, the HRP continues to engage in long-standing relationships with its international partners through the International Space Life Sciences Working Group and other joint international groups. The HRP is interested in sharing its knowledge and collaborating on projects of mutual interest with new countries that are developing capabilities for human spaceflight. The next 10 years will shape how humanity partners on exploration missions to Mars, and the HRP is committed to enabling and developing collaborative strategies with commercial and international partners to keep humans safe and productive as they explore longer and further into space.

Human research↗

NASA NTRS2015

NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute: Science and Technology for Lunar Exploration

The NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) is a virtual institute focused on research at the intersection of science and exploration, training the next generation of lunar scientists, and development and support of the international community. As part of its mission, SSERVI acts as a hub for opportunities that engage the larger scientific and exploration communities in order to form new interdisciplinary, research-focused collaborations. The nine domestic SSERVI teams that comprise the U.S. complement of the Institute engage with the international science and exploration communities through workshops, conferences, online seminars and classes, student exchange programs and internships. SSERVI represents a close collaboration between science, technology and exploration enabling a deeper, integrated understanding of the Moon and other airless bodies as human exploration moves beyond low Earth orbit. SSERVI centers on the scientific aspects of exploration as they pertain to the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and the moons of Mars, with additional aspects of related technology development, including a major focus on human exploration-enabling efforts such as resolving Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs). The Institute focuses on interdisciplinary, exploration-related science focused on airless bodies targeted as potential human destinations. Areas of study represent the broad spectrum of lunar, NEA, and Martian moon sciences encompassing investigations of the surface, interior, exosphere, and near-space environments as well as science uniquely enabled from these bodies. This research profile integrates investigations of plasma physics, geology/geochemistry, technology integration, solar system origins/evolution, regolith geotechnical properties, analogues, volatiles, ISRU and exploration potential of the target bodies. New opportunities for both domestic and international partnerships are continually generated through these research and community development efforts, and SSERVI can further serve as a model for joint international scientific efforts through its creation of bridges across disciplines and between countries. Since the inception of the NASA Lunar Science Institute (SSERVIs predecessor), it has and will continue to contribute in many ways toward the advancement of lunar science and the eventual human exploration of the Moon.

virtual↗

NASA NTRS2005

Future Visions for Scientific Human Exploration

Today, humans explore deep-space locations such as Mars, asteroids, and beyond, vicariously here on Earth, with noteworthy success. However, to achieve the revolutionary breakthroughs that have punctuated the history of science since the dawn of the Space Age has always required humans as "the discoverers," as Daniel Boorstin contends in this book of the same name. During Apollo 17, human explorers on the lunar surface discovered the "genesis rock," orange glass, and humans in space revamped the optically crippled Hubble Space Telescope to enable some of the greatest astronomical discoveries of all time. Science-driven human exploration is about developing the opportunities for such events, perhaps associated with challenging problems such as whether we can identify life beyond Earth within the universe. At issue, however, is how to safely insert humans and the spaceflight systems required to allow humans to operate as they do best in the hostile environment of deep space. The first issue is minimizing the problems associated with human adaptation to the most challenging aspects of deep space space radiation and microgravity (or non-Earth gravity). One solution path is to develop technologies that allow for minimization of the exposure time of people to deep space, as was accomplished in Apollo. For a mission to the planet Mars, this might entail new technological solutions for in-space propulsion that would make possible time-minimized transfers to and from Mars. The problem of rapid, reliable in-space transportation is challenged by the celestial mechanics of moving in space and the so-called "rocket equation." To travel to Mars from Earth in less than the time fuel-minimizing trajectories allow (i.e., Hohmann transfers) requires an exponential increase in the amount of fuel. Thus, month-long transits would require a mass of fuel as large as the dry mass of the ISS, assuming the existence of continuous acceleration engines. This raises the largest technological stumbling block to moving humans on site as deep-space explorers, delivering the masses required for human spaceflight systems to LEO or other Earth orbital vantage points using the existing or projected fleet of Earth-to-orbit (ETO) launch vehicles. Without a return to Saturn V-class boosters or an alternate path, one cannot imagine emplacing the masses that would be required for any deep-space voyage without a prohibitive number of Shuttle-class launches. One futurist solution might involve mass launch systems that could be used to move the consumables, including fuel, water, food, and building materials, to LEO in pieces rather than launching integrated systems. This approach would necessitate the development of robotic assembly and fuel-storage systems in Earth orbit, but could provide for a natural separation of low-value cargo (e.g., fuel, water).

Garvin, James↗

NASA NTRS2013

The F1 Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) : a Power Subsystem Enabler for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft carrying the Curiosity rover launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011. Following an 8.5-month cruise and after a successful Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) phase, the Curiosity rover arrived at the surface of Mars on August 6, 2012 UTC. At the core of the Curiosity rover power subsystem is the F1 Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) supplied by the Department of Energy. Integration of the F1 MMRTG into the MSL spacecraft has provided the first opportunity to architect a power subsystem that also included a Solar Array (during the cruise phase of the mission and up to the initial stage of the EDL phase) and secondary Li-ion batteries for operation during the planned one Martian year surface phase of the mission. This paper describes the F1 MMRTG functional features as an enabler of the MSL mission and as a novel component of the MSL power subsystem architecture.

Curiosity rover↗

NASA NTRS2004

The Mars Exploration Rover Project

The twin rovers of the Mars Exploration Rover Project successfully landed on the surface of Mars in January 2004, and initiated a highly successful science and exploration campaign. This marked the culmination of an unprecedented four-year effort to design, build, launch, and operate two of the most complex planetary spacecraft ever built. The project was started in the aftermath of the 1999 Mars mission failures, and was commissioned to take advantage of the highly advantageous 2003 opportunity. The development schedule from project start to launch was only 35 months, so schedule management was the most significant challenge facing the project. This problem was compounded when early assumptions about the extent of design heritage from Mars Pathfinder proved to be flawed. The project derived a number of useful lessons learned in solving these challenges that can be applied to future missions.

Mars↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Uncrewed Lunar Surface Operations and Support Activities

Sustained human presence on the surface of the Moon and future missions to Mars require increased independence from surface crews and Earth-based mission control to operate efficiently, safely, and reliably. The time for surface crews to perform tasks will be limited. Extravehicular activities by surface personnel are burdensome and time-consuming, even when a continuous human presence on the surface occurs. Identifying and balancing human/automation roles and tasks and infusing automation and autonomy practices early in a system’s lifecycle will be essential to achieve mission objectives. Among these objectives are attaining a sustained human presence, improving performance and mission effectiveness, reducing operations and maintenance (O&M) costs, and ensuring operations that are robust to communication delays. To achieve these objectives, an operational shift toward increased automation and autonomy with less reliance on humans is needed. Uncrewed lunar surface operations and support activities occur when surface crews are not present or are independent of surface crew timeline activities requiring no surface crew oversight or intervention. These uncrewed surface opportunities can also be planned to minimize crew workload that avoids routine maintenance and support tasks, thus maximizing crew exploration time. Uncrewed preparations such as staging and prepositioning equipment and materials before the crew arrives could improve crew task efficiency. Additional opportunities exist to conduct uncrewed science, exploration, and utilization. Uncrewed surface architecture functions can include science and exploration; habitation; launch and landing support; surface communication and navigation; surface power generation and distribution; human surface mobility; lifting, handling, manipulating; excavation, construction, and site preparation; logistics management; maintenance and repair; surface resource utilization; integrated site operations and shared support services (e.g., site scheduling/prioritization, dust mitigation/contamination control, and surface safety). Early robotic lunar surface campaigns will provide information on the availability of resources, such as oxygen and water, and demonstrate surface-based technologies. After the Artemis III human lunar return mission, a series of landers will deliver surface systems, cargo, supplies, science packages, spare parts, and commodities. A balance of crewed and uncrewed surface operations will enable a sustained lunar surface presence at the South Pole of the Moon at a site that will be known as the Artemis Base Camp (ABC). It is envisioned that base camp operations on and around the Moon will then help prepare for the mission durations and activities needed to support the first human mission to Mars. Before long-duration crew missions to the base camp can occur, the necessary surface infrastructure will be pre-deployed and verified operational. Surface assets will be teleoperated and remotely managed from Earth. Additionally, robotic and short-duration crewed missions to the ABC will ensure the site’s merit to achieve long-term science objectives, availability of usable resources, and that terrain, seasonal variations, and illumination conditions are acceptable. ABC will consist of different areas where specific functions and services are rendered, including: • Launch and Landing Area • Habitation Area • Power Production Area • Resource Areas Launch and Landing Area—The launch and landing area will support associated functions for the arrival and departure of vehicles, such as crewed landing and ascent and uncrewed cargo deliveries and offloading. It will evolve from an unimproved site at the beginning of the exploration campaign to a more sustainable landing and launch area that can support repeated arrivals and departures. Initial uncrewed Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) surface operations may include emplacement of navigation beacons and communication equipment, real-time video and photography of landing/liftoff events, and element repositioning, such as portable utility power (PUP) (applicable for other landed assets at other areas). Site preparations, such as surface leveling, soil compaction, and berm/path construction, may be needed for a more sustainable launch and landing area capable of accommodating vehicles that are increasingly more reusable and reduce the effects of plume surface interactions and ejecta impacts on nearby surface assets. During the ABC missions, cargo and logistics will be delivered to the lunar surface via robotic cargo landers before the crew arrives. These shipments, which can arrive in pressurized logistics carriers, will deliver the logistics necessary to support a crewed mission and include items such as food, water, equipment spares, etc. Providing the capability to retrieve, offload, and transport the logistics closer to the ABC site before the arrival of the crew will increase the overall efficiency of crew operations once they arrive. In the sustained phase of exploration, other supporting services may be needed, such as lander propellant servicing, surface power services, commodity refreshes, and additional inspection, maintenance, and repair capabilities, to sustain a cadence of extended personnel stays and cargo arrivals and departures. Habitation Area—Uncrewed support to surface habitation could involve supporting activation and pre-entry operations of the habitat while the crew is in orbit at the Gateway outpost preparing for a surface landing. Surface Habitat (SH) uncrewed operations may include bringing the cabin environment to a habitable temperature and air mix and activating other critical crew support systems. Potential crop production uncrewed tasks in the SH could also include autonomous watering and tending. Additionally, when the crew departs, the SH enters dormancy for the long period of uncrewed operation. A logistical staging area could also be collocated near the SH. If so, staging operations for crew supplies, waste re-location, and recycling operations may be opportunities for uncrewed operations. Power Production Area—The Fission Surface Power (FSP) element and its supporting distribution equipment provide power to surface elements as needed across the ABC to supplement day-to-day operations and survive lunar nights. Uncrewed support of this power system includes any initial LTV-assisted deployments of cables and other distributed equipment, associated electrical connections, and system testing and activation operations. Robotically performing some inspections, maintenance, or repair tasks on the power distribution equipment could reduce the surface crew workload. Resource Area— Uncrewed resource prospecting, mapping, and characterizing possible resource sites is likely to be time-consuming and represents an opportunity for uncrewed operations between crewed missions. Uncrewed mobile equipment operations will be needed in the extreme environments of permanently shadowed locations where resource extractions occur. As In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) pilot plant operations begin, uncrewed surface support activities with available mobile and portable assets (LTV, PUP, etc.) will better support these operations. Any produced commodities can be stored at a centralized storage location for future use. Also associated with these operations is the use of mobile robotic excavators for resource acquisition and robotic/autonomous regolith processing. The waste tailings generated during excavation and regolith processing would also need to be transported and deposited at a dedicated location. Surface assets will continue operating between crew visits to maintain surface capabilities, conduct lunar surface science, technology demonstrations, and public outreach opportunities. Additionally, certain sustaining tasks that would consume valuable crew time could be performed before crew arrival, or after their departure. This capability may offer more affordable options to construct, activate, test, and maintain a broad set of surface assets. Telerobotically operated human surface mobility systems, such as the LTV and Pressurized Rover (PR), can be utilized for various tasks. Surface environmental conditions pose a distinct challenge for all these activities. Surface illumination and localized shadows are one such factor. Night-survival operations could consist of thermal management, battery pre-charging, and load shedding. Some surface systems may hibernate through the night and then awake and continue nominal operations. Uncrewed mobile assets may use a more adaptive approach to optimize their power and operations; one method is to follow the sunlight. Night-survival operations may be initiated remotely by teleoperation, automated, or accomplished by supervised autonomous operation. The ability to pre-deploy and control remote assets in orbit or on Mars before the arrival of the mission crew is a key capability that can be simulated on the moon. The base camp provides a venue where these advanced operational concepts, technologies, and autonomous methods and techniques, including the incorporation of time delays to simulate Earth-Mars latency can be replicated to help buy down future Mars mission risks. This paper will examine the evolution of uncrewed lunar surface operations and support activities. It will also discuss the lunar surface environmental conditions (thermal, lighting, terrain, topography, communications) along with the challenges they pose on uncrewed surface operations, and the performance of these activities with limited to minimal human interaction and/or teleoperation. Since lunar missions include Mars mission analogs, such investigation provides the framework for future uncrewed Mars mission support.

Mark E Lewis↗

NASA NTRS2013

Mars Sample Return Using Commercial Capabilities: Mission Architecture Overview

Mars Sample Return (MSR) is the highest priority science mission for the next decade as recommended by the recent Decadal Survey of Planetary Science. This paper presents an overview of a feasibility study for a MSR mission. The objective of the study was to determine whether emerging commercial capabilities can be used to reduce the number of mission systems and launches required to return the samples, with the goal of reducing mission cost. The major element required for the MSR mission are described and include an integration of the emerging commercial capabilities with small spacecraft design techniques; new utilizations of traditional aerospace technologies; and recent technological developments. We report the feasibility of a complete and closed MSR mission design using the following scenario that covers three synodic launch opportunities, beginning with the 2022 opportunity: A Falcon Heavy injects a SpaceX Red Dragon capsule and trunk onto a Trans Mars Injection (TMI) trajectory. The capsule is modified to carry all the hardware needed to return samples collected on Mars including a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV); an Earth Return Vehicle (ERV); and hardware to transfer a sample collected in a previously landed rover mission to the ERV. The Red Dragon descends to land on the surface of Mars using Supersonic Retro Propulsion (SRP). After previously collected samples are transferred to the ERV, the single-stage MAV launches the ERV from the surface of Mars to a Mars phasing orbit. The MAV uses a storable liquid, pump fed bi-propellant propulsion system. After a brief phasing period, the ERV, which also uses a storable bi-propellant system, performs a Trans Earth Injection (TEI) burn. Once near Earth the ERV performs Earth and lunar swing-bys and is placed into a Lunar Trailing Orbit (LTO0 - an Earth orbit, at lunar distance. A later mission, using a Dragon and launched by a Falcon Heavy, performs a rendezvous with the ERV in the lunar trailing orbit, retrieves the sample container and breaks the chain of contact with Mars by transferring the sample into a sterile and secure container. With the sample contained, the retrieving spacecraft, makes a controlled Earth re-entry preventing any unintended release of pristine Martian materials into the Earth's biosphere. Other capsule type vehicles and associated launchers may be applicable. The analysis methods employed standard and specialized aerospace engineering tools. Mission system elements were analyzed with either direct techniques or by using parametric mass estimating relationships (MERs). The architecture was iterated until overall mission convergence was achieved on at least one path. Subsystems analyzed in this study include support structures, power system, nose fairing, thermal insulation, actuation devices, MAV exhaust venting, and GN&C. Best practice application of loads, mass growth contingencies, and resource margins were used. For Falcon Heavy capabilities and Dragon subsystems we utilized publically available data from SpaceX; published analyses from other sources; as well as our own engineering and aerodynamic estimates. Earth Launch mass is under 11 mt, which is within the estimated capability of a Falcon Heavy, with margin. Total entry masses between 7 and 10 mt were considered with closure occurring between 9 and 10 mt. Propellant mass fractions for each major phase of the EDL - Entry, Terminal Descent, and Hazard Avoidance - have been derived. An assessment of the entry conditions on the thermal protection system (TPS), currently in use for Dragon missions, has been made. And shows no significant stressors. A useful mass of 2.0 mt is provided and includes mass growth allowances for the MAV, the ERV, and mission unique equipment. We also report on alternate propellant options for the MAV and options for the ERV, including propulsion systems; crewed versus robotic retrieval mission; as well as direct Earth entry. International Planetary Protection Policies as well as verifiable means of compliance will have a large impact on any MSR mission design. We identify areas within our architecture where such impacts occur. This work shows that emerging commercial capabilities can be used to effectively integrated into a mission to achieve an important planetary science objective.

Mars Sample Return↗

NASA NTRS1998

The Mars Express Subsurface Radar: Water and Ice Detection in the Polar Regions

The European Space Agency (ESA) will conduct a mission to Mars during the 2003 launch opportunity, called Mars Express. Much of the payload is similar to that of the failed Mars 96 orbiter, but a completely new instrument has been selected for the payload, the Subsurface Sounding Radar/Altimeter (SSRA). The SSRA experiment is a joint project between the University of Rome, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Alenia Aerospazio, Italy. This paper describes the science objectives of the experiment, the instrument characteristics, and applications of the SSRA investigation to studies of the martian polar regions.

Plaut, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Multiple Discipline science assessment

Various science disciplines were examined to determine where and when it is appropriate to include their objectives in the planning of planetary missions. The disciplines considered are solar astronomy, stellar and galactic astronomy, solar physics, cosmology and gravitational physics, the geosciences and the applied sciences. For each discipline, science objectives are identified which could provide a multiple discipline opportunity utilizing either a single spacecraft or two spacecraft delivered by a single launch vehicle. Opportunities using a common engineering system are also considered. The most promising opportunities identified include observations of solar images and relativistic effects using the Mercury orbiter; collection of samples exposed to solar radiation using the Mars surface sample return; studies of interstellar neutral H and He, magnetic fields, cosmic rays, and solar physics during Pluto or Neptune flybys; using the Mars orbiter to obtain solar images from 0.2 AU synchronous or from 90 deg orbit; and the study of the structure and composition of the atmosphere using atmospheric probes and remotely piloted vehicles.

Wells, W. C.↗