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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Repurposing Drilling Control Diagnostics for Subsurface Edge Detection and Boundary Advisement During Planetary Drilling

Informed decision-making during lunar drilling and sampling missions will require data monitoring tools and specialized ground data systems. Accurate and updated situational awareness, with ongoing data monitoring, is critical for timely responses by to incoming science data. Traverse plans and scheduled activities may need to be flexibly changed in order to react to unexpected data or situations. Unlike (for example) Mars missions, the relative lightspeed closeness of the Moon allows for near-real-time ground processing of incoming mission and instrument data. An Apollo-class lunar regolith drill will in a sense “travel” a meter or two vertically at a given subsurface characterization site. As the drill penetrates into lunar regolith, it is likely to encounter a range of material densities, orientations, fracture toughness, and (perhaps) ice percentages. Lunar drill telemetry can provide science teams with a valuable first look into the subsurface structure, the regolith bulk properties, and constituents at each drilled site. Real-time AI-based recognition and reaction to downhole situations has been developed for automated deeper drilling on Mars and beyond. We can leverage the same knowledge bases and pattern-matching as areal-time interpreter of the subsurface, a situational awareness tool during drilling operations. We recently (Sept. 2019) demonstrated this AI drilling monitoring and analysis capability, in control of in-situ drilling and sampling operations, mounted on a KREX-2 rover in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Terrestrial automated drilling log analyses in oil exploration have used similar machine learning techniques in classifying and identifying features in drilling logs –but these typically are designed assuming a drilling fluid influencing downhole measurements and data (permeability, resistivity). Drilling models and existing AI software designed to detect and respond to drilling faults and hard materials can be repurposed, for near-real-time (ground-based) interpretation of drilling telemetry –a potentially valuable advisory tool for strata boundaries and changes in drilling parameters. On the Moon, this approach could be used to study the structure and to some extent the composition of lunar regolith vs. borehole depth, based on recognizable variations in fracture hardness, drilling energy and penetration rates while actively drilling. Since the early 2000s, a series of increasingly-capable real-time drilling telemetry interpretation and characterization software tools have been developed. These subsurface models and software tools have monitored the real-time drilling data received, and automatically identified changes in drill behavior (e.g., encountering a harder target layer, bit inclusions, drill choking due to infall downhole, and others) correlating these with subsurface structures and features. We discuss the mappings between drill borehole parameters, faults or events detected, and modeled changes in rock layer boundaries, in examples drawn from field testing at analog sites in an Arctic impact crater, Rio Tinto, and Chile’s Atacama Desert. These demonstrate how subsurface structural boundaries led to fault detections and responses by the software.

drilling advisor↗
NASA NTRS2010

Blunt-Body Entry Vehicle Aerothermodynamics: Transition and Turbulence on the CEV and MSL Configurations

Recent, current, and planned NASA missions that employ blunt-body entry vehicles pose aerothermodynamic problems that challenge the state-of-the art of experimental and computational methods. The issues of boundary-layer transition and turbulent heating on the heat shield have become important in the designs of both the Mars Science Laboratory and Crew Exploration Vehicle. While considerable experience in these general areas exists, that experience is mainly derived from simple geometries; e.g. sharp-cones and flat-plates, or from lifting bodies such as the Space Shuttle Orbiter. For blunt-body vehicles, application of existing data, correlations, and comparisons is questionable because an all, or mostly, subsonic flow field is produced behind the bow shock, as compared to the supersonic (or even hypersonic) flow of other configurations. Because of the need for design and validation data for projects such as MSL and CEV, many new experimental studies have been conducted in the last decade to obtain detailed boundary-layer transition and turbulent heating data on this class of vehicle. In this paper, details of several of the test programs are reviewed. The laminar and turbulent data from these various test are shown to correlate in terms of edge-based Stanton and Reynolds number functions. Correlations are developed from the data for transition onset and turbulent heating augmentation as functions of momentum thickness Reynolds number. These correlation can be employed as engineering-level design and analysis tools.

Hollis, Brian R.↗
NASA NTRS2011

A Phobos-Deimos Mission as an Element of the NASA Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0

NASA has conducted a series of mission studies over the past 25 years examining the eventual exploration of the surface of Mars by humans. The latest version of this evolutionary series of design reference missions/architectures - Design Reference Architecture 5 or DRA-5 - was completed in 2007. This paper examines the implications of including a human mission to explore the moons of Mars and teleoperate robots in various locations, but not to land the human crews on Mars, as an element of this reference architecture. Such a mission has been proposed several times during this same 25 year evolution leading up to the completion of DRA-5 primarily as a mission of testing the in-space vehicles and operations while surface vehicles and landers are under development. But such a precursor or test mission has never been explicitly included as an element of this Architecture. This paper will first summarize the key features of the DRA-5 to provide context for the remainder of the assessment. This will include a description of the in-space vehicles that would be the subject of a shakedown test during the Mars orbital mission. A decision tree will be used to illustrate the factors that will be analyzed, and the sequence in which they will be addressed, for this assessment. The factors that will be analyzed include the type of interplanetary transfer orbit (opposition class versus conjunction class), the type of parking orbit (circular versus elliptical), and the type of propulsion technology (high thrust chemical versus nuclear thermal rocket). The manner in which each of these factors impacts an individual mission will be described. In addition to the direct impact of these factors, additional considerations impacting crew health and overall programmatic outcomes will be discussed. Numerical results for each of the factors in the decision tree will be grouped with derived qualitative impacts from crew health and programmatic consideration. These quantitative and qualitative results will be summarized in a pros/cons table as a summary for this analysis.

Hoffman, Stephen J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

DSMS investment in support of satellite constellations and formation flying

Over the years, NASA has supported unmanned space missions, beyond earth orbit, through a Deep Space Mission System (DSMS) that is developed and operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and subcontractors. The DSMS capabilities have been incrementally upgraded since its establishment in the late '50s and are delivered primarily through three Deep Space Communications Complexes (DSCC 's) near Goldstone, California, Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia and from facilities at JPL. Traditionally, mission support (tracking, command, telemetry, etc) is assigned on an individual-mission basis, between each mission and a ground-based asset, independent of other missions. As NASA, and its international partners, move toward flying fullconstellations and precision formations, the DSMS is developing plans and technologies to provide the requisite support. The key activities under way are: (1) integrated communications architecture for Mars exploration, including relays on science orbiters and dedicated relay satellites to provide continuous coverage for orbiters, landers and rovers. JPL is developing an architecture, as well as protocols and equipment, required for the cost-effective operations of such an infrastructure. (2) Internet-type protocols that will allow for efficient operations across the deep-space distances, accounting for and accommodating the long round-trip-light-time. JPL is working with the CCSDS to convert these protocols to an international standard and will deploy such protocol, the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP), on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and on the Deep Impact (01) missions. (3) Techniques to perform cross-navigation between spacecrafi that fly in a loose formation. Typical cases are cross-navigation between missions that approach Mars and missionsthat are at Mars, or the determination of a baseline for missions that fly in an earth-lead- lag configuration. (4) Techniques and devices that allow the precise metrology and controllability of tightformations for precision constellation missions. In this paper we discuss the four classes of constellatiodformation support with emphasis of DSMS current status (technology and implementation) and plans in the first three areas.

space operations↗
NASA NTRS2018

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

Designed to provide the significant capability required for human deep-space exploration, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) also provides a unique opportunity for lower-cost deep-space science in the form of small-satellite secondary payloads. This opportunity will be leveraged beginning with the rocket’s first flight; a launch of the vehicle’s Block 1 configuration, capable of delivering 70 metric tons (70t - tonnes) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which will see the Orion crew vehicle travel around the moon and return to Earth. On that flight, SLS will also deploy 13 6U (6 Unit) CubeSat-class payloads to multiple destinations including deep space. These secondary payloads will include not only NASA research, but also spacecraft from international partners, industry and academia. The payloads represent a variety of disciplines including, but not limited to, studies of the moon, Earth, sun, and asteroids, along with technology demonstrations that could pave the way for even more ambitious smallsat missions in the future. As the SLS Program is making significant progress toward that first launch, preparations are already under way for future missions, which will see the booster evolve to its more-capable Block 1B configuration, able to deliver 105t to LEO. That configuration will have the capability to carry large payloads co-manifested with the Orion spacecraft, or to utilize an 8.4-meter (m) fairing to carry payloads several times larger than are currently possible. The Block 1B vehicle will be the workhorse of the Proving Ground phase of NASA’s deep-space exploration plans, developing and testing the systems and capabilities necessary for human missions into deep space and ultimately to Mars. Ultimately, the vehicle will evolve to its full Block 2 configuration, with a LEO capability of 130 metric tons. Both the Block 1B and Block 2 versions of the vehicle will be able to carry larger secondary payloads than the Block 1 configuration, creating even more opportunities for affordable scientific exploration of deep space. This paper will outline the progress being made toward flying smallsats on the first flight of SLS, and discuss future opportunities for smallsats on subsequent flights.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Post Irradiation Evaluation of Thermal Control Coatings and Solid Lubricants to Support Fission Surface Power Systems

The development of a nuclear power system for space missions, such as the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter or a lunar outpost, requires substantially more compact reactor design than conventional terrestrial systems. In order to minimize shielding requirements and hence system weight, the radiation tolerance of component materials within the power conversion and heat rejection systems must be defined. Two classes of coatings, thermal control paints and solid lubricants, were identified as material systems for which limited radiation hardness information was available. Screening studies were designed to explore candidate coatings under a predominately fast neutron spectrum. The Ohio State Research Reactor Facility staff performed irradiation in a well characterized, mixed energy spectrum and performed post irradiation analysis of representative coatings for thermal control and solid lubricant applications. Thermal control paints were evaluated for 1 MeV equivalent fluences from 10(exp 13) to 10(exp 15) n per square centimeters. No optical degradation was noted although some adhesive degradation was found at higher fluence levels. Solid lubricant coatings were evaluated for 1 MeV equivalent fluences from 10(exp 15) to 10(exp 16) n per square centimeters with coating adhesion and flexibility used for post irradiation evaluation screening. The exposures studied did not lead to obvious property degradation indicating the coatings would have survived the radiation environment for the previously proposed Jupiter mission. The results are also applicable to space power development programs such as fission surface power for future lunar and Mars missions.

Bowman, Cheryl L.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Logistics Reduction Technologies for Exploration Missions

Human exploration missions under study are limited by the launch mass capacity of existing and planned launch vehicles. The logistical mass of crew items is typically considered separate from the vehicle structure, habitat outfitting, and life support systems. Although mass is typically the focus of exploration missions, due to its strong impact on launch vehicle and habitable volume for the crew, logistics volume also needs to be considered. NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project is developing six logistics technologies guided by a systems engineering cradle-to-grave approach to enable after-use crew items to augment vehicle systems. Specifically, AES LRR is investigating the direct reduction of clothing mass, the repurposing of logistical packaging, the use of autonomous logistics management technologies, the processing of spent crew items to benefit radiation shielding and water recovery, and the conversion of trash to propulsion gases. Reduction of mass has a corresponding and significant impact to logistical volume. The reduction of logistical volume can reduce the overall pressurized vehicle mass directly, or indirectly benefit the mission by allowing for an increase in habitable volume during the mission. The systematic implementation of these types of technologies will increase launch mass efficiency by enabling items to be used for secondary purposes and improve the habitability of the vehicle as mission durations increase. Early studies have shown that the use of advanced logistics technologies can save approximately 20 m(sup 3) of volume during transit alone for a six-person Mars conjunction class mission.

Broyan, James L., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Exploration of Planetary Skylights and Tunnels

While planetary pits and caves have been fiction for a century, they have been seen from orbit only in the last few years. These discoveries exceed the fantasies in diversity, scale, and abundance. For pits and caves, this is the age of discovery, ranging from a few pits on the Moon and Mars in 2009 to hundreds within the time of this research, with many more to come. Pits with subsurface voids have been confirmed on the Moon and Mars and indicated on Venus, Phobos, Eros, Gaspra, Ida, Enceladus, and Europa. Compelling next steps are surface and subsurface exploration.Pits and caves are opportunistic study targets for unique origins, geology, and climate that will broadly impact planetary science. Holes on Mars are of particular interest because their interior caves are relatively protected from the harsh surface, making them good candidates to contain Martian life. Pits are prime targets for possible future spacecraft, robots, and even human interplanetary explorers. Caves and caverns could be ready-_made shelters for future Moon and Mars explorers and colonists. Discoveries to date look down from on high with satellites but cannot reveal the wonders of caves. They cannot enter, touch, or view pits up close. Genuine exploration is only achievable through surface missions. Robotic missions can assess suitability for safe entry and habitation, plus inform techniques for developing subsurface infrastructure.Missions into planetary voids redefine the future of exploration, science, and habitation beyond Earth. We can reach this future only by targeting specific technological advancement now. Prior missions and current roadmap priorities target regions of benign terrain. While in-cave concepts have been postulated, the critical technologies have not been identified and demonstrated.While robotic exploration of skylights and caves can seek out life, investigate geology and origins, and open the subsurface of other worlds to humankind, it is a daunting venture. Planetary voids present perilous terrain requiring innovative technologies for access, exploration, and modeling. These same technologies are broadly applicable to explorations of rough and/or subsurface planetary environments, including caves, craters, cliffs, and rock fields. This research speculates on the possibilities and means of such exploration with fundamental contributions to exploring, modeling, and visualizing this new class of large-scale, highly three-dimensional concave planetary features.

Whittaker, Red↗
NASA NTRS1994

Fast Track NTR Systems Assessment for NASA's First Lunar Outpost Scenario

Integrated systems and mission study results are presented which quantify the rationale and benefits for developing and using nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) technology for returning humans to the moon in the early 2000's. At present, the Exploration Program Office (ExPO) is considering chemical propulsion for its 'First Lunar Outpost' (FLO) mission, and NTR propulsion for the more demanding Mars missions to follow. The use of an NTR-based lunar transfer stage, capable of evolving to Mars mission applications, could result in an accelerated schedule, reduced cost approach to moon/Mars exploration. Lunar mission applications would also provide valuable operational experience and serve as a 'proving ground' for NTR engine and stage technologies. In terms of performance benefits, studies indicate that an expendable NTR stage powered by two 50 klbf engines can deliver approximately 96 metric tons (t) to trans-lunar injection (TLI) conditions for an initial mass in low earth orbit (IMLEO) of approximately 199 t compared to 250 t for a cryogenic chemical TLI stage. The NTR stage liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank has a 10 m diameter, 14.8 m length, and 68 t LH2 capacity. The NTR utilizes a 'graphite' fuel form consisting of coated UC2 particles in a graphite substrate, and has a specific impulse capability of approximately 870 s, and an engine thrust-to-weight ratio of approximately 4.8. The NTR stage and its piloted FLO lander has a total length of approximately 38 m and can be launched by a single Saturn V-derived heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV) in the 200 to 250 t-class range. The paper summarizes NASA's First Lunar Outpost scenario, describes characteristics for representative engine/stage configurations, and examines the impact on engine selection and vehicle design resulting from a consideration of alternative NTR fuel forms and lunar mission profiles.

Borowski, Stanley K.↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA's Space Launch System Advanced Booster Development

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is making progress toward delivering a new capability for human space flight and scientific missions beyond Earth orbit. NASA is executing this development within flat budgetary guidelines by using existing engines assets and heritage technology to ready an initial 70 metric ton (t) lift capability for launch in 2017, and then employing a block upgrade approach to evolve a 130-t capability after 2021. A key component of the SLS acquisition plan is a three-phased approach for the first-stage boosters. The first phase is to expedite the 70-t configuration by completing development of the Space Shuttle heritage 5-segment solid rocket boosters (SRBs) for the initial flights of SLS. Since no existing boosters can meet the performance requirements for the 130-t class SLS, the next phases of the strategy focus on the eventual development of advanced boosters with an expected thrust class potentially double the current 5-segment solid rocket booster capability of 3.88 million pounds of thrust each. The second phase in the booster acquisition plan is the Advanced Booster Engineering Demonstration and/or Risk Reduction (ABEDRR) effort, for which contracts were awarded beginning in 2012 after a full and open competition, with a stated intent to reduce risks leading to an affordable advanced booster. NASA has awarded ABEDRR contracts to four industry teams, which are looking into new options for liquid-fuel booster engines, solid-fuel-motor propellants, and composite booster structures. Demonstrations and/or risk reduction efforts were required to be related to a proposed booster concept directly applicable to fielding an advanced booster. This paper will discuss the status of this acquisition strategy and its results toward readying both the 70 t and 130 t configurations of SLS. The third and final phase will be a full and open competition for Design, Development, Test, and Evaluation (DDT&E) of the advanced boosters. These new boosters will enable the flexible path approach to deep space exploration, opening up vast opportunities for human missions to near-Earth asteroids and Mars. This evolved capability will offer large volume for science missions and payloads, will be modular and flexible, and will be right-sized for mission requirements.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Ceres Planetary Mission Concept Study: Exploration of Ceres' Habitability

Dwarf planet Ceres is a compelling target as an evolved ocean world with recent and potentially ongoing geological activity. As the most water-rich body in the inner solar system after Earth (in absolute abundance), it is a representative of the population of planetesimals that brought volatiles and organics to the inner solar system. And, situated in the Main Belt of Asteroids, it is accessible enough to return a sample from within the resources of a typical medium-class (New Frontiers) NASA mission. Habitability is addressed via a combination of geological, geophysical, and compositional investigations. Past and ongoing activity is addressed via high-resolution imaging and gravity measurements from orbit near landforms interpreted as volcanic structures based on the Dawn observations. The depth of deep brines would be probed via electromagnetic sounding. Sample return would enable a vast range of experimental techniques to be applied with sensitivities and accuracies beyond those feasible with in situ instruments and would benefit from future facilities developments. Sample return could be executed with a single flight system with solar electric propulsion. The baseline design of the sample return capsule is inherited from the OSIRIS-REx mission. This concept also relies on the availability of key technologies: an enhanced landing vision system leveraging investments for Mars 2020; retractable/redeployable solar arrays, which have been demonstrated on the International Space Station but not at Ceres’ gravity; and a new design for sample transfer from the pneumatic sampling system to the sample return capsule based off Honeybee Robotics’ design for the MMX mission. The authors acknowledge support from NASA’s Planetary Mission Concept Study program. The information in this abstract is pre-decisional and is provided for planning and discussion purposes only.

K. E. Miller↗
NASA NTRS2017

Risk of Cardiac Rhythm Problems During Spaceflight

NASA has concerns regarding the incidence and clinical significance of cardiac arrhythmias that could occur during long-term exposure to the spaceflight environment, such as on the International Space Station (ISS) or during a prolonged (e.g., up to 3 years) sojourn to Mars or on the Moon. There have been some anecdotal reports and a few documented cases of cardiac arrhythmias in space, including one documented episode of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. The potential catastrophic nature of a sudden cardiac death in the remote space environment has led to concerns from the early days of the space program that spaceflight might be arrhythmogenic. Indeed, there are known and well-defined changes in the cardiovascular system with spaceflight: a) plasma volume is reduced, b) left ventricular mass is decreased, and c) the autonomic nervous system adapts to the weightless environment. Combined, these physiologic adaptations suggest that changes in cardiac structure and neuro-humoral environment during spaceflight could alter electrical conduction, although the evidence supporting this contention consists mostly of minor changes in QT interval (the time between the start of the Q wave and the end of the T wave on an electrocardiogram tracing) in a small number of astronauts after long-duration spaceflight. Concurrent with efforts by NASA Medical Operations to refine and improve screening techniques relevant to arrhythmias and cardiovascular disease, as NASA enters the era of exploration-class missions it will be critical to determine with the highest degree of certainty whether spaceflight by itself alters cardiac structure and function sufficiently to increase the risk of arrhythmias.

Lee, Stuart M. C.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Thermal Design and Analysis of the Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test Vehicle for the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator Project

The thermal design and analysis of the experimental Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test (SFDT) vehicle is presented. The SFDT vehicle is currently being designed as a platform to help demonstrate key technologies for NASA's Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project. The LDSD project is charged by NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) with the task of advancing the state of the art in Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems by developing and testing three new technologies required for landing heavier payloads on Mars. The enabling technologies under development consist of a large 33.5 meter diameter Supersonic Ringsail (SSRS) parachute and two different types of Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD) devices - a robotic class, SIAD-R, that inflates to a 6 meter diameter torus, and an exploration class, SIAD-E, that inflates to an 8 meter diameter isotensoid. As part of the technology development effort, the various elements of the new supersonic decelerator system must be tested in a Mars-like environment. This is currently planned to be accomplished by sending a series of SFDT vehicles into Earth's stratosphere. Each SFDT vehicle will be lifted to a stable float altitude by a large helium carrier balloon. Once at altitude, the SFDT vehicles will be released from their carrier balloon and spun up via spin motors to provide trajectory stability. An onboard third stage solid rocket motor will propel each test vehicle to supersonic flight in the upper atmosphere. After main engine burnout, each vehicle will be despun and testing of the deceleration system will begin: first an inflatable decelerator will be deployed around the aeroshell to increase the drag surface area, and then the large parachute will be deployed to continue the deceleration and return the vehicle back to the Earth's surface. The SFDT vehicle thermal system must passively protect the vehicle structure and its components from cold temperatures experienced during the ascent phase of the mission as well as from the extreme heat fluxes produced during the supersonic test phase by the main motor plume and aeroheating. The passive thermal design approach for the SFDT vehicle relies upon careful and complex bounding analysis of all three modes of heat transfer - conduction, convection, and radiation - coupled with a tightly managed transient power dissipation timeline for onboard electronics components throughout all mission phases.

thermal desktop↗
NASA NTRS2021

Assessing Ceres’ Past and Current Habitability

Dwarf planet Ceres is a compelling target as an evolved ocean world with, at least, regional brine reservoirs and potentially ongoing geological activity. Situated in the Main Belt of asteroids, Ceres is the most water-rich body in the inner solar system (in relative abundance) and is accessible enough for a sample return with the resources of a typical medium-class (New Frontiers) NASA mission. NASA’s Dawn mission at Ceres revealed the presence of liquid, brine-driven activity, organic matter, and a rich salt chemistry. With this evidence, the overarching goals of the mission concept presented herein are to quantify Ceres’ current habitability potential and origin. A sample return from young evaporite deposits in Occator crater offers greater science return than an in situ exploration mission by enabling high-resolution analysis of (1) organic matter expected from terrestrial and chondritic analogs that are trapped in salt minerals and (2) isotopes of refractory elements for a similar cost and less science risk. The sample return concept would be executed with a single flight system due to Ceres’ relative proximity to Earth and low gravity. Solar electric propulsion was identified as the most cost-effective approach for getting to Ceres and back. De-orbiting, landing, and takeoff are performed with a throttleable monopropellant hydrazine system. The solar arrays are stowed prior to landing and takeoff. Sample acquisition builds on the pneumatic system designed by Honeybee Robotics. The sample return mission concept relies on the availability of key technologies: an enhanced landing vision system leveraging investments from Mars 2020; retractable/redeployable solar arrays, which have been demonstrated on the International Space Station but not at Ceres’ gravity; and an emerging design from upcoming missions for sample transfer from the pneumatic sampling system to the sample return capsule. Return of a sample of mass ~100 g from Ceres, maintained at ≤ -20°C, is without precedent for any currently advocated Ocean World mission, enabling a vast range of experimental techniques back on Earth with sensitivities and accuracies far beyond those feasible with in situ instruments. A sample of this size also enables analyses to benefit from techniques that will become available in the future.

Casillas, Raul Polit↗
NASA NTRS2017

Transformers for Lunar Extreme Environments: Ensuring Long-Term Operations in Regions of Darkness and Low Temperatures: II - Phase

This report shows how solar power could enable robotic operations in permanently shaded regions at lunar poles, to extract water ice and further produce liquid hydrogen and oxygen (LH2/LO2) propellant. The power needs are derived from an Architecture for Human Exploration of Mars based entirely on lunar propellant. The extraction of 10 metric tons of water per day (at 10% water in regolith) requires approx. 0.6 MW thermal power. Additional approx. 2 MW electric power are required to produce 7.5 metric tons of LH2/LO2 propellant per day, as needed by the architecture. To provide power to processing equipment inside Shackleton Crater, optimal locations are determined on the crater rim, from which several reflecting TransFormers (TFs) would redirect sunlight, achieving a combined period of illumination of approx. 99% of the year. A single 40-m diameter reflector could provide up to 1 MW solar power. Inflatable rigidizable tower support structures raise reflectors above ground for better solar exposure. There are trade-offs: e.g., two reflectors at ground level would provide the same combined total illumination as a single tower approx. 100-m tall. Such a TF based on a 100-m tower made with inflatable 2-m beams and 40-m diameter reflectors would be of similar dimensions as an MSL-class rover (approx. 1000 kg, 10 m(exp 3)). A TF-prospector rover combo could be designed and deployed in a Discovery-class mission searching for water. The TransFormers would be nodes of a Lunar Utilities Infrastructure that provides solar power year-round in the proximity of the pole, as well as local data transmission andintermittent direct to earth communications. This infrastructure would be instrumental infacilitating the development of a lunar economy.

fuel↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Temporal Changes in Astronauts’ Muscle and Cardiorespiratory Physiology Before, During, and After Spaceflight

Background: NASA’s planned space exploration missions will require astronauts to safely perform extravehicular activity (EVA) and to safely egress vehicles in a variety of landing scenarios. Prolonged exposure to spaceflight can diminish tolerance for physical activity, decrease cardiovascular and sensorimotor function, cause loss of bone mineral density, as well as reduced muscle mass and strength. Although exercise can mitigate these spaceflight-induced physiological decrements, little is known regarding the time-course of changes in muscle and aerobic performance during spaceflight. Furthermore, these exercise countermeasures are not fully protective. For example, maximal aerobic capacity (VO2pk), lower body muscle cross-sectional area, and strength decrease by about 10% to 15% after short- (≈14 days) and long-duration (≈6 months) missions on the International Space Station (ISS). Future space missions longer in duration and further from Earth will employ exploration vehicles that will have exercise hardware with less robust and more constrained exercise capabilities than of those available on the ISS. Thus, countermeasures will need to be optimized to protect crew health and performance on exploration-class missions lasting up to 3 years. This requires a more detailed understanding of the dynamic effects of spaceflight on human health and performance, the ability of exercise to protect against this deconditioning, and the interaction of exercise with interrelated factors like nutrition, sleep, and environmental conditions. Methods: We will use standardized research and medical testing protocols previously validated in 1g and microgravity to quantify the time course and the inter-individual variability of changes in physical performance, including cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength and endurance, before, during, and after spaceflight missions lasting 2 months, 6 months, and 1 year. Additionally, we will use an extrapolation model to predict changes associated with multi-year exploration missions. Additionally, we will monitor in-flight exercise, nutrition, and sleep using in-flight assessment tools. Significance: Our testing protocols will provide valuable information for determining time course of change and the interindividual variability of spaceflight-induced deconditioning of aerobic capacity and muscle strength and endurance over the course of spaceflight missions up to and beyond 1 year. This information will be vital to assess whether humans can be physically ready for deep space exploration, such as on a mission to Mars, using current technology, or if additional mitigation strategies are necessary.

N Strock↗
NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Space Launch System: A Transformative Capability for Deep Space Missions

Already making substantial progress toward its first launches, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) exploration-class launch vehicle presents game-changing new opportunities in spaceflight, enabling human exploration of deep space, as well as a variety of missions and mission profiles that are currently impossible. Today, the initial configuration of SLS, able to deliver more than 70 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO), is well into final production and testing ahead of its planned first flight, which will send NASA’s new Orion crew vehicle around the moon and will deploy 13 CubeSats, representing multiple disciplines, into deep space. At the same time, production work is already underway toward the more-capable Block 1B configuration, planned to debut on the second flight of SLS, and capable of lofting 105 tons to LEO or of co-manifesting large exploration systems with Orion on launches to the lunar vicinity. Progress being made on the vehicle for that second flight includes initial welding of its core stage and testing of one of its engines, as well as development of new elements such as the powerful Exploration Upper Stage and the Universal Stage Adapter “payload bay.” Ultimately, SLS will evolve to a configuration capable of delivering more than 130 tons to LEO to support humans missions to Mars. In order to enable human deep-space exploration, SLS provides unrivaled mass, volume, and departure energy for payloads, offering numerous benefits for a variety of other missions. For robotic science probes to the outer solar system, for example, SLS can cut transit times to less than half that of currently available vehicles or substantially increased spacecraft mass. In the field of astrophysics, SLS’ high payload volume, in the form of payload fairings with a diameter of up to 10 meters, creates the opportunity for launch of large-aperture telescopes providing an unprecedented look at our universe. This presentation will give an overview of SLS’ capabilities and its current status, and discuss the vehicle’s potential for human exploration of deep space and other game-changing utilization opportunities.

Creech, Stephen D.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Multidisciplinary Analytics, Visualization, and Reporting Interface for Integrated Countermeasures

Exploration class missions will have communication latency requiring crew members to make decisions more autonomously, with less support from ground personnel. Therefore, new software is needed to provide crew the ability to not only visualize their countermeasures data, but to also derive comprehensive, nuanced, and multidisciplinary insights regarding the health and performance informatics throughout a mission. The Multidisciplinary Analytics, Visualization, and Reporting Interface for Integrated Countermeasures (MAVRIIC) software seeks to establish a centralized approach to countermeasure data visualization that will facilitate a more holistic understanding of crew members' well-being and performance and enable the development of informed and autonomous decision-making support systems aligned with the evolving requirements of Exploration missions. The culmination of MAVRIIC phase 1 (end of FY23) marked the release of a full-stack, cloud-based ground tool displaying visualizations of in-flight exercise data, exercise ground testing, and exercise MEDB reports. Phase 2 of MAVRIIC (FY24) focuses on beginning the expansion of data contents to domains outside of exercise, including functional fitness, sensorimotor, food/nutrition, radiation, bone, and cardio/vision. Phase 3 and phase 4 will comprise enhanced analytics integration and initiation of flight tool development for infusion into the Artemis Program and eventually the Mars Transit Habitat.

Kent Lawrence Kalogera↗