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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 NTRS2002

Improved low temperature performance of lithium ion cells with quaternary carbonate-based electrolytes

In order to enable future missions involving the exploration of the surface of Mars with Landers and Rovers, NASA desires long life, high energy density rechargeable batteries which can operate well at very low temperature (down to 40(deg)C). Lithium-ion technology has been identified as being the most promising chemistry, due to high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, as well as, long life characteristics. However, the state-of-art (SOA) technology is not sufficient to meet the needs of many applications that require excellent low temperature capabilities. To further improve this technology, work at JF'L has been focused upon developing electrolytes that result in lithium-ion cells with wider temperature ranges of operation. These efforts have led to the identification of a number of ternary and quaternary, all carbonate-based electrolytes that have been demonstrated to result in improved low temperature performance in experimental three-electrode MCMB carbon/LiNio.sCoo.zOz cells. A number of electrochemical characterization techniques were performed on these cells (i.e., Tafel polarization measurements, linear polarization measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)) to further enhance our understanding of the performance limitations at low temperature. The most promising electrolyte formulations, namely 1 .O M LiPF6EC+DEC+DMC+EMC (1 : 1: 1 :2 v/v) and 1 .O M LiPF6 EC+DEC+DMC+EMC (1 : 1 : 1 :3 v/v), were incorporated into SAFT prototype DD-size (9 Ahr) lithium- cells for evaluation. A number of electrical tests were performed on these cells, including rate characterization as a function of temperature, cycle life characterization at different temperatures, as well as, many mission specific characterization test to determine their viability to enable future missions to Mars. Excellent performance was observed with the prototype DD-size cells over a wide temperature range (-50 to 4OoC), with high specific energy being delivered at very low temperatures (i.e, over 95 WHrKg being delivered at 40(deg)C using a C/10 discharge rate).

Li-ion low temperature electrolytes↗
NASA NTRS2019

Common Power and Energy Storage Solutions to Support Lunar and Mars Surface Exploration Missions

Future human exploration missions on the moon and Mars will require a new generation of power sources to sustain crew members and leverage in-situ resources. Long-duration human missions to the lunar and Martian surface will likely include large-scale landers, crew habitats, pressurized rovers, and in-situ propellant production plants. The power demands for these surface elements, whether on the moon or Mars, will be similar starting with robotic precursor missions in the multi-kilowatt range scaling to 10s of kilowatts as the crew presence expands and local propellant production is established. While the power requirements may be similar, the vastly different environments on the two surfaces present unique challenges for power generation and storage systems. Candidate technologies to satisfy the surface power needs include deployable solar arrays, regenerative fuel cells, and small fission reactors. This paper presents strategies for power system architectures with elements that can be used on the moon and are extensible to Mars with features that make them resilient to either environment.

Mason, Lee↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Overview of the Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS)

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign is one of the most ambitious and complex planetary exploration missions currently underway. With the participation of NASA, ESA, and a large number of industry partners, MSR aims to bring Martian soil, rock, and atmospheric samples back to Earth, in order to answer key questions about Mars’ biological evolution. To accomplish this goal the campaign relies on four coordinated missions, each fulfilling a fundamental role to bring the samples to Earth. The Mars Perseverance rover, the first of the four missions, landed safely on Mars on February 18, 2021 and has already acquired candidate samples for Earth return. A selection of the samples of Martian soil and atmosphere that Perseverance has captured during its mission will be recovered, launched into Mars orbit, and transported back to Earth. The Sample Fetch Rover and Mars Ascent System, both parts of the Sample Return Lander project, perform the Mars surface missions to retrieve the collected samples and launch them into Mars orbit. NASA’s Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS), hosted on ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), brings the samples back to Earth from Mars orbit. These retrieval and return missions are currently in the planning and design stages of development. The NASA-provided CCRS is the payload of the ESA ERO and is the focus of this presentation. ERO will enter Mars orbit and provide communication relay to Earth for the other MSR elements. The Sample Return Lander systems will fetch the sample tubes and integrate them into a protective vessel – the Orbiting Sample (OS) system – which is then launched into low Mars orbit. ERO will perform rendezvous maneuvers, allowing its CCRS payload to capture the OS, contain it, and perform the first automated in-space assembly of a spacecraft, the Earth Entry System (EES), while in Mars orbit. ERO will then begin its journey back to Earth, with CCRS and its assembled EES spacecraft. Three days prior to arrival, CCRS will release the EES on an Earth entry trajectory from a distance beyond the orbit of the Moon. The passive EES spacecraft will then enter Earth’s atmosphere, flying on a ballistic trajectory, followed by a terminal descent (without a parachute) and landing at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). This presentation will show the current design of the CCRS system and its concept of operations. ERO and CCRS will perform several firsts in planetary exploration: (a) orbital rendezvous and capture in Mars orbit, (b) in-space sterilization and containment, (c) on-orbit spacecraft assembly at Mars, and (d) fully-passive entry, descent, and landing sequence for sample return.

Carlie H. Zumwalt↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Human Mars Surface Mission Surface Power Impacts on Timeline and Traverse Capabilities

The National Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration’s (NASA) Mars Architecture Team (MAT) developed a concept for power management operations to support a thirty-day, minimal infrastructure Mars surface mission. The surface elements in this minimal surface mission concept include three landers as platforms for surface operations, a crewed Mars ascent vehicle (MAV), an unpressurized rover, and a pressurized rover where the crew will live for the duration of the thirty-day mission. In this analysis the power system is a ten kilowatt fission power system, which has been selected for its resiliency to dust storms, and will provide power for all aspects of the surface mission including thermal management of propellant and electronic systems, communications, and battery recharge of mobile surface assets. Developing a power management plan with the consideration of the various elements and mission phases helps define the traverse and exploration capabilities for the crew in the pressurized rover. Also, considerations need to be made for the different power requirements for each phase of the surface mission including arrival, offload, surface exploration, launch preparation, and departure. The described analysis aims to achieve a balance of maintaining power to critical systems while enabling desired traverse and exploration range in the pressurized rover. Additionally, a few enhancing technologies were explored that could expand the power capability if the additional capacity is necessary in the future. This study is used as a baseline to understand the constraints on all aspects of the surface mission for a minimal surface infrastructure human Mars campaign if a ten-kilowatt fission surface power system is available on the surface.

Michael B. Chappell↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Human Mars Mission Surface Power Impacts on Timeline and Traverse Capabilities

The National Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration’s (NASA) Mars Architecture Team (MAT) developed a concept for power management operations to support a thirty-day, minimal infrastructure Mars surface mission. The surface elements in this minimal surface mission concept include three landers as platforms for surface operations, a crewed Mars ascent vehicle (MAV), an unpressurized rover, and a pressurized rover where the crew will live for the duration of the thirty-day mission. In this analysis the power system is a ten kilowatt fission power system, which has been selected for its resiliency to dust storms, and will provide power for all aspects of the surface mission including thermal management of propellant and electronic systems, communications, and battery recharge of mobile surface assets. Developing a power management plan with the consideration of the various elements and mission phases helps define the traverse and exploration capabilities for the crew in the pressurized rover. Also, considerations need to be made for the different power requirements for each phase of the surface mission including arrival, offload, surface exploration, launch preparation, and departure. The described analysis aims to achieve a balance of maintaining power to critical systems while enabling desired traverse and exploration range in the pressurized rover. Additionally, a few enhancing technologies were explored that could expand the power capability if the additional capacity is necessary in the future. This study is used as a baseline to understand the constraints on all aspects of the surface mission for a minimal surface infrastructure human Mars campaign if a ten-kilowatt fission surface power system is available on the surface.

Michael B Chappell↗
NASA NTRS1973

Study of application of adaptive systems to the exploration of the solar system. Volume 3: Mars landed systems

The results of a more detailed study of three missions to the surface of Mars: (1) an advanced lander, (2) a lander with a small tethered rover, and (3) a lander with a medium sized rover that operates independently of the lander for most of its functions but communicates with Earth through the lander are presented. For all three missions it was assumed that the Viking orbiter and lander would be used with modifications as required to improve the science package, to accommodate the rovers, and to handle the increased payloads.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

The Mars Rover Mobility System

The Mars Pathfinder SOJOURNER Rover vehicle has completed its mission. It explored the vicinity of the lander, probing the Martian surface while getting pictures of the rocks and the way they are arranged. It analyzed the chemical make up of the soil and the various rocks.

Mars Rover Mobility Sojourner Mars Pathfinder↗
NASA NTRS2000

Mission Design Overview for Mars 2003/2005 Sample Return Mission

In May 2003, a new and exciting chapter in Mars exploration will begin with the launch of the first of three spacecraft that will collectively contribute toward the goal of delivering samples from the Red Planet to Earth. This mission is called Mars Sample Return (MSR) and will utilize both the 2003 and 2005 launch opportunities with an expected sample return in October 2008. NASA and CNES are major partners in this mission. The baseline mission mode selected for MSR is Mars orbit rendezvous (MOR), analogous in concept to the lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR) mode used for Apollo in the 1960s. Specifically, MSR will employ two NASA-provided landers of nearly identical design and one CNES-provided orbiter carrying a NASA payload of rendezvous sensors, orbital capture mechanisms, and an Earth entry vehicle (EEV). The high-level concept is that the landers will launch surface samples into Mars orbit, and the orbiter will retrieve the samples in orbit and then carry them back to Earth. The first element to depart for Mars will be one of the two landers. Currently, it is proposed that an intermediate class launch vehicle, such as the Boeing Delta 3 or Lockheed Martin Atlas 3A, will launch this 1800-kg lander from Cape Canaveral during the May 2003 opportunity. The lander will utilize a Type-1 transfer trajectory with an arrival at Mars in mid-December 2003. Landing will be aided by precision approach navigation and a guided hypersonic entry to achieve a touchdown accuracy of 10 km or better. Although the exact landing site has not yet been determined, it is estimated that lander resource constraints will limit the site to between 15 degrees north and south latitudes. Following touchdown, the lander will deploy a six-wheeled, 60-kg rover carrying an extensive suite of instruments designed to aid in the analysis of the local terrain and collection of core samples from selected rocks. The surface mission is currently designed around a concept called the surface traverse. Each traverse will involve the rover exploring a selected area of terrain up to 100 meters from the lander, the collection of rock core samples, and the delivery of the samples from the traverse back to a sample canister on the lander. Planning estimates indicate that up to three traverses may be possible during the expected 90-sol lifetime of the lander. The canister that will receive the samples from the rover will be attached to the top stage of a small solid-fueled rocket mounted to the deck of the lander. This rocket is called the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and consists of three stages weighing a total of about 140 kg. After the conclusion of the surface mission, the MAV will lift-off and insert the sample canister into a near-circular orbit with an altitude of about 600 km and inclination of 45 degrees. The sample canister will wait in this orbit until it is retrieved by the orbiter sometime in early 2007. In August 2005, the second lander and a CNES-provided orbiter weighing 2700 kg will depart for Mars. Currently, it is proposed that a single Ariane 5 provided by CNES will launch both of these two elements onto a Type-2 transfer trajectory. Although the orbiter and lander will be launched together, they will separate shortly after injection and will fly to Mars as two independent spacecraft. However, both spacecraft will perform a maneuver between 10 and 15 days after launch so that their arrival times at Mars differ by between 12 and 24 hours. This scheme will reduce the operational complexity at the encounter date. A set of four 60-kg surface probes will ride piggyback on the orbiter to Mars. These CNES-provided probes are called Netlanders and will serve as surface stations for scientific investigations independent of the Mars Sample Return goals. Starting approximately one month prior to arrival at Mars, the orbiter will begin to release the Netlanders one at a time. Each release cycle will take several days, and will include time for precision navigation to execute one or two maneuvers that will target the Netlanders to their proper landing site. All four deployment cycles will be completed prior to 10 days before arrival. Both the orbiter and lander will arrive in late-July 2006. Upon arrival, the lander will perform a precision landing and surface mission similar in concept to the one that was executed during the 2003 opportunity. Although the landing site for the 2005 opportunity has not been selected, it is expected to be different from the 2003 site to enhance the diversity of the collected samples. The orbiter's arrival at Mars will be highlighted by the first use of aerocapture to insert a spacecraft into a capture orbit around another planet. The choice of aerocapture, as opposed to a propulsive orbit insertion, was considered mission enabling due to a reduction of over 2000 m/s in mission AV. Aerocapture will be targeted to produce a 250 km x 1400 km capture orbit with an inclination of 45 degrees. Current analysis indicates that achieving this goal will require approximately six minutes of flight deep in the atmosphere with a targeted periapsis of approach of about 43 km. After factoring into account the penalty for carrying a heat shield to survive aerocapture, the net savings compared to a propulsive orbital insertion amounts to several hundred kilograms.

Lee, Wayne J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

AI in Space: The Era of Autonomous Space Systems

The development of autonomy capabilities is the key to three vastly important strategic technical challenges facing NASA: the reduction of mission costs, the continuing return of quality science products through limited communications bandwidth, and the launching of a new era of solar system exploration characterized by sustained presence and in-depth scientific studies, including the search for life. Autonomy will benefit future NASA missions by migrating routine, traditionally ground-based functions to the spacecraft, by directly supporting the decoupling of spacecraft from the ground through new operations concepts, by enabling direct links between scientists and the space platforms carrying their instruments of investigation, and by the closing, of planning and control loops onboard, enabling space platforms to directly address uncertainty in the real-time mission context. The talk will survey ongoing, autonomy technology development projects at NASA, many of which have been or will soon be the subject of flight technology experiments, or are already targeted for mission use. The talk will also survey the exciting suite of future NASA space exploration missions, and make the case for the central role of autonomy in achieving the goals of these bold, unprecedented missions: cooperating rovers on the surface of Mars, the search for Earth-like planets around nearby stars, asteroid and comet landers, aerobots in planetary atmospheres, and a series of missions to intriguing Europa, perhaps culminating in a submersible to investigate its putative ocean. Finally, the talk will conclude with some farther-reaching speculations on how to create properties such as long-term survivability and evolvability in future space systems, such that they will be well equipped to extend humanity exploratory presence into the interstellar realm.

Doyle, Richard J.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Assessment of Potential Mars Relay Network Enhancements

In anticipation of increased demands on Mars relay services, including planned arrivals of NASA’s InSight Lander in November 2018, and of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and ESA’s ExoMars Rover & Surface Platform mission in Feb-Mar.2021, we have assessed a number of potential modifications and upgrades to Mars relay orbiters and quantified their impacts in terms of key relay support metrics, to support NASA and ESA programmatic decisions. Specific areas of investigation include: 1) implementation of “split-pass” relay capability for support to collocated landers, 2) modifications of the extended mission orbit for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN), and 3) introduction of Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding. We report here on each of these potential upgrades, quantify the performance implications each would have on future Mars relay services in the context of future mission support scenarios, and provide a status on implementation.

Wenkert, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS1995

Spacecraft Applications of Compact Optical and Mass Spectrometers

Optical spectrometers, and mass spectrometers to a lesser extent, have a long and rich history of use aboard spacecraft. Space mission applications include deep space science spacecraft, earth orbiting satellites, atmospheric probes, and surface landers, rovers, and penetrators. The large size of capable instruments limited their use to large, expensive spacecraft. Because of the novel application of micro-fabrication technologies, compact optical and mass spectrometers are now available. The new compact devices are especially attractive for spacecraft because of their small mass and volume, as well as their low power consumption. Dispersive optical multi-channel analyzers which cover the 0.4-1.1 micrometer wavelength are now commercially available in packages as small as 3 x 6 x 18 mm exclusive of drive and recording electronics. Mass spectrometers as small as 3 x 3 mm, again without electronics, are under development. A variety of compact optical and mass spectrometers are reviewed in this paper. A number of past space applications are described, along with some upcoming opportunities that are likely candidate missions to fly this new class of compact spectrometers.

Davinic, N. M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Stability of Magnesium Sulfate Minerals in Martian Environments

Viking Lander, Pathfinder, and Mars Exploration Rover missions to Mars have found abundant sulfur in surface soils and rocks, and the best indications are that magnesium sulfates are among the key hosts. At Meridiani Planum, MgSO4 salts constitute 15 to 40 wt.% of sedimentary rocks. Additional S is hosted by gypsum and jarosite. Reflectance and thermal emission spectroscopy is consistent with the presence of kieserite (MgSO4 H2O) and epsomite (MgSO4*7H2O). Theoretically, the dodecahydrate (MgSO4*12H2O) should also have precipitated. We first examine theoretically which MgSO4 minerals should have precipitated on Mars, and then how dehydration might have altered these minerals.

Marion, G. M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPS and Entry Systems Technologies for Future Mars and Titan Exploration

During the past twenty years, NASA effectively erased earlier Mars mishaps with six successful missions to the Red Planet. These missions delivered one orbiter and five payloads to the surface. Those payloads included three rovers, Spirit (2004) which roamed 11 years, Opportunity (2004) which roamed nearly 15 years, and Curiosity (2012) which is in its ninth year, along with two landers, Phoenix (2008) and InSIGHT (2018). In July, the Mars 2020 mission will send another large rover, Perseverance, which will land in 2021. The InSIGHT mission even demonstrated the capability to send CubeSats along to help with communication back to the surface. NASA has demonstrated the capability to land a metric ton of vehicles plus science instruments on Mars and expects that the same technologies will be equally successful landing Dragonfly on Titan in the 2030’s. The thermal protection systems (TPS) used on the Mars missions are sufficiently developed and matured to continue furthering science on both Mars and Titan, assuming that the TPS materials are sustained by industry. The purpose of this white paper is to encourage further exploration and science on both Mars and Titan because we have the technologies to support them. In addition, we will look forward to human exploration of Mars and identify the improvements in TPS materials required to facilitate landing the larger payloads.

Thermal Protection Systems↗
NASA NTRS1991

Mars sample return mission: Two alternate scenarios

Two scenarios for accomplishing a Mars Sample Return mission are presented. Mission A is a low-cost, low-mass scenario, while Mission B is a high-technology, high-science alternative. Mission A begins with the launch of one Titan 4 rocket with a Centaur G' upper stage. The Centaur performs the trans-Mars injection burn and is then released. The payload consists of two lander packages and the orbital transfer vehicle, which is responsible for supporting the landers during launch and interplanetary cruise. Near Mars, the landers separate - one bound for a polar site and the other for an equatorial site. After descending to the surface, the landers deploy small, local rovers to collect samples. The rovers return these samples to the landers for loading on the direct return rockets, which return the samples directly to the Earth's surface. Mission B starts with four Titan 4 launches, used to place the components of the planetary transfer vehicle (PTV) into orbit. The fourth launch payload is able to move to assemble the entire vehicle by simple docking routines. Once complete, the PTV begins a low-thrust trajectory out from low Earth orbit, through interplanetary space, and into low Mars orbit. It deploys a communications satellite into a one half sol orbit and then releases the lander pad cage at 500 km altitude. The lander package contains the lander, the Mars ascent vehicle (MAV), two lighter-than-air rovers (called Aereons), and one conventional land rover. The entire package is contained within a biconic aeroshell. After release from the PTV the lander package descends to the surface, where all three rovers are released to collect samples and map the terrain. The Aereons attempt to circumnavigate Mars and collect samples from a wide variety of sites, while the land rover examines a local area more thoroughly. The Aereons are equipped with small sample return rockets that can return their samples to the lander in the event that an Aereon is incapable of returning to the lander itself. Once all samples have been collected they are loaded onto the MAV and launched into orbit. The PTV then collects the samples and returns them to Earth orbit for recovery.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1999

Autonomous Science Decision Making for Mars Sample Return

In the near future NASA intends to explore Mars in preparation for a sample return mission using robotic devices such as landers, rovers, orbiters, airplanes, and/or balloons. Such platforms will likely carry imaging devices to characterize the surface morphology, and a variety of analytical instruments intended to evaluate the chemical and mineralogical nature of the environment(s) that they encounter. Historically, mission operations have involved the following sequence of activities: (1) return of scientific data from the vehicle; (2) evaluation of the data by space scientists; (3) recommendations of the scientists regarding future mission activity; (4) transmission of commands to the vehicle to achieve this activity; and (5) new activity by the vehicle in response to those commands. This is repeated for the duration of the mission, with command opportunities once or perhaps twice per day. In a rapidly changing environment, such as might be encountered by a rover traversing hundreds of meters a day or an airplane soaring over several hundred of kilometers, this traditional cycle of data evaluation and commands is not amenable to rapid long range traverses, discovery of novelty, or rapid response to any unanticipated situations. In addition, to issues of response time, the nature of imaging and/or spectroscopic devices are such that tremendous data volumes can be acquired, for example during a traverse. These data volumes can rapidly exceed on-board memory capabilities prior to an opportunity to transmit it to Earth.

Roush, Ted L.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Autonomous Science Decisions for Mars Sample Return

In the near future NASA intends to explore Mars in preparation for a sample return mission using robotic devices such as landers rovers, orbiters, airplanes, and/or balloons. Such platforms will likely carry imaging devices to characterize the surface morphology, and a variety of analytical instruments intended to evaluated the chemical and mineralogical nature of the environment(s) that they encounter. Historically, mission operations have involved the following sequence of activities: (1) return of scientific data from the vehicle; (2) evaluation of the data by space scientists; (3) recommendations of the scientists regarding future mission activity; (4) transmission of commands to the vehicle to achieve this activity; and (5) new activity by the vehicle in response to those commands.

Roush, T. L.↗