Regenerative Aerobraking

Abstract

NASA's exploration goals for Mars and Beyond will require new power systems and in situ resource utilization technologies. Regenerative aerobraking may offer a revolutionary approach for in situ power generation and oxygen harvesting during these exploration missions. In theory, power and oxygen can be collected during aerobraking and stored for later use in orbit or on the planet. This technology would capture energy and oxygen from the plasma field that occurs naturally during hypersonic entry using well understood principles of magnetohydrodynamics and oxygen filtration. This innovative approach generates resources upon arrival at the operational site, and thus greatly differs from the traditional approach of taking everything you need with you from Earth. Fundamental analysis, computational fluid dynamics, and some testing of experimental hardware have established the basic feasibility of generating power during a Mars entry. Oxygen filtration at conditions consistent with spacecraft entry parameters at Mars has been studied to a lesser extent. Other uses of the MHD power are presented. This paper illustrates how some features of regenerative aerobraking may be applied to support human and robotic missions at Mars.