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NASA NTRS2021

Astromaterial Curation and Research at NASA

Astromaterial sample return missions from other planetary bodies (e.g., the Moon, asteroids, the Sun) and astromaterial sample collection missions here on Earth (e.g., Antarctic Meteorites, Cosmic Dust) have been a vital part of NASA’s science vision since nearly its inception. Beginning with the Apollo missions to the Moon and extending to the recent successful sample collection by the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, these astromaterials collections have been an invaluable resource to scientists and educators around the world. Sample studies continue to provide fundamental insight into how our solar system and its constituent bodies formed and evolved over the past 4.5 billion years. As evidence of their broad impact, there are over 19,141 samples on loan to 433 Principal Investigators in 24 countries [1]. As we plan for exploration missions through 2050, sample return missions will continue to play a vital role in NASA’s science vision. Returned samples truly are the gift that keeps on giving. Having the samples accessible on Earth allows new generations of scientists and new generations of instrumentation to pursue ever evolving scientific questions. For example, the Apollo samples were collected ~50 years ago, yet our views of how the Earth-Moon system formed, the role of volatiles in the early inner solar system, and even the positions of the gas giants in the outer solar system have changed dramatically as a result of Apollo sample analyses conducted very recently. Vital to the long-term viability of any sample return mission is the careful curation of the samples. Curatorial efforts need to begin early in the project lifecycle, not with the return of the samples, but at mission conception. The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center is responsible for curating all of NASA’s current and future extraterrestrial samples. Looking at possible sample return missions over the next 35+ years [2], many samples would require curation efforts a step beyond current capabilities, e.g., cold or cryogenic curation, organically and biologically clean curation, curation of gases and ices, and curation of samples with extreme pressure, temperature, or redox requirements. During the lecture, we discuss the current curatorial efforts in JSC curation, as well as discoveries from the astromaterial research. [1] Zeigler, R. A. et al. (2017) Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop. [2] McCubbin F. M. et al. (2017) Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop.

astromaterial↗

NASA NTRS2010

Human and Robotic Exploration of Near-Earth Objects

A study in late 2006 was sponsored by the Advanced Projects Office within NASA's Constellation Program to examine the feasibility of sending the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle to a near-Earth object (NEO). The ideal mission profile would involve two or three astronauts on a 90 to 180 day flight, which would include a 7 to 14 day stay for proximity operations at the target NEO. More recently U.S. President Obama stated on April 15, 2010 that the next goal for human spaceflight will be to send human beings to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025. Given this direction from the White House, NASA has been involved in studying various strategies for NEO exploration in order to follow U.S. space exploration policy. Prior to sending a human mission, a series of robotic spacecraft would be launched to reduce the risk to crew, and enhance the planning for the proximity and surface operations at the NEO. The human mission would ideally follow five or more years later. This mission would be the first human expedition to an interplanetary body beyond the Earth-Moon system and would prove useful for testing technologies required for human missions to Mars and other solar system destinations. Piloted missions to NEOs would undoubtedly provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration while conducting in-depth scientific investigations of these primitive objects. The main scientific advantage of sending piloted missions to NEOs would be the flexibility of the crew to perform tasks and to adapt to situations in real time. A crewed vehicle would be able to test several different sample collection techniques and target specific areas of interest via extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) more efficiently than robotic spacecraft. Such capabilities greatly enhance the scientific return from these missions to NEOs, destinations vital to understanding the evolution and thermal histories of primitive bodies during the formation of the early solar system. Data collected from these missions would help constrain the suite of materials possibly delivered to the early Earth, and would identify potential source regions from which NEOs originate. In addition, the resulting scientific investigations would refine designs for future extraterrestrial resource extraction and utilization, and assist in the development of hazard mitigation techniques for planetary defense.

Abell, Paul A.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Human Missions to Near-Earth Asteroids: An Update on NASA's Current Status and Proposed Activities for Small Body Exploration

Introduction: Over the past several years, much attention has been focused on the human exploration of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Two independent NASA studies examined the feasibility of sending piloted missions to NEAs, and in 2009, the Augustine Commission identified NEAs as high profile destinations for human exploration missions beyond the Earth-Moon system as part of the Flexible Path. More recently the current U.S. presidential administration directed NASA to include NEAs as destinations for future human exploration with the goal of sending astronauts to a NEA in the mid to late 2020s. This directive became part of the official National Space Policy of the United States of America as of June 28, 2010. Dynamical Assessment: The current near-term NASA human spaceflight capability is in the process of being defined while the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and Space Launch System (SLS) are still in development. Hence, those NEAs in more accessible heliocentric orbits relative to a minimal interplanetary exploration capability will be considered for the first missions. If total mission durations for the first voyages to NEAs are to be kept to less than one year, with minimal velocity changes, then NEA rendezvous missions ideally will take place within 0.1 AU of Earth (approx about 5 million km or 37 lunar distances). Human Exploration Considerations: These missions would be the first human expeditions to inter-planetary bodies beyond the Earth-Moon system and would prove useful for testing technologies required for human missions to Mars, Phobos and Deimos, and other Solar System destinations. Missions to NEAs would undoubtedly provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration while conducting detailed scientific investigations of these primitive objects. Current analyses of operational concepts suggest that stay times of 15 to 30 days may be possible at these destinations. In addition, the resulting scientific investigations would refine designs for future extraterrestrial In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), and assist in the development of hazard mitigation techniques for planetary defense. Conclusions: The scientific and hazard mitigation benefits, along with the programmatic and operational benefits of a human venture beyond the Earth-Moon system, make a piloted mission to a NEA using NASA's proposed human exploration systems a compelling endeavor

Abell, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Sample Return Systems for Extreme Environments (SaRSEE)

Sample return missions offer a greater science yield when compared to missions that only employ in situ experiments or remote sensing observations, since they allow the application of more complex technological and analytical methodologies in controlled terrestrial laboratories,that are both repeatable and can be independently verified. The successful return of extraterrestrial materials over the last four decades has contributed to our understanding of the solar system, but retrieval techniques have largely depended on the use of either soft-landing, or touch-and-go procedures that result in high V requirements, larger spacecraft mass ratios, and return yields typically limited to a few grams of surface materials that have experienced varying degrees of alteration from space weathering. Hard-landing methods using planetary penetrators offer an alternative for sample return that significantly reduce a mission's V and mass ratios,increase sample yields, and allow for the collection of subsurface materials, and lessons can be drawn from previous sample return missions. The following details progress in the design,development, and testing of penetrator/sampler technology capable of surviving subsonic and low, supersonic impact velocities (<700 m/s) that would enable the collection of geologic materials using tether technology to return the sample to a passing spacecraft. The testing of energy absorbing material for protecting the sample, design evolution and field testing of the penetrator, and dynamic modeling of tether behavior during sampling are discussed. It is shown through both modeling and field testing that penetrators at speeds between 300-600 m/s (~Mach 1-2) can penetrator into the ground to depths of 1-2 m with overall structural integrity attained.The first flight tests demonstrated the potential for survivability at these speeds. The second flight series demonstrated core sample collection with partial ejection of the sample return canister. The 3rd flight series demonstrated self-ejection of the sample return system fully intact and with the core retaining the full stratigraphy of the rock bed. The tether analysis shows that the forces on the tether during release and return of the sample to the main spacecraft are all at levels that can easily be handled by existing tether materials. The mass analysis of the requirements indicates that sample return form the asteroids could be handled with Discovery or New Frontier range of missions dependent on the number of samples to be returned to the Earth.

Winglee, R. M.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Growing crops for space explorers on the moon, Mars, or in space

An option in the long-duration exploration of space, whether on the Moon or Mars or in a spacecraft on its way to Mars or the asteroids, is to utilize a bioregenerative life-support system in addition to the physicochemical systems that will always be necessary. Green plants can use the energy of light to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and add oxygen to it while at the same time synthesizing food for the space travelers. The water that crop plants transpire can be condensed in pure form, contributing to the water purification system. An added bonus is that green plants provide a familiar environment for humans far from their home planet. The down side is that such a bioregenerative life-support system--called a controlled environment life-support system (CELSS) in this paper--must be highly complex and relatively massive to maintain a proper composition of the atmosphere while also providing food. Thus, launch costs will be high. Except for resupply and removal of nonrecycleable substances, such a system is nearly closed with respect to matter but open with respect to energy. Although a CELSS facility is small compared to the Earth's biosphere, it must be large enough to feed humans and provide a suitable atmosphere for them. A functioning CELSS can only be created with the help of today's advanced technology, especially computerized controls. Needed are energy for light, possibly from a nuclear power plant, and equipment to provide a suitable environment for plant growth, including a way to supply plants with the necessary mineral nutrients. All this constitutes the biomass production unit. There must also be food preparation facilities and a means to recycle or dispose of waste materials and there must be control equipment to keep the facility running. Humans are part of the system as well as plants and possibly animals. Human brain power will often be needed to keep the system functional in spite of the best computer-driven controls. The particulars of a CELSS facility depend strongly on where it is to be located. The presence of gravity on the Moon and Mars simplifies the design for a facility on those bodies, but a spacecraft in microgravity is a much more challenging environment. One problem is that plants, which are very sensitive to gravity, might not grow and produce food in the virtual absence of gravity. However, the experience with growing super-dwarf wheat in the Russian space station Mir, while not entirely successful because of the sterile wheat heads, was highly encouraging. The plants grew well for 123 days, producing more biomass than had been produced in space before. This was due to the high photon flux available to the plants and the careful control of substrate moisture. The sterile heads were probably due to the failure to remove the gaseous plant hormone, ethylene, from the Mir atmosphere. Since ethylene can easily be removed, it should be possible to grow wheat and other crops in microgravity with the production of viable seeds. On the ground Biosphere-2 taught us several lessons about the design and construction of a CELSS facility, but Bios-3 came much closer to achieving the goals of such a facility. Although stability was never completely reached, Bios-3 was much more stable than Biosphere-2 apparently because every effort was made to keep the system simple and to use the best technology available to maintain control. Wastes were not recycled in Bios-3 except for urine, and inedible plant materials were incinerated to restore CO2 to the atmosphere. Since much meat (about 20% of calories) was imported, closure in the Bios-3 experiments was well below 100%. But then, a practical CELSS on the Moon might also depend on regular resupply from Earth. Several important lessons have been learned from the CELSS research described in this review.

Review↗