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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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At least 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Historical Review of Logistics Mass and Crew Time Demands for ISS Operations

Following over 20 years of continuously crewed operations on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA is planning to return to the Moon and eventually send humans to Mars. ISS operations provide vital data to inform mission analysts as NASA prepares for longer and more complex missions with increased mission endurance. Endurance, defined as crewed operating time between cargo deliveries (or crew launch and return to Earth), is an important metric when analyzing mission needs. NASA is developing architectures to support sustained deep-space habitats in cislunar space, the lunar surface, Mars transit, and the surface of Mars. Unlike the ISS, these systems will not be continuously crewed, and unlike the Space Shuttle, these systems will not return to Earth for regular refurbishment between missions. Lunar systems will routinely go through long uncrewed periods between crewed missions. The systems on board will need to survive these dormancy periods with no crew present to provide maintenance. Mars systems will experience significantly longer endurance than past experience. Additionally, the inability to have quick aborts to return to Earth increases the need for system reliability, redundancy, and maintainability, as well as plans for contingency operations. This paper examines the historical logistics and crew time demand for ISS operations and mission objectives and provides an overview of missions to the ISS over its operating history, the mass and items delivered with the missions, and the crew time spent during missions. These parameters provide insight and valuable data to inform logistics and crew time estimates for future long-endurance crewed exploration missions.

Crew Logistics↗
NASA NTRS1975

Mars sample return through parking orbit

A Mars surface sample return mission using Mars direct entry and Mars parking orbit return is described. The mission is designed for a minimum energy requirement and is relatively simple in comparison to the alternative Mars orbital rendezvous mode. The design calls for minimal science, and uses a single Titan IIIE/Centaur launch vehicle. The primary science areas included are biology, biochemistry, geochemistry, and petrology, for detecting life, age dating, and determining chemical compositions and rock types. The total minimum sample requirement would be 30 g. Sampling conditions and recommended measurements are discussed. Maximum use of hardware and experience from the Mariner, Pioneer, and Viking missions is contemplated. The profile for a 1979 conjunction-class mission would include a total time of 1025 days, including one year in Mars parking orbit after sampling. The lander structure, components, and recovery alternatives are explained.

Weaver, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

21st century early mission concepts for Mars delivery and earth return

In the 21st century, the early missions to Mars will entail unmanned Rover and Sample Return reconnaissance missions to be followed by manned exploration missions. High performance leverage technologies will be required to reach Mars and return to earth. This paper describes the mission concepts currently identified for these early Mars missions. These concepts include requirements and capabilities for Mars and earth aerocapture, Mars surface operations and ascent, and Mars and earth rendezvous. Although the focus is on the unmanned missions, synergism with the manned missions is also discussed.

Cruz, Manuel I.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Development for Electric Propulsion

NASA is developing technologies to prepare for human exploration missions to Mars. Solar electric propulsion (SEP) systems are expected to enable a new cost effective means to deliver cargo to the Mars surface. Nearer term missions to Mars moons or near-Earth asteroids can be used to both develop and demonstrate the needed technology for these future Mars missions while demonstrating new capabilities in their own right. This presentation discusses recent technology development accomplishments for high power, high voltage solar arrays and power management that enable a new class of SEP missions.

solar electric propulsion↗
NASA NTRS2019

Common Habitat for Long Duration Transit and Surface Operations

This concept is based on the Skylab II concept, which proposes using a SLS propellant tank as the primary structure of a habitat. Common Habitat takes this a step further, proposing an interior architecture that is equally viable as a lunar surface hab, transit hab, and Mars surface hab, thus enabling a single development to support all three long duration habitat roles. Common Habitat has been pursued by the PI and co-investigators at MSFC and other centers in a spare time / funding available basis, often with heavy student intern support. Student resources have developed preliminary concepts, but these models must be refined to reflect accurate vehicle subsystems, utilities, stowage, workstations, and other crew systems. This investigation applies NASA civil servant and contractor expertise to correct errors in the most recent student concepts in order to prepare them for future human-in-the-loop evaluations to determine the most viable configuration for a Common Habitat. In prior studies there was never an opportunity to trade both crew size and internal orientation. Prior work has been a series of point designs with inconsistent design constraints, making apples to apples comparisons impossible. The most recent student work produced CAD models of four habitat variants for future use in a trade study, but the student products contain model construction and geometry errors, inaccurate subsystems design and placement, and unrealistic structural elements and outfitting. These must be corrected before the models can be moved into a VR environment for humanin- the-loop testing. Through consultation with SMEs throughout the Agency, the fidelity of these designs will be upgraded to a level of quality sufficient to make a comparative analysis of crew size sensitivity and internal orientation. The product of this activity is four upgraded CAD models, each reflecting a different configuration of the Common Habitat. One is a horizontal configuration using the full length of the SLS LOX tank. One is a vertical configuration using the same tank dimensions. The third is a horizontal configuration using a truncated SLS LOX tank (half the barrel length). The fourth is a vertical configuration of the half-length SLS LOX tank.

Howard, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Common Habitat for Long Duration Transit and Surface Operations

This concept is based on the Skylab II concept, which proposes using a SLS propellant tank as the primary structure of a habitat. Common Habitat takes this a step further, proposing an interior architecture that is equally viable as a lunar surface hab, transit hab, and Mars surface hab, thus enabling a single development to support all three long duration habitat roles. Common Habitat has been pursued by the PI and co- investigators at MSFC and other centers in a spare time / funding available basis, often with heavy student intern support. Student resources have developed preliminary concepts, but these models must be refined to reflect accurate vehicle subsystems, utilities, stowage, workstations, and other crew systems. This investigation applies NASA civil servant and contractor expertise to correct errors in the most recent student concepts in order to prepare them for future human-in-the-loop evaluations to determine the most viable configuration for a Common Habitat.

Howard, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Spectrophotometric studies of the photometric function, composition, and distribution of the surface materials of Mars.

Results of a program of mapping the surface of Mars carried out at a spatial resolution of 300 to 500 km during the 1969 opposition at IR (0.60 to 2.27 microns). Spectral albedo curves were obtained for 150 mare and desert areas. These curves fall into two well-defined and fairly uniform color-albedo groups corresponding to mare and desert units. The lack of areas with color and albedo that are distinctively different from those of these groups is interpreted as an indication that the surface of Mars consists of basically only two types of materials. Laboratory comparison data support a model of the Martian regolith that suggests that the general color of these surface units is due to a limonite stain coating the particles of lithic soils. Features in the spectral albedo curves at 1.6 and 2.1 microns are interpreted as being due to the H2O ice on the surface or in the Martian atmosphere.

Binder, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Engineering, construction, and operations in space - III: Space '92; Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference, Denver, CO, May 31-June 4, 1992. Vols. 1 & 2

The present volume on engineering, construction, and operations in space discusses surface structures on the moon and Mars, surface equipment, construction, and transportation on the moon and Mars, in situ materials use and processing, and space energy. Attention is given to such orbital structures as LEO and the space station, space mining and excavation, space materials, space automation and robotics, and space life support systems. Topics addressed include lunar-based astronomy, space systems integration, terrestrial support for space functions, and space education. Also discussed are space plans, policy, and history, space science and engineering, geoengineering and space exploration, and the construction and development of a human habitat on Mars.

Space life support systems↗
NASA NTRS1980

Development of biological and nonbiological explanations for the Viking label release data

The plausibility that hydrogen peroxide, widely distributed within the Mars surface material, was responsible for the evocative response obtained by the Viking Labeled Release (LR) experiment on Mars was investigated. Although a mixture of gamma Fe2O3 and silica sand stimulated the LR nutrient reaction with hydrogen peroxide and reduced the rate of hydrogen decomposition under various storage conditions, the Mars analog soil prepared by the Viking Inorganic Analysis Team to match the Mars analytical data does not cause such effects. Nor is adequate resistance to UV irradiation shown. On the basis of the results and consideration presented while the hydrogen peroxide theory remains the most, if not only, attractive chemical explanation of the LR data, it remains unconvincing on critical points. Until problems concerning the formation and stabilization of hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Mars can be overcome, adhere to the scientific evidence requires serious consideration of the biological theory.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Disruptive Technology That is Additive Construction: System Development Lessons Learned for Terrestrial and Planetary Applications

Disruptive technologies are unique in that they spawn other new technologies and applications as they grow. These activities are usually preceded by the question, "What If?" For example, "What if we could use an emerging technology and in-situ materials to promote exploration on the Moon or Mars, and then use that same technology to keep our troops out of harm's way and/or help the worlds' homeless?" This question allows us to flip the mindset of "how can people create more valuable innovation?" to "how can innovation create more valuable people?." This approach allows us to view augmented human labor as an inclusive opportunity, not a threat. The discipline of Additive Construction is growing rapidly due to the flexibility, speed, safety and logistics benefits offered as compared to standard construction techniques. Additive construction is a disruptive technology in that it employs the principles of additive manufacturing on a human habitat structure scale. Developed initially for emergency management and disaster relief applications, additive construction has now grown into military infrastructure and planetary (Moon and Mars) surface infrastructure applications as well. Additive Construction with Mobile Emplacement (ACME) is a NASA technology development project that seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of constructing shelters for human crews, and other surface infrastructure, on the Moon or Mars for a future human presence. The ACME project will allow, for the first time, the 3-dimensional printing of surface structures on planetary bodies using local materials for construction, thereby tremendously reducing launch and transportation mass and logistics. Some examples of infrastructure that could be constructed using robotic additive construction methods are landing pads, rocket engine blast protection berms, roads, dust free zones, equipment shelters, habitats and radiation shelters. Terrestrial applications include the development of surface structures using Earth-based materials for emergency response, disaster relief, general construction, and housing at all economic levels. This paper will describe the progress made by the NASA ACME project with a focus on prototypes and full scale additive construction demonstrations using both Portland cement concrete and other indigenous material mixtures. Rationale for the use of additive construction for both terrestrial and planetary applications will be explored and a thorough state-of-the-art of additive construction techniques will be presented. An evolutionary history of NASA's additive construction development efforts, dating back to 2004, will be included. The paper will then step through a series of trade studies performed to inform key processing and design decisions in the development of the full-scale ACES-3 system developed by NASA and the Jacobs Space Exploration Group for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Construction Engineers Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, IL. The selection of aggregate and binders, based on in-situ materials, will also be presented and discussed

Space Processing↗
NASA NTRS1973

Surface properties working group

The objectives of the Mars surface properties working group are described. The objectives were: (1) determine a simple reference surface that would adequately represent the shape of the planet for cartographic purposes; (2) monitor the topographic results and to assess the relative calibration and accuracies of these techniques, thereby leading to a composite topographic map of the planet; and (3) facilitate the exchange of data in closely connected disciplines. The shape, topography, and isobaric surface are discussed along with the gravity field, and crustal density model. It was found that there is no simple reference figure for the planetary surface, although an offset, triaxial ellipsoid is adequate for most purposes.

Whitehead, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mars atmospheric dust properties: A synthesis of Mariner 9, Viking, and Phobos observations

We have modified a doubling-and-adding code to reanalyze the Mariner 9 IRIS spectra of Mars atmospheric dust as well as Viking IRTM EPF sequences in the 7, 9, and 20 micron channels. The code is capable of accurate emission/ absorption/scattering radiative transfer calculations over the 5-30 micron wavelength region for variable dust composition and particle size inputs, and incorporates both the Viking IRTM channel weightings and the Mariner 9 IRIS wavelength resolution for direct comparisons to these datasets. We adopt atmospheric temperature profiles according to the algorithm of Martin (1986) in the case of the Viking IRTM comparisons, and obtained Mariner 9 IRIS temperature retrievals from the 15 micron CO2 band for the case of the IRIS comparisons. We consider palagonite as the primary alternative to the montmorillonite composition of Mars atmospheric dust, based on several considerations. Palagonite absorbs in the ultraviolet and visible wavelength region due to its Fe content. Palagonite is also, in principal, consistent with the observed lack of clays on the Mars surface. Furthermore, palagonite does not display strong, structured absorption near 20 microns as does montmorillonite (in conflict with the IRIS observations). We propose that a palagonite composition with particle sizes roughly one-half that of the Toon et al. (1977) determination provide a much improved model to Mars atmospheric dust. Since palagonite is a common weathering product of terrrestrial basalts, it would not be unreasonable for palagonite to be a major surface component for Mars. The lack of even a minor component of Al-rich clays on the surface of Mars could be consistent with a palagonite composition for Mars dust if the conditions for basalt weathering on Mars were sufficiently anhydrous. Variations in palagonite composition could also lead to the inability of the modeled palagonite to fit the details of the 9 micron absorbtion indicated by the IRIS observations.

Clancy, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Mars planetary geodesy using earth-based observations of Mars landers

The potential for earth-based radiometric observations of a network of Mars surface landers to provide accurate determination of the Mars rotational orientation in inertial space is investigated. An error budget is presented for the carrier phase data type and related to system requirements for the surface landers. Differencing the carrier phase observations for a pair of Mars landers can provide extremely high precision due to common-mode error cancellation. Results of a covariance analysis are presented which show that Mars orientation can be determined to better than 10 milliarcsec, corresponding to decimeter distances at the planet surface. Recommendations on how to incorporate these concepts into future Mars missions, such as the Mars Environmental Survey, are discussed.

Edwards, C. D., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent and Landing Overview

This viewgraph presents an overview of the Mars Science Laboratory. It shows the instruments on the lander, the comparative size to a very small automobile. The presentation also shows the planned method of landing the vessel on the Mars surface.

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)↗