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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 NTRS1989

Electric Propulsion for Manned Mars Exploration

Advanced high-power electric propulsion systems can significantly enhance piloted Mars missions. An increase in the science payload delivered to Mars and the reduction of the total Earth-departure mass are the major system-level benefits of electric propulsion. Other potential benefits are the return of the cargo vehicle to Earth orbit and the availability of high power in Mars orbit for high-power science and communications. Parametric analyses for sizing the cargo mission vehicle for Mars exploration missions are presented. The nuclear-electric propulsion system thruster size, power level, mass, propellant type and payload mass capability are considered in these system-level trade studies. Descriptions of the propulsion system selection issues for both ion and MPD thruster technologies are also discussed. On a manned Mars mission, the total launch mass for an unmanned cargo vehicle in low earth orbit (LEO) can be reduced by up to 50 percent over the baseline oxygen/hydrogen propulsion system. Because the cargo vehicle is sent to Mars prior to the manned mission, the trip time for the vehicle is not a critical factor. By taking advantage of the high specific impulse (I sub sp) of an ion or a Magneto-Plasma-Dynamic (MPD) thruster system, the total LEO mass is reduced from 590,000 kg for the oxygen/hydrogen propulsion system to 309,000 kg for the MPD system and 295,000 kg for the ion system. Many factors must be analyzed in the design of a electric propulsion Mars cargo vehicle. The propellant selection, the number of thrusters, the power level and the specific impulse are among the most important of the parameters. To fully address the electric propulsion system design, trade studies for the differing ion and MPD propulsion system configurations (thruster power levels, number of thrusters, propellants and power systems) must be conducted.

Palaszewski, Bryan↗

NASA NTRS2020

Communications with Curiosity during solar conjunction

This study examines the methodology for operating and communicating with NASA's Curiosity Rover (MSL) during the 2019 solar conjunction. For MSL, solar conjunction occurs when the viewing angle between the Sun and Mars from Earth's perspective falls below 3 degrees, which occurs roughly every two Earth years and lasts for about two weeks. This presents a challenge for engineers operating a vehicle on Mars because the degraded signal to noise ratio disrupts data flow between Earth and the spacecraft. As a result, operators designate a command moratorium in which no commands are sent to the rover and instead design long-term plans that are uplinked weeks in advance (rather than the nominal case of daily uplinks). Coordinating communications with the rover leading up to and following conjunction requires negotiations with several orbiters, another lander, and the Deep Space Network (DSN) each with their own set of constraints. It is the Strategic Comm Planning T coordination, which acts as a baseline for the conjunction Comm team faced additional complications such as the arrival of two new spacecraft at Mars - Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).

Laubach, Sharon↗

NASA NTRS1970

A search for life on earth at 100 meter resolution

A study of several thousand photos indicated approximately 1% of Gemini and Apollo photographs of the earth at 100 m resolution revealed signs of life; rectangular arrays due to human agricultural and urban territoriality, roads, canals, jet contrails, and industrial pollution. Potential false positives such as dunes, sand bars, and jet stream clouds abound. A curve was derived for the detectivity of contemporary life on earth, in a plot of ground resolution versus global coverage. A comparable biology on Mars would not have been detected by all observations of Mars through Mariner 7. Forthcoming Mars orbiter and lander imaging experiments hold significant promise of detecting life on Mars of contemporary terrestrial extent and advancement, should such life exist.

Sagan, C.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Human Mars Transportation Applications Using Solar Electric Propulsion

Advanced solar electric power systems and electric propulsion technology constitute viable elements for conducting human Mars transfer missions that are roughly comparable in performance to similar missions utilizing alternative high thrust systems, with the one exception being their inability to achieve short Earth-Mars trip times. A modest solar electric propulsion human Mars scenario is presented that features the use of conjunction class trajectories in concert with pre-emplacement of surface assets that can be used in a series of visits to Mars. Major elements of the Mars solar electric transfer vehicle can be direct derivatives of present state-of-the-art Solar array and electric thruster systems. During the study, several elements affecting system performance were evaluated, including varying Earth orbit altitude for departure, recapturing the transfer stage at Earth for reuse, varying power system mass-to-power ratio, and assessing solar array degradation on performance induced by Van Allen belt passage. Comparisons are made to chemical propulsion and nuclear thermal propulsion Mars vehicles carrying similar payloads.

Donahue, Benjamin B.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Catalog of lunar and Mars science payloads

This catalog collects and describes science payloads considered for future robotic and human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars. The science disciplines included are geosciences, meteorology, space physics, astronomy and astrophysics, life sciences, in-situ resource utilization, and robotic science. Science payload data is helpful for mission scientists and engineers developing reference architectures and detailed descriptions of mission organizations. One early step in advanced planning is formulating the science questions for each mission and identifying the instrumentation required to address these questions. The next critical element is to establish and quantify the supporting infrastructure required to deliver, emplace, operate, and maintain the science experiments with human crews or robots. This requires a comprehensive collection of up-to-date science payload information--hence the birth of this catalog. Divided into lunar and Mars sections, the catalog describes the physical characteristics of science instruments in terms of mass, volume, power and data requirements, mode of deployment and operation, maintenance needs, and technological readiness. It includes descriptions of science payloads for specific missions that have been studied in the last two years: the Scout Program, the Artemis Program, the First Lunar Outpost, and the Mars Exploration Program.

Budden, Nancy Ann↗

NASA NTRS2005

In-situ Resource-based Lunar and Martian Habitat Structures Development at NASA/MSFC

As the nation prepares to return to the Moon and subsequently to Mars, it is apparent that the viability of long duration visits with appropriate radiation shielding/crew protection, hinges on the development of habitat structures, preferably in advance of a manned landing, and preferably utilizing in-situ resources. A relatively large number of habitat structure configurations can be developed from a relatively small set of in-situ resource-based construction products, including, blocks, raw regolith, reinforced concrete, and glass products. A much larger group of habitat designs can be developed when "imported" material are brought from Earth, including thin films and liners, and foldable, or expandable metal structures. These, and other technologies have been identified, and subjected to a rigorous trade study evaluation with respect to exploration and other performance criteria. In this paper, results of this trade study will be presented, as well as various habitat structure design concepts and concepts for construction automation. Results of initial tests aimed at concrete, block and glass production using Lunar regolith simulants will also be presented. Key issues and concerns will be discussed, as well as design concepts for a Lunar environment testbed to be developed at MSFC's Microgravity Development Laboratory (MDL).

Bodiford, Melanie P.↗

NASA NTRS2005

In Situ Resource-Based Lunar and Martian Habitat Structures Development at NASA/MSFC

Bodiford, Melanie P.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Memetic Engineering as a Basis for Learning in Robotic Communities

This paper represents a new contribution to the growing literature on memes. While most memetic thought has been focused on its implications on humans, this paper speculates on the role that memetics can have on robotic communities. Though speculative, the concepts are based on proven advanced multi agent technology work done at NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center and Lockheed Martin. The paper is composed of the following sections : 1) An introductory section which gently leads the reader into the realm of memes. 2) A section on memetic engineering which addresses some of the central issues with robotic learning via memes. 3) A section on related work which very concisely identifies three other areas of memetic applications, i.e., news, psychology, and the study of human behaviors. 4) A section which discusses the proposed approach for realizing memetic behaviors in robots and robotic communities. 5) A section which presents an exploration scenario for a community of robots working on Mars. 6) A final section which discusses future research which will be required to realize a comprehensive science of robotic memetics.

Robotics↗

NASA NTRS1986

Advanced infrared astronomy

The CO2 laser heterodyne spectrometer was used at the 3-m IRTF on Mauna Kea to make measurements of Mars during the 1984 opposition. Analysis of the observations of the mesospheric non-thermal emission demonstrated the existence of a warming of the Mars polar mesosphere, similar to the seasonal effects which are well known to occur at the Earth's mesopause. A search for CO2 and NH3 on Comet Halley was done with the new Kitt Peak system as well as with the IRTF heterodyne system. A Lamb-dip absorption cell was designed and constructed. Its use will allow extreme frequency stabilization of the laser local oscillator, which will greatly facilitate measurements of winds and dynamical phenomena. The Lamb-dip cell was used at Kitt Peak to study zonal and meridional winds in the atmosphere of Venus. Water vapor was detected in Comet Halley using Fourier transform spectrometer. The 2.65 micrometer upsilon sub 3 band was seen in emission, confirming non-thermal-equilibrium excitation models for comets. A study was made of the variability of Jovian ethane emission. The average volume mixing ratio of ethane in the Jovian stratosphere was found to be 3x10 to the -6 power, with the greatest variability seen in the auroral regions.

Mumma, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

NEP Early Flight program: System performance and development considerations

A mission/system study of Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) for early robotic planetary science mission applications has been conducted. Subject missions considered included a Mars orbiter with a Phobos and Deimos Rendezvous; a Comet Kopff Rendezvous; a Multiple Mainbelt Asteroid Rendezvous (MMBAR); an Asteroid (Vesta) Sample Return; a Trojan Asteroid (Odysseus) Rendezvous; and a Jupiter mini Grand Tour. The purpose of the study was to determine if 'near-term' NEP technology could be used on an early NEP flight to demonstrate the technologies while conducting a useful science mission. The analysis shows that, depending upon technology readiness date, the missions could be performed with low power NEP. The technology and system development costs associated with vehicle/stage development for a candidate mission are presented. The study assumed relatively mature space electric power and space electric propulsion technologies (more advanced technologies have been already shown by others to be enabling for many outer planetary missions). Thus, a very important first step in using NEP would be taken, which would contribute valuable solar system science, as well as reduce the risks associated with using NEP for more demanding outer planetary science mission applications.

Doherty, Michael P.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Affordable Development and Demonstration of a Small NTR engine and Stage: A Preliminary NASA, DOE, and Industry Assessment

In FY'11, Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) was identified as a key propulsion option under the Advanced In-Space Propulsion (AISP) component of NASA's Exploration Technology Development and Demonstration (ETDD) program A strategy was outlined by GRC and NASA HQ that included 2 key elements -"Foundational Technology Development" followed by specific "Technology Demonstration" projects. The "Technology Demonstration "element proposed ground technology demonstration (GTD) testing in the early 2020's, followed by a flight technology demonstration (FTD) mission by approx. 2025. In order to reduce development costs, the demonstration projects would focus on developing a small, low thrust (approx. 7.5 -16.5 klb(f)) engine that utilizes a "common" fuel element design scalable to the higher thrust (approx. 25 klb(f)) engines used in NASA's Mars DRA 5.0 study(NASA-SP-2009-566). Besides reducing development costs and allowing utilization of existing, flight proven engine hard-ware (e.g., hydrogen pumps and nozzles), small, lower thrust ground and flight demonstration engines can validate the technology and offer improved capability -increased payloads and decreased transit times -valued for robotic science missions identified in NASA's Decadal Study.

Spacecraft design↗

NASA NTRS2004

Experimental Study of Lunar and SNC Magmas

The research described in this progress report involved the study of petrological, geochemical, and volcanic processes that occur on the Moon and the SNC meteorite parent body, generally accepted to be Mars. The link between these studies is that they focus on two terrestrial-type parent bodies somewhat smaller than earth, and the fact that they focus on the types of magmas (magma compositions) present, the role of volatiles in magmatic processes, and on processes of magma evolution on these planets. We are also interested in how these processes and magma types varied over time.In earlier work on the A15 green and A17 orange lunar glasses, we discovered a variety of metal blebs. Some of these Fe-Ni metal blebs occur in the glass; others (in A17) were found in olivine phenocrysts that we find make up about 2 vol 96 of the orange glass magma. The importance of these metal spheres is that they fix the oxidation state of the parent magma during the eruption, and also indicate changes during the eruption . They also yield important information about the composition of the gas phase present, the gas that drove the lunar fire-fountaining. During the tenure of this grant, we have continued to work on the remaining questions regarding the origin and evolution of the gas phase in lunar basaltic magmas, what they indicate about the lunar interior, and how the gas affects volcanic eruptions. Work on Martian magmas petrogenesis questions during the tenure of this grant has resulted in advances in our methods of evaluating magmatic oxidation state variations in Mars and some new insights into the compositional variations that existed in the SNC magmas over time . Additionally, Minitti has continued to work on the problem of possible shock effects on the abundance and distribution of water in Mars minerals.

Rutherford, Malcolm J.↗

NASA NTRS2019

BALLET: Balloon Locomotion for Extreme Terrain: NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) - Phase I Final Report

This report documents the work performed in our investigation into the BALLET (Balloon Locomotion for Extreme Terrain) concept. We focused on four areas in this Phase I effort. They were 1) identifying the science targets and objectives with the corresponding requisite instrumentation and operational capabilities that could be achieved with a BALLET mission, 2) developing an architecture for the deployment and operation of this concept for a future mission to a planetary body, 3) analyzing a parametric physical model of BALLET under the environmental conditions of Mars, Titan and Earth to determine its feasibility, and 4) developing and demonstrating coordinated control of the BALLET mobility system to enable locomotion over rugged terrain. The results of our investigations in these focus areas are documented in the following sections. A paper summarizing the preliminary results from this study has been accepted for publication and presentation at the 2019 IEEE Aerospace Conference [Nayar, 2019].

Balloon Locomotion↗

NASA NTRS2015

A Multifunctional Hot Structure Heatshield Concept for Planetary Entry

A multifunctional hot structure heatshield concept is being developed to provide technology enhancements with significant benefits compared to the current state-of-the-art heatshield technology. These benefits can potentially enable future planetary missions. The concept is unique in integrating the function of the thermal protection system with the primary load carrying structural component. An advanced carbon-carbon material system has been evaluated for the load carrying structure, which will be utilized on the outer surface of the heatshield, and thus will operate as a hot structure exposed to the severe aerodynamic heating associated with planetary entry. Flexible, highly efficient blanket insulation is sized for use underneath the hot structure to maintain required operational internal temperatures. The approach followed includes developing preliminary designs to demonstrate feasibility of the concept and benefits over a traditional, baseline design. Where prior work focused on a concept for an Earth entry vehicle, the current efforts presented here are focused on developing a generic heatshield model and performing a trade study for a Mars entry application. This trade study includes both structural and thermal evaluation. The results indicate that a hot structure concept is a feasible alternative to traditional heatshields and may offer advantages that can enable future entry missions.

Walker, Sandra P.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Verification of Numerical Solutions for the Deployment of the Highly Nonlinear MARSIS Antenna Boom Lenticular Joints

The MARSIS antenna booms are constructed using lenticular hinges between straight boom segments in a novel design which allows the booms to be extremely lightweight while retaining a high stiffness and well defined structural properties once they are deployed. Lenticular hinges are elegant in form but are complicated to model as they deploy dynamically and require highly specialized nonlinear techniques founded on carefully measured mechanical properties. Results from component level testing were incorporated into a highly specialized ADAMS model which employed an automated damping algorithm to account for the discontinuous boom lengths formed during the deployment. Additional models with more limited capabilities were also developed in both DADS and ABAQUS to verify the ADAMS model computations and to help better define the numerical behavior of the models at the component and system levels. A careful comparison is made between the ADAMS and DADS models in a series of progressive steps in order to verify their numerical results. Different trade studies considered in the model development are outlined to demonstrate a suitable level of model fidelity. Some model sensitivities to various parameters are explored using subscale and full system models. Finally, some full system DADS models are exercised to illustrate the limitations of traditional modeling techniques for variable geometry systems which were overcome in the ADAMS model.

Mars↗

NASA NTRS1991

NASA's advanced space transportation system launch vehicles

Some insight is provided into the advanced transportation planning and systems that will evolve to support long term mission requirements. The general requirements include: launch and lift capacity to low earth orbit (LEO); space based transfer systems for orbital operations between LEO and geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO), the Moon, and Mars; and Transfer vehicle systems for long duration deep space probes. These mission requirements are incorporated in the NASA Civil Needs Data Base. To accomplish these mission goals, adequate lift capacity to LEO must be available: to support science and application missions; to provide for construction of the Space Station Freedom; and to support resupply of personnel and supplies for its operations. Growth in lift capacity must be time phased to support an expanding mission model that includes Freedom Station, the Mission to Planet Earth, and an expanded robotic planetary program. The near term increase in cargo lift capacity associated with development of the Shuttle-C is addressed. The joint DOD/NASA Advanced Launch System studies are focused on a longer term new cargo capability that will significantly reduce costs of placing payloads in space.

Branscome, Darrell R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Beamed energy propulsion

Beamed energy concepts offer an alternative for an advanced propulsion system. The use of a remote power source reduces the weight of the propulsion system in flight and this, combined with the high performance, provides significant payload gains. Within the context of this study's baseline scenario, two beamed energy propulsion concepts are potentially attractive: solar thermal propulsion and laser thermal propulsion. The conceived beamed energy propulsion devices generally provide low thrust (tens of pounds to hundreds of pounds); therefore, they are typically suggested for cargo transportation. For the baseline scenario, these propulsion system can provide propulsion between the following nodes: (1) low Earth orbit to geosynchronous Earth orbit; (2) low Earth orbit to low lunar orbit; (3) low lunar orbit to low Mars orbit--only solar thermal; and (4) lunar surface to low lunar orbit--only laser thermal.

Shoji, James M.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Human Mars Landing Site and Impacts on Mars Surface Operations

NASA has begun a process to identify and discuss candidate locations where humans could land, live and work on the Martian surface. These locations are referred to as Exploration Zones (EZs). Given current mission concepts, an EZ is a collection of Regions of Interest (ROIs) that are located within approximately 100 kilometers of a centralized landing site. ROIs are areas that are relevant for scientific investigation and/or development/maturation of capabilities and resources necessary for a sustainable human presence. The EZ also contains a landing site and a habitation site that will be used by multiple human crews during missions to explore and utilize the ROIs within the EZ. These candidate EZs will be used by NASA as part of a multi‐year process of determining where and how humans could explore Mars. In the near term this process includes: (a) identifying locations that would maximize the potential science return from future human exploration missions, (b) identifying locations with the potential for resources required to support humans, (c) developing concepts and engineering systems needed by future human crews to conduct operations within an EZ, and (d) identifying key characteristics of the proposed candidate EZs that cannot be evaluated using existing data sets, thus helping to define precursor measurements needed in advance of human missions. Existing and future robotic spacecraft will be tasked to gather data from specific Mars surface sites within the representative EZs to support these NASA activities. The proposed paper will describe NASA's initial steps for identifying and evaluating candidate EZs and ROIs. This includes plans for the "First Landing Site/Exploration Zone Workshop for Human Missions to the Surface of Mars" to be held in October 2015 at which proposals for EZs and ROIs will be presented and discussed. It will also include a discussion of how these considerations are (or will be) taken into account as future robotic Mars missions are defined and developed. One or more representative EZs, drawn from similar previous studies involving Mars sites, will be used in the proposed paper to illustrate the process NASA envisions for gathering additional data from robotic precursor missions to assist in making a final selection of an EZ for human crews as well as the steps likely to occur during the buildup of a habitation site. Examples of the systems and operations likely to be used by human crews, assisted by robotic vehicles, to explore the scientific ROIs as well as developing the resource ROIs within the example EZs will be discussed.

Bussey, Ben↗