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NASA NTRS2013

Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

A major goal for NASA's human spaceflight program is to send astronauts to near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) in the coming decades. Missions to NEAs would undoubtedly provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration while conducting in-depth scientific examinations of these primitive objects. However, prior to sending human explorers to NEAs, robotic investigations of these bodies would be required in order to maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk. These precursor missions to NEAs would fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps concerning their physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration of these relatively unknown destinations. Information obtained from a human investigation of a NEA, together with ground-based observations and prior spacecraft investigations of asteroids and comets, will also provide a real measure of ground truth to data obtained from terrestrial meteorite collections. Major advances in the areas of geochemistry, impact history, thermal history, isotope analyses, mineralogy, space weathering, formation ages, thermal inertias, volatile content, source regions, solar system formation, etc. can be expected from human NEA missions. Samples directly returned from a primitive body would lead to the same kind of breakthroughs for understanding NEAs that the Apollo samples provided for understanding the Earth-Moon system and its formation history. In addition, robotic precursor and human exploration missions to NEAs would allow the NASA and its international partners to gain operational experience in performing complex tasks (e.g., sample collection, deployment of payloads, retrieval of payloads, etc.) with crew, robots, and spacecraft under microgravity conditions at or near the surface of a small body. This would provide an important synergy between the worldwide Science and Exploration communities, which will be crucial for development of future international deep space exploration architectures and has potential benefits for future exploration of other destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.

Abell, Paul↗

NASA NTRS2013

Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids and Sample Collection Considerations

In 2009 the Augustine Commission identified near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) as high profile destinations for human exploration missions beyond the Earth-Moon system as part of the Flexible Path. Subsequently, the U.S. presidential administration directed NASA on April 15, 2010 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. Human Exploration Considerations: These missions would be the first human expeditions to interplanetary 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 in-depth scientific examinations of these primitive objects. However, prior to sending human explorers to NEAs, robotic investigations of these bodies would be required in order to maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk. These precursor missions to NEAs would fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps concerning their physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration of these relatively unknown destinations. Sample Science Benefits: Information obtained from a human investigation of a NEA, together with ground-based observations and prior spacecraft investigations of asteroids and comets, will also provide a real measure of ground truth to data obtained from terrestrial meteorite collections. Major advances in the areas of geochemistry, impact history, thermal history, isotope analyses, mineralogy, space weathering, formation ages, thermal inertias, volatile content, source regions, solar system formation, etc. can be expected from human NEA missions. Samples directly returned from a primitive body would lead to the same kind of breakthroughs for understanding NEAs that the Apollo samples provided for understanding the Earth-Moon system and its formation history. International Participation: In addition, robotic precursor and human exploration missions to NEAs would allow the NASA and its international partners to gain operational experience in performing complex tasks (e.g., sample collection, deployment of payloads, retrieval of payloads, etc.) with crew, robots, and spacecraft under microgravity conditions at or near the surface of a small body. This would provide an important synergy between the worldwide Science and Exploration communities, which will be crucial for development of future international deep space exploration architectures and has potential benefits for future exploration of other destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.

Abell, Paul↗

NASA NTRS2013

Near-Earth Object Exploration and Marco Polo-R

Abell, Paul↗

NASA NTRS2010

Human Health and Performance Considerations for Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

This presentation will describe the human health and performance issues that are anticipated for the human exploration of near-Earth asteroids (NEA). Humans are considered a system in the design of any such deep-space exploration mission, and exploration of NEA presents unique challenges for the human system. Key factors that define the mission are those that are strongly affected by distance and duration. The most critical of these is deep-space radiation exposure without even the temporary shielding of a nearby large planetary body. The current space radiation permissible exposure limits (PEL) restrict mission duration to 3-10 months depending on age and gender of crewmembers and stage of the solar cycle. Factors that affect mission architecture include medical capability; countermeasures for bone, muscle, and cardiovascular atrophy during continuous weightlessness; restricted food supplies; and limited habitable volume. The design of a habitat that can maintain the physical and psychological health of the crew and support mission operations with limited intervention from Earth will require an integrated research and development effort by NASA s Human Research Program, engineering, and human factors groups. Limited abort and return options for an NEA mission are anticipated to have important effects on crew psychology as well as influence medical supplies and training requirements of the crew. Other important factors are those related to isolation, confinement, communication delays, autonomous operations, task design, small crew size, and even the unchanging view outside the windows for most of the mission. Geological properties of the NEA will influence design of sample handling and containment, and extravehicular activity capabilities including suit ports and tools. A robotic precursor mission that collects basic information on NEA surface properties would reduce uncertainty about these aspects of the mission as well as aid in design of mission architecture and exploration tasks.

Kundrot, Craig↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Space Launch System: Deep-Space Delivery for Smallsats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. While primarily focused on launching the large systems needed for crewed spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, SLS also offers a game-changing capability for the deployment of small satellites to deep-space destinations, beginning with its first flight. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in two years, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight test of the Orion spacecraft around the moon, accompanying Orion on SLS will be small-satellite secondary payloads, which will deploy in cislunar space. The deployment berths are sized for "6U" CubeSats, and on EM-1 the spacecraft will be deployed into cislunar space following Orion separate from the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Payloads in 6U class will be limited to 14 kg maximum mass. Secondary payloads on EM-1 will be launched in the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA). Payload dispensers will be mounted on specially designed brackets, each attached to the interior wall of the OSA. For the EM-1 mission, a total of fourteen brackets will be installed, allowing for thirteen payload locations. The final location will be used for mounting an avionics unit, which will include a battery and sequencer for executing the mission deployment sequence. Following the launch of EM-1, deployments of the secondary payloads will commence after sufficient separation of the Orion spacecraft to the upper stage vehicle to minimize any possible contact of the deployed CubeSats to Orion. Currently this is estimated to require approximately 4 hours. The allowed deployment window for the CubeSats will be from the time the upper stage disposal maneuvers are complete to up to 10 days after launch. The upper stage will fly past the moon at a perigee of approximately 100km, and this closest approach will occur about 5 days after launch. The limiting factor for the latest deployment time is the available power in the sequencer system. Several NASA Mission Directorates were involved in the development of programs for the competition, selection, and development of EM-1 payloads that support directorate priorities. CubeSat payloads on EM-1 will include both NASA research experiments and spacecraft developed by industry, international and potentially academia partners. The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division was allocated five payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout is designed to rendezvous with and characterize a candidate NEA. A solar sail, an innovation the spacecraft will demonstrated for the CubeSat class, will provide propulsion. Lunar Flashlight will use a green propellant system and will search for potential ice deposits in the moon's permanently shadowed craters. BioSentinel is a yeast radiation biosensor, planned to measure the effects of space radiation on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Lunar Icecube, a collaboration with Morehead State University, will prospect for water in ice, liquid, and vapor forms as well as other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee, highly inclined lunar orbit using a compact Infrared spectrometer. Skyfire, a partnership with Lockheed Martin, is a technology demonstration mission that will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy, and thermography data to address questions related to surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) was allocated three payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. These slots will be filled via the Centennial Challenges Program, NASA's flagship program for technology prize competitions, which directly engages the public, academia, and industry in open prize competitions to stimulate innovation. The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) was allocated two payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. The CubeSat Mission to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) payload will study the sources and acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles in near-Earth orbit, support space weather research by determining proton radiation levels during Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events and identifying suprathermal properties that could help predict geomagnetic storms. The LunaH-Map payload will help scientists understand the quantity of H-bearing materials in lunar cold traps (~10 km), determine the concentration of H-bearing materials with 1m depth, and constrain the vertical distribution of H-bearing materials. The final three payload opportunities for the EM-1 mission were allocated for NASA's international space agency counterparts. The flight opportunities are intended to benefit the international space agency and NASA as well as further the collective space exploration goals. ArgoMoon is sponsored by ESA/ASI and will fly along with the ICPS on its disposal trajectory to perform proximity operations with the ICPS post-disposal, take external imagery of engineering and historical significance, and perform an optical communications demonstration. EQUULEUS, sponsored by JAXA, will fly to a libration orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 point and demonstrate trajectory control techniques within the Sun-Earth- Moon region for the first time by a nano spacecraft. The mission will also contribute to the future human exploration scenario by understanding the radiation environment in geospace and deep space, characterizing the flux of impacting meteors on the far side of the moon, and demonstrating the future deep space exploration scenario using the "deep space port" at Lagrange points. OMOTENASHI, also sponsored by JAXA, will land the smallest lunar lander to date on the lunar surface to demonstrate the feasibility of the hardware for distributed cooperative exploration system. Small landers will enable multi-point exploration, which is complimentary with large-scale human exploration. Once on the lunar surface, the OMOTENASHI spacecraft will observe the radiation and soil environments of the lunar surface by active radiation measurements and soil shear measurements. Following EM-1, Space Launch System will evolve to the more-powerful Block 1B configuration, which uses a new Exploration Upper Stage to increase the vehicle's LEO payload capability from 70 t to 105 t. With that transition, the Orion Stage Adapter, which will carry the secondary payloads on EM-1, will be phased out, and a new Universal Stage Adapter will be introduced, creating opportunities for flying larger secondary payloads. This paper will provide a brief status of SLS progress toward first launch; an overview of smallsat accommodations, integration, and operations on EM-1; information about the specific payloads flying on that launch; and a discussion of future accommodations and opportunities for secondary payloads on SLS for Exploration Mission-2 and beyond.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Space Launch System: Deep-Space Opportunities for SmallSats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. While primarily focused on launching the large systems needed for crewed spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, SLS also offers a game-changing capability for the deployment of small satellites to deep-space destinations, beginning with its first flight. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in two years, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight test of the Orion spacecraft around the moon, accompanying Orion on SLS will be small-satellite secondary payloads, which will deploy in cislunar space. The deployment berths are sized for "6U" CubeSats, and on EM-1 the spacecraft will be deployed into cislunar space following Orion separate from the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Payloads in 6U class will be limited to 14 kg maximum mass. Secondary payloads on EM-1 will be launched in the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA). Payload dispensers will be mounted on specially designed brackets, each attached to the interior wall of the OSA. For the EM-1 mission, a total of fourteen brackets will be installed, allowing for thirteen payload locations. The final location will be used for mounting an avionics unit, which will include a battery and sequencer for executing the mission deployment sequence. Following the launch of EM-1, deployments of the secondary payloads will commence after sufficient separation of the Orion spacecraft to the upper stage vehicle to minimize any possible contact of the deployed cubesats to Orion. Currently this is estimated to require approximately 4 hours. The allowed deployment window for the cubesats will be from the time the upper stage disposal maneuvers are complete to up to 10 days after launch. The upper stage will fly past the moon at a perigee of approximately 100km, and this closest approach will occur about 5 days after launch. The limiting factor for the latest deployment time is the available power in the sequencer system. Several NASA Mission Directorates were involved in the development of programs for the competition, selection, and development of EM-1 payloads that support directorate priorities. CubeSat payloads on EM-1 will include both NASA research experiments and spacecraft developed by industry, international and potentially academia partners. The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division was allocated five payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout is designed to rendezvous with and characterize a candidate NEA. A solar sail, an innovation the spacecraft will demonstrated for the CubeSat class, will provide propulsion. Lunar Flashlight will use a green propellant system and will search for potential ice deposits in the moon's permanently shadowed craters. BioSentinel is a yeast radiation biosensor, planned to measure the effects of space radiation on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Lunar Icecube, a collaboration with Morehead State University, will prospect for water in ice, liquid, and vapor forms as well as other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee, highly inclined lunar orbit using a compact Infrared spectrometer. Skyfire, a partnership with Lockheed Martin, is a technology demonstration mission that will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy, and thermography data to address questions related to surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) was allocated three payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. These slots will be filled via the 2 Centennial Challenges Program, NASA's flagship program for technology prize competitions, which directly engages the public, academia, and industry in open prize competitions to stimulate innovation. The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) was allocated two payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. The CubeSat Mission to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) payload will study the sources and acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles in near-Earth orbit, support space weather research by determining proton radiation levels during Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events and identifying suprathermal properties that could help predict geomagnetic storms. The LunaH-Map payload will help scientists understand the quantity of H-bearing materials in lunar cold traps (~10 km), determine the concentration of H-bearing materials with 1m depth, and constrain the vertical distribution of H-bearing materials. The final three payload opportunities for the EM-1 mission were allocated for NASA's international space agency counterparts. The flight opportunities are intended to benefit the international space agency and NASA as well as further the collective space exploration goals. ArgoMoon is sponsored by ESA/ASI and will fly along with the ICPS on its disposal trajectory to perform proximity operations with the ICPS post-disposal, take external imagery of engineering and historical significance, and perform an optical communications demonstration. EQUULEUS, sponsored by JAXA, will fly to a libration orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 point and demonstrate trajectory control techniques within the Sun-Earth-Moon region for the first time by a nano spacecraft. The mission will also contribute to the future human exploration scenario by understanding the radiation environment in geospace and deep space, characterizing the flux of impacting meteors on the far side of the moon, and demonstrating the future deep space exploration scenario using the "deep space port" at Lagrange points. OMOTENASHI, also sponsored by JAXA, will land the smallest lunar lander to date on the lunar surface to demonstrate the feasibility of the hardware for distributed cooperative exploration system. Small landers will enable multi-point exploration, which is complimentary with large-scale human exploration. Once on the lunar surface, the OMOTENASHI spacecraft will observe the radiation and soil environments of the lunar surface by active radiation measurements and soil shear measurements. Following EM-1, Space Launch System will evolve to the more-powerful Block 1B configuration, which uses a new Exploration Upper Stage to increase the vehicle's LEO payload capability from 70 t to 105 t. With that transition, the Orion Stage Adapter, which will carry the secondary payloads on EM-1, will be phased out, and a new Universal Stage Adapter will be introduced, creating opportunities for flying larger secondary payloads. This paper will provide a brief status of SLS progress toward first launch; an overview of smallsat accommodations, integration, and operations on EM-1; information about the specific payloads flying on that launch; and a discussion of future accommodations and opportunities for secondary payloads on SLS for Exploration Mission-2 and beyond.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Exercise Equipment Usability Assessment for a Deep Space Concept Vehicle

With international aspirations to send astronauts to deep space, the world is now faced with the complex problem of keeping astronauts healthy in unexplored hostile environments for durations of time never before attempted by humans. The great physical demands imparted by space exploration compound the problem of astronaut health, as the astronauts must not only be healthy, but physically fit upon destination arrival in order to perform the scientific tasks required of them. Additionally, future deep space exploration necessitates the development of environments conducive to long-duration habitation that would supplement propulsive vehicles. Space Launch System (SLS) core stage barrel sections present large volumes of robust structure that can be recycled and used for long duration habitation. This assessment will focus on one such conceptual craft, referred to as the SLS Derived Habitat (SLS-DH). Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) Advanced Concepts Office (ACO) has formulated a high-level layout of this SLS-DH with parameters such as floor number and orientation, floor designations, grid dimensions, wall placement, etc. Yet to be determined, however, is the layout of the exercise area. Currently the SLS-DH features three floors laid out longitudinally, leaving 2m of height between the floor and ceilings. This short distance between levels introduces challenges for proper placement of exercise equipment such as treadmills and stationary bicycles, as the dynamic envelope for the 95th percentile male astronauts is greater than 2m. This study aims to assess the optimal equipment layout and sizing for the exercise area of this habitat. Figure 1 illustrates the layout of the DSH concept demonstrator located at MSFC. The exercise area is located on the lower level, seen here as the front half of the level occupied by a crew member. This small volume does not allow for numerous or bulky exercise machines, so the conceptual equipment has been limited to a treadmill and stationary bicycle. With the most current treadmill aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), being located in an International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR), the bottom of the conceptual treadmill features a height of 38in. Making the treadmill flush with the floor would be impossible in this rack configuration, as the distance from the outer wall of the spacecraft to the bottom floor would be too shallow. From preliminary sizing, the 38in required for the bottom of the treadmill combined with a 78in operational envelope for a 95th percentile may not be accommodated in the exercise area in a vertical orientation. Figure 2 demonstrates the volume required (in maroon) for an ISPR-bound treadmill in the concept demonstrator. Early indications as seen in this figure indicate that the crew members would contact the ceiling in such an arrangement. An assessment will be conducted to evaluate various orientations of exercise equipment in the concept demonstrator. Orientations to be tested include putting the bottom of the treadmill on the wall, having the treadmill at an angle in the floor both horizontally and vertically, and having a shorter (non-rack bound) treadmill in a vertical orientation on the floor. This assessment will yield findings regarding sizing of the area and how well participants feel they could exercise in such an environment. Due to the restrictions of assessing a microgravity vehicle in a normal-gravity environment, simulations in MSFC's Virtual Environments Lab (VEL) may be necessary. Final deliverables will include recommendations regarding the location and size of possible exercise equipment aboard the SLS-Derived DSH.

Rhodes, Brooke M.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Outer Planet Exploration with Advanced Radioisotope Electric Propulsion

In response to a request by the NASA Deep Space Exploration Technology Program, NASA Glenn Research Center conducted a study to identify advanced technology options to perform a Pluto/Kuiper mission without depending on a 2004 Jupiter Gravity Assist, but still arriving before 2020. A concept using a direct trajectory with small, sub-kilowatt ion thrusters and Stirling radioisotope power systems was shown to allow the same or smaller launch vehicle class as the chemical 2004 baseline and allow a launch slip and still flyby in the 2014 to 2020 timeframe. With this promising result the study was expanded to use a radioisotope power source for small electrically propelled orbiter spacecraft for outer planet targets such as Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Oleson, Steven↗

NASA NTRS2020

X-HAB 2020 Academic Innovation Challenge: Next Generation User Interfaces for Gateway Autonomous Operations

NASA’s Gateway seeks to establish an autonomous platform in support of Artemis mission (boots on ground 2024). It is used to refine and mature short and long-duration deep space exploration capabilities through the 2020s. It is expected to be assembled in a lunar orbit where it can be used as a staging point for missions to the Moon and other destinations in deep space. Gateway can evolve for different mission needs involving exploration, science, commercial and international partners. User interfaces for autonomous systems is an emerging area where knowledge and implementation concepts are still in their infancy.

J. Cecil↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's In Space Manufacturing Initiatives: Conquering the Challenges of In-Space Manufacturing

Current maintenance logistics strategy will not be effective for deep space exploration missions. ISM (In Space Manufacturing) offers the potential to: Significantly reduce maintenance logistics mass requirements; Enable the use of recycled materials and in-situ resources for more dramatic reductions in mass requirements; Enable flexibility, giving systems a broad capability to adapt to unanticipated circumstances; Mitigate risks that are not covered by current approaches to maintainability. Multiple projects are underway currently to develop and validate these capabilities for infusion into ISM exploration systems. ISS is a critical testbed for demonstrating ISM technologies, proving out these capabilities, and performing operational validation of deep space ISM applications. Developing and testing FabLab is a major milestone for springboard to DSG/Cis-lunar Space applications. ISM is a necessary paradigm shift in space operations – design for repair culture must be embraced. ISM team needs to be working with exploration system designers now to identify high-value application areas and influence design.

Clinton, R. G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2013

NanoTHOR: Low-Cost Launch of Nanosatellites to Deep Space

The rapid development of high-performance nanosatellite platforms is enabling NASA and commercial ventures to consider performing missions to the asteroids, the Moon, and Mars at lower cost and on shorter timelines than traditional large spacecraft platforms. Currently, however, opportunities to launch secondary payloads to Earth escape are rare, and using chemical rockets to propel secondary payloads from LEO rideshares to escape is problematic due to the risks posed to primary payloads. The NanoTHOR effort has explored the technical feasibility and value proposition for using a simple momentum-exchange tether system to scavenge orbital energy from an upper stage in geostationary transfer orbit in order to boost nanosatellites to Earth escape. A NanoTHOR module will accomplish rapid transfer of a nanosatellite to an escape trajectory by deploying the nanosat at the end of a long, slender, high-strength tether and then using winching in the Earth's gravity!gradient to convert orbital angular momentum into rotational angular momentum. In the Phase I effort, we developed and simulated methods for controlling tether deployment and retraction to spin up a tether system, and these simulations demonstrated the feasibility of providing delta-Vs on the order of 800 m/s with a simple, low-mass tether system. Moreover, the NanoTHOR tether can act as a reusable in-space upper stage, boosting multiple nanosatellites on a single launch and doing so with a mass requirement lower than that of conventional rocket technologies. Serving as an escape-injection stage, NanoTHOR can enable a 6U CubeSat to deliver small payloads to Mars orbit, lunar orbit, and rendezvous with at least 110 of the known near-Earth asteroids. Evaluation of the technology readiness of the component technologies required for NanoTHOR indicate that the hardware required is all mid-TRL, and the lower-TRL controls and integration components can be advanced to mid-TRL with modest investment. By scavenging orbital energy from upper stages without any stored energy or propellant requirements, NanoTHOR permits deep-space nanosat missions to launch on rideshare opportunities, enabling NASA and commercial ventures to conduct affordable and frequent missions to explore deep space destinations.

Hoyt, Robert↗

NASA NTRS2017

Exploration Mission Particulate Matter Filtration Technology Performance Testing in a Simulated Spacecraft Cabin Ventilation System

Human deep space exploration missions will require advances in long-life, low maintenance airborne particulate matter filtration technology. As one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) developments in this area, a prototype of a new regenerable, multi-stage particulate matter filtration technology was tested in an International Space Station (ISS) module simulation facility. As previously reported, the key features of the filter system include inertial and media filtration with regeneration and in-place media replacement techniques. The testing facility can simulate aspects of the cabin environment aboard the ISS and contains flight-like cabin ventilation system components. The filtration technology test article was installed at the inlet of the central ventilation system duct and instrumented to provide performance data under nominal flow conditions. In-place regeneration operations were also evaluated. The real-time data included pressure drop across the filter stages, process air flow rate, ambient pressure, humidity and temperature. In addition, two video cameras positioned at the filtration technology test articles inlet and outlet were used to capture the mechanical performance of the filter media indexing operation under varying air flow rates. Recent test results are presented and future design recommendations are discussed.

particulate matter filtration↗

NASA NTRS2018

Payload Accommodations in NASA's Space Launch System, Block 1 and Beyond

As part of NASA's new deep space exploration system, the Space Launch System (SLS) will provide the United States with guaranteed access to deep space and an unparalleled capability for launching primary and co-manifested payloads beyond Earth's orbit. Planned missions for the new SLS family of vehicles include launching the Orion spacecraft and elements of the new Gateway astronaut-tended outpost to lunar orbit and sending robotic probes deep into the solar system, such as to Jupiter's moon Europa. If mission parameters allow, secondary payloads in 6U, 12U or larger sizes will also have rideshare opportunities, providing CubeSats with access to deep space. The SLS vehicle will evolve into progressively more powerful variants with fairings in several sizes available to meet an array of mission needs. Superior mass, volume and characteristic energy (C3) enable sending larger, heavier payloads to a variety of destinations. Several elements of the Block 1 vehicle for the first mission, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) are complete and have been delivered to the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), which has responsibility for integrating and launching the vehicle. Contractors are already at work manufacturing the second Block 1 vehicle and incorporating numerous lessons learned in manufacturing America's first super heavy-lift deep space rocket since the Apollo Program's Saturn V enabled humankind to take a giant leap forward.

Schorr, Andrew A.↗

NASA NTRS2000

An Integrated Exploration Strategy

This document presents in viewgraph form the opportunities, challenges, core capabilities and technologies involved in human deep space exploration.

Conley, Michael↗

NASA NTRS2001

Nanotube-based Sensors and Systems for Outer Planetary Exploration

Direct sensing and processing at the nanometer scale offer NASA the opportunity to expand its capabilities in deep space exploration, particularly for the search for signatures of life, the analysis of planetary oceans and atmospheres, and communications systems. Carbon nanotubes, with their unique mechanical, electrical, and radiation-tolerant properties, are a promising tool for this exploration. We are developing devices based on carbon nanotubes, including sensors, actuators, and oscillators. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Noca, F.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Space Launch System and Missions to Near Rectilinear Halo Orbits

The first major evolution of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) will begin its flights starting in the mid-2020’s. This new configuration, called Block 1B, replaces the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage with a larger Exploration Upper Stage (EUS). The additional capability provided by the new upper stage will allow SLS to send heavier payloads into deep space. One destination of interest to the SLS program is called a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). This is a type of lunar orbit with multiple advantages for deep space exploration. These benefits include Earth/lunar access, low station-keeping requirements, and high communication potential with Earth. Therefore, it is a leading candidate for the proposed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G). This paper will provide a detailed assessment of the SLS Block 1B requirements and capabilities for sending payloads to an NRHO. Analysts at Marshall Space Flight Center are producing a multi-year mission availability scan for the SLS Block 1B configuration to a predefined NRHO orbit. The analysis produces an optimized trajectory for each day of the scan window. A maximized payload and minimized propellant requirement are determined for each day. All maneuvers from launch to the end of the Trans-Lunar-Injection (TLI) are being modeled as finite burns. Injections into an NRHO are being modeled as impulsive maneuvers. The payload element is arbitrary, but includes sufficient mass to represent a large habitat or propulsion module. The resulting parameters of payload capability, delta-v requirements, and launch windows length vary over the course of the scan. Many launch days in the scan are eliminated in post-processing as they violate mission constraints such as payload mass and propellant usage to insert into an NRHO. Based off previous one-year scan results for the SLS Block 1B Design Analysis Cycle 2 (DAC-2), it is expected that there will be one to three days per week where the payload is able to insert into an NRHO within SLS constraints objectives. This scan provides results for longer than one-year, allowing analysts to better understand the launch availability and energy requirements of SLS Block 1B over time. The in-space mission design and scans utilize Copernicus, an n-body trajectory optimization tool originally developed out of the University of Texas at Austin with further development at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. To seed the in-space trajectory, Copernicus uses a plugin to call a database of SLS ascent trajectories optimized in the Program to Simulate Optimized Trajectories II (POST2). The ascent trajectories are developed using a framework that parametrizes payload mass and LEO inclination, and targets a 100 nmi (nautical mile) altitude circular parking orbit. Though this analysis is specific to the SLS program, it will provide a summary of mission design benefits and constraints associated with generic NRHO access, and may be applied to other programs or concepts that will utilize this orbit.

Statham, T. L.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

BioSentinel: Leading the Way for Deep Space CubeSat Missions

Flagship science missions are not alone in Deep Space thanks to BioSentinel, a 6U spacecraft launched on Artemis-1. BioSentinel is one of the longest operating CubeSats beyond cislunar space. The subsystems and COTS components of the BioSentinel bus are a template for future deep space missions, and the lessons learned from over a year of operations will enable improved performance for the next missions. BioSentinel achieved its unprecedented performance for an SLS secondary payload due to preparation, planning, and a robust design. Pre-launch antenna and interface testing with both DSN and ESA confirmed command and data pathways and allowed for operational flexibility in the critical early hours post-deployment. Mission Operations simulations prior to launch identified potential risks and primed operators to respond in flight, preparing the team to react quickly to successfully detumble the spacecraft and enter a power-positive state. The spacecraft would not have survived without the inclusion of the trailblazing 3D-printed composite cold gas propulsion system. The non-standard tank geometry enabled efficient use of the limited space available in the CubeSat, as well as the capability to detumble the spacecraft and manage momentum, while providing sufficient margin to execute potential delta-V maneuvers. The Iris radio has operated for over 18 months with no significant issues. Initial Iris performance estimates have been accurate throughout the mission. BioSentinel continues to collect data on thermal conditions and to validate our performance models with real-world knowledge. We have received exemplary support from our DSN partners. Following the conclusion of the primary science mission, the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) Spectrometer continued to collect solar and galactic radiation data from its location in heliocentric orbit. The free space dataset offered by the BioSentinel LET is a valuable source of data for model validation and future mission planning. As the spacecraft travels farther from Earth it is poised to provide longitudinally distributed measurements of solar particle events during solar maximum. The lessons learned from BioSentinel suggest key areas to enhance performance. The ability to upload modified flight software can increase the stability of memory management. Additional heaters in the propulsion system design have already proven successful on the Starling mission. Streamlining mission operations can reduce costs, increase data return, and better utilize DSN time. Enhancements such as these will facilitate reliable, long-duration deep space exploration using the proven BioSentinel 6U CubeSat bus.

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRS2019

Sensor Configuration Trade Study for Navigation in near Rectilinear Halo Orbits

Gateway is a NASA program planned to support a human space explorationand prove new technologies for deep space exploration. One of the Gatewayrequirements is to operate in the absence of communications with the Deep SpaceNetwork (DSN) for a period of at least 3 weeks. In this paper three types ofonboard sensors (a camera for optical navigation, a GPS receiver, and X-ray navigation),are considered to enhance its autonomy and reduce the reliance on DSN.A trade study is conducted to explore alternatives on how to achieve autonomy andhow to reduce DSN dependency while satisfying navigation performance requirements.Using linear covariance analysis, the performance of a navigation systemusing DSN and/or the other sensors is shown.

Gateway↗