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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1996

Low-Cost Mission Operations

This paper discusses the transition between traditional planetary missions (requiring constant operational control and limited in size only by booster capability) and the cheaper missions of the New Millennium spacecraft, which will be smaller and will have a great deal of autonomy.

New Millennium spacecraft operations spacecraft au↗
NASA NTRS1994

(abstract) Science-Project Interaction in the Low-Cost Mission

Large, complex, and highly optimized missions have performed most of the preliminary reconnaisance of the solar system. As a result we have now mapped significant fractions of its total surface (or surface-equivalent) area. Now, however, scientific exploration of the solar system is undergoing a major change in scale, and existing missions find it necessary to limit costs while fulfilling existing goals. In the future, NASA's Discovery program will continue the reconnaisance, exploration, and diagnostic phases of planetary research using lower cost missions, which will include lower cost mission operations systems (MOS). Historically, one of the more expensive functions of MOS has been its interaction with the science community. Traditional MOS elements that this interaction have embraced include mission planning, science (and engineering) event conflict resolution, sequence optimization and integration, data production (e.g., assembly, enhancement, quality assurance, documentation, archive), and other science support services. In the past, the payoff from these efforts has been that use of mission resources has been highly optimized, constraining resources have been generally completely consumed, and data products have been accurate and well documented. But because these functions are expensive we are now challenged to reduce their cost while preserving the benefits. In this paper, we will consider ways of revising the traditional MOS approach that might save project resources while retaining a high degree of service to the Projects' customers. Pre-launch, science interaction can be made simplier by limiting numbers of instruments and by providing greater redundancy in mission plans. Post launch, possibilities include prioritizing data collection into a few categories, easing requirements on real-time of quick-look data delivery, and closer integration of scientists into the mission operation.

mission operation science community interaction co↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Role of Low Cost Missions in Preparing for Human Mars Exploration

Developing an enterprise-level architecture encompassing future human-robotic science and exploration at the Moon and Mars requires a visionary approach to ensure NASA is responsive to national priorities and global science and technology advancement objectives. While the initial capabilities needed to return humans to the Moon may be well understood, NASA is still formulating a long-term infrastructure at the Moon and working to narrow the trade space for the first human missions to Mars. This talk will focus on the formulation and current status of engineering and design applications for a long-term and robust exploration architecture.

Mars↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mars Relay Satellite: Key to Enabling Low-Cost Exploration Missions

Recently, there has been increasing evidence of a renewed focus on Mars exploration both by NASA and the international community. The thrust of this renewed interest appears to be manifesting itself in numerous low-cost missions employing small, light weight elements, which utilize advanced technologies including integrated microelectronics. A formidable problem facing these low-cost missions is communications with Earth. Providing adequate direct-link performance has very significant impacts on spacecraft power, pointing, mass and overall complexity. Additionally, for elements at or near the surface of Mars, there are serious connectivity constraints, especially at higher latitudes, which lose view of Earth for up to many months at a time. This paper will discuss the role a Mars relay satellite can play in enabling and enhancing low-cost missions to Mars...

Hastrup, R.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Products from NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program Applicable to Low-Cost Planetary Missions

Since September 2001 NASA s In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) program has been developing technologies for lowering the cost of planetary science missions. Recently completed is the high-temperature Advanced Material Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine providing higher performance for lower cost. Two other cost saving technologies nearing completion are the NEXT ion thruster and the Aerocapture technology project. Also under development are several technologies for low cost sample return missions. These include a low cost Hall effect thruster (HIVHAC) which will be completed in 2011, light weight propellant tanks, and a Multi-Mission Earth Entry Vehicle (MMEEV). This paper will discuss the status of the technology development, the cost savings or performance benefits, and applicability of these in-space propulsion technologies to NASA s future Discovery, and New Frontiers missions, as well as their relevance for sample return missions.

Anderson, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Spartan - Space at low-cost

Mission profiles and objectives of the Spartan Shuttle payload are described. Spartan was designed to provide extended observations normally carried out for only a few minutes using sounding rockets. The payload will be placed in co-orbit with the Orbiter by the RMS arm and controlled by a ground-based researcher or by an on-board program. Spartan features minimal battery power, batteries, and control systems and no redundancy. Thermal control is added because the flights last 100-1000 times as long as those on sounding rockets. Data are recorded by an on-board tape recorder and operations are controlled by an on-board microprocessor. Spartan 1 will carry a star-pointer and X-ray detectors for high energy astrophysics experiments. Spartan 2 will gather solar physics data in the form of temperatures of hydrogen gas and ions and electrons. Particle densities will also be monitored and a 43 cm solar telescope will produce UV and white light solar coronagraphs. UV spectroscopy of stars, clouds and galaxies will be performed by the Spartan 3 payload.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2012

Interplanetary CubeSats: Opening the Solar System to a Broad Community at Lower Cost

Interplanetary CubeSats could enable small, low-cost missions beyond low Earth orbit. This class is defined by mass < ~ 10 kg, cost < $30 M, and durations up to 5 years. Over the coming decade, a stretch of each of six distinct technology areas, creating one overarching architecture, could enable comparatively low-cost Solar System exploration missions with capabilities far beyond those demonstrated in small satellites to date. The six technology areas are: (1) CubeSat electronics and subsystems extended to operate in the interplanetary environment, especially radiation and duration of operation; (2) Optical telecommunications to enable very small, low-power uplink/downlink over interplanetary distances; (3) Solar sail propulsion to enable high !V maneuvering using no propellant; (4) Navigation of the Interplanetary Superhighway to enable multiple destinations over reasonable mission durations using achievable !V; (5) Small, highly capable instrumentation enabling acquisition of high-quality scientific and exploration information; and (6) Onboard storage and processing of raw instrument data and navigation information to enable maximum utility of uplink and downlink telecom capacity, and minimal operations staffing. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program in 2011 selected Interplanetary CubeSats for further investigation, some results of which are reported here for Phase 1.

Staehle, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS2014

A CubeSat Asteroid Mission: Design Study and Trade-Offs

There is considerable interest in expanding the applicability of cubesat spacecraft into lightweight, low cost missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. A conceptual design was done for a 6-U cubesat for a technology demonstration to demonstrate use of electric propulsion systems on a small satellite platform. The candidate objective was a mission to be launched on the SLS test launch EM-1 to visit a Near-Earth asteroid. Both asteroid fly-by and asteroid rendezvous missions were analyzed. Propulsion systems analyzed included cold-gas thruster systems, Hall and ion thrusters, incorporating either Xenon or Iodine propellant, and an electrospray thruster. The mission takes advantage of the ability of the SLS launch to place it into an initial trajectory of C3=0. Targeting asteroids that fly close to earth minimizes the propulsion required for fly-by/rendezvous. Due to mass constraints, high specific impulse is required, and volume constraints mean the propellant density was also of great importance to the ability to achieve the required deltaV. This improves the relative usefulness of the electrospray salt, with higher propellant density. In order to minimize high pressure tanks and volatiles, the salt electrospray and iodine ion propulsion systems were the optimum designs for the fly-by and rendezvous missions respectively combined with a thruster gimbal and wheel system For the candidate fly-by mission, with a mission deltaV of about 400 m/s, the mission objectives could be accomplished with a 800s electrospray propulsion system, incorporating a propellant-less cathode and a bellows salt tank. This propulsion system is planned for demonstration on 2015 LEO and 2016 GEO DARPA flights. For the rendezvous mission, at a ΔV of 2000 m/s, the mission could be accomplished with a 50W miniature ion propulsion system running iodine propellant. This propulsion system is not yet demonstrated in space. The conceptual design shows that an asteroid mission is possible using a cubesat platform with high-efficiency electric propulsion.

cubesat↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Rocket Lab Venus - Enabling Low-Cost Interplanetary Missions

Rocket Lab’s mission to Venus [1], launching in January 2025, aims to demonstrate that small launch vehicles, such as Electron, and high-energy small spacecraft, such as Photon, can enable a new paradigm of regular, low-cost interplanetary missions. The Electron launch vehicle will deliver the Photon spacecraft carrying the entry probe into low earth orbit, at which point Photon will take over and put both itself and the attached probe on an Earth-Venus transfer trajectory, with assistance from a Lunar flyby. The primary science objective of the mission is to sample the Venusian cloud layers between atitudes of 45 and 60 km above the surface with an autofluorescing nephelometer. The ~1kg scientific instrument will be carried by a small ~17 kg direct entry probe which will separate from the Photon spacecraft approximately 30 minutes prior to atmospheric entry. The probe outer mould line is a scaled down version of the Deep Space 2 probes [2]. NASA’s newly developed 3D Woven Carbon Phenolic, a derivative of the Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) material [3], is an enabling technology for this mission, and it will comprise the probe forebody heat shield.The probe will communicate directly back to the Earth during its descent via a small on-board radio frequency (RF) antenna. The hyperbolic Venus encounter will see the probe enter the Venusia atmosphere at approximately 11 km/s with an entry flight path angle (EFPA) of about 10°. This relatively low entry angle was selected to increase the duration of the descent phase, reduce the peak deceleration, and reduce the sensitivity of the nominal entry environments to navigational errors. For reference, the Pioneer Venus probes entered at EFPAs varying from about 25° to 70°, resulting in peak decelerations between around 220 and 450 g’s and peak stagnation point heat fluxes ranging from about 40 to 75 MW/m2 [4]. In comparison, the Rocket Lab Venus probe will experience a lower preak deceleration of around 60 g’s and a lower peak stagnation point heat flux of about 15 MW/m2, at the cost of a greater total heat load and correspondingly higher thermal protection system (TPS) mass fraction. This paper recounts the development history of the TPS for the Rocket Lab Venus probe, with a focus on the unique requirements of the mission. In particular, the effect on the TPS design of the mission’s tight budget, short development timeline, slim mass and RF link margins, and mild but long duration entry heating. Rocket Lab’s initial investigations into a ‘hybrid’ TPS [5] based on a scaled version of the Pioneer Venus full-density carbon phenolic forebody shield, and the abandonment of this approach in favour of NASA’s 3D Woven Carbon Phenolic is presented. Additionally, the leveraging of previous testing under the HEEET project at higher conditions and the associated TPS margining strategy that was adopted to avoid the need for extensive mission-specific arc jet testing is discussed. Finally, this paper concludes with a brief consideration of the feasibility of a future low-cost aerocapture technology demonstrator mission based on the 2025 Rocket Lab Venus mission and entry probe.

Lyle Campbell↗
NASA NTRS1994

Maximizing the Scientific Return of Low Cost Planetary Missions Using Solar Electric Propulsion(abstract)

After many years of development, solar electric propulsion is now a practical low cost alternative for many planetary missions. In response to the recent Discovery AO, we and a number of colleagues have examined the scientific return from a missioon to map the Moon and then rendezvous with a small body. In planning this mission, we found that solar electric propulsion was quite affordable under the Discovery guidelines, that many targets could be reached more rapidly with solar electric propulsion than chemical propulsion, that a large number of planetary bodies were accessible with modest propulsion systems, and that such missions were quite adaptable, with generous launch windows which minimized mission risks. Moreover, solar electric propulsion is ideally suited for large payloads requiring a large amount of power.

solar electric propulsion low cost missions ion th↗