Results for “Mars campaign” — Page 6

NASA NTRS2015

Prototype Biology-Based Radiation Risk Module Project

Biological effects of space radiation and risk mitigation are strategic knowledge gaps for the Evolvable Mars Campaign. The current epidemiology-based NASA Space Cancer Risk (NSCR) model contains large uncertainties (HAT #6.5a) due to lack of information on the radiobiology of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and lack of human data. The use of experimental models that most accurately replicate the response of human tissues is critical for precision in risk projections. Our proposed study will compare DNA damage, histological, and cell kinetic parameters after irradiation in normal 2D human cells versus 3D tissue models, and it will use a multi-scale computational model (CHASTE) to investigate various biological processes that may contribute to carcinogenesis, including radiation-induced cellular signaling pathways. This cross-disciplinary work, with biological validation of an evolvable mathematical computational model, will help reduce uncertainties within NSCR and aid risk mitigation for radiation-induced carcinogenesis.

Terrier, Douglas↗

NASA NTRS2016

Concept of Operations for a Prospective "Proving Ground" in the Lunar Vicinity

NASA is studying conceptual architectures for a "Proving Ground" near the Moon or in high lunar orbit to conduct human space exploration missions that bridge the gap between today's operations with the International Space Station (ISS) and future human exploration of Mars beginning in the 2030s. This paper describes the framework of a concept of operations ("Conops") for candidate activities in the Proving Ground. The Conops discusses broad goals that the Proving Ground might address, such as participation from commercial entities, support for human landings on the Moon, use of mature technologies, and growth of capability through a steady cadence of increasingly ambitious piloted missions. Additional Proving Ground objectives are outlined in a companion paper. Key elements in the Conops include the Orion spacecraft (with mission kits for docking and other specialized operations) and the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket. Potential additions include a new space suit, commercial launch vehicles and logistics carriers, Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) stages to move elements between different orbits and eventually take them on excursions to deep space, a core module with multiple docking ports, a habitation block, and robotic and piloted lunar landers. The landers might include reusable ascent modules which could remain docked to in-space elements between lunar sorties. A module providing advanced regenerative life support functions could launch to the ISS, and later move to the Proving Ground. The architecture will include infrastructure for launch preparation, communication, mission control, and range safety. The Conops describes notional missions chosen to guide the design of the architecture and its elements. One such mission might be the delivery of a approximately 10-t Transit Habitat element, comanifested with Orion on a Block 1B SLS launcher, to the Proving Ground. In another mission, the architecture might participate in direct human exploration of an asteroidal boulder brought to high lunar orbit by the Asteroid Redirect Mission. The Proving Ground stack could serve as a staging point and tele-operation center for robotic and piloted Moon landings. With the addition of a SEP stage, the architecture could support months-long excursions within and beyond the Earth's sphere of influence, possibly culminating in a year-long mission to land humans on a near-Earth asteroid. In the last case, after returning to near-lunar space, two of the asteroid explorers could join two crewmembers freshly arrived from Earth for a Moon landing, helping to quantify the risk of landing deconditioned crews on Mars. In a conceptual mission particularly stressing to system design, Proving Ground elements could transit to Mars orbit. Other possible design-driving operations include relocation of the stack with no crew on board, the unpiloted journey of the advanced life support module from ISS to the lunar vicinity, excursions to other destinations in near-Earth space, and additional support for Mars exploration in conjunction with the Evolvable Mars Campaign. The Proving Ground Conops concludes with a discussion of aborts and contingency operations

Love, Stanley G.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Mars Surface Tunnel Element Concept

How crews get into or out of their ascent vehicle has profound implications for Mars surface architecture. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) hatches and Airlocks have the benefit of relatively low mass and high Technology Readiness Level (TRL), but waste consumables with a volume depressurization for every ingress/egress. Perhaps the biggest drawback to EVA hatches or Airlocks is that they make it difficult to keep Martian dust from being tracked back into the ascent vehicle, in violation of planetary protection protocols. Suit ports offer the promise of dust mitigation by keeping dusty suits outside the cabin, but require significant cabin real estate, are relatively high mass, and current operational concepts still require an EVA hatch to get the suits outside for the first EVA, and back inside after the final EVA. This is primarily because current designs don't provide enough structural support to protect the suits from ascent/descent loads or potential thruster plume impingement. For architectures involving more than one surface element-such as an ascent vehicle and a rover or surface habitat-a retractable tunnel is an attractive option. By pushing spacesuit don/doff and EVA operations to an element that remains on the surface, ascended vehicle mass and dust can be minimized. What's more, retractable tunnels provide operational flexibility by allowing surface assets to be re-configured or built up over time. Retractable tunnel functional requirements and design concepts being developed as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) work will add a new ingress/egress option to the surface architecture trade space.

Rucker, Michelle A.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Mars Surface Tunnel Element Concept

How Mars surface crews get into their ascent vehicle has profound implications for Mars surface architecture. To meet planetary protection protocols, the architecture has get Intravehicular Activity (IVA)-suited crew into a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) without having to step outside into the Mars environment. Pushing EVA suit don/doff and EVA operations to an element that remains on the surface also helps to minimize MAV cabin volume, which in turn can reduce MAV cabin mass. Because the MAV will require at least seven kilograms of propellant to ascend each kilogram of cabin mass, minimal MAV mass is desired. For architectures involving more than one surface element-such as an ascent vehicle and a pressurized rover or surface habitat-a retractable tunnel is an attractive solution. Beyond addressing the immediate MAV access issue, a reusable tunnel may be useful for other surface applications once its primary mission is complete. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) team is studying the optimal balance between surface tunnel functionality, mass, and stowed volume as part of the Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC). The "Minimum Functional Tunnel" is a conceptual design that performs a single function. Having established this baseline configuration, the next step is to trade design options, evaluate other applications, and explore alternative solutions.

Rucker, Michelle A.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Mars Surface Tunnel Element Concept

When the first human visitors on Mars prepare to return to Earth, they will have to comply with stringent planetary protection requirements. Apollo Program experience warns that opening an EVA hatch directly to the surface will bring dust into the ascent vehicle. To prevent inadvertent return of potential Martian contaminants to Earth, careful consideration must be given to the way in which crew ingress their Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). For architectures involving more than one surface element-such as an ascent vehicle and a pressurized rover or surface habitat-a retractable tunnel that eliminates extravehicular activity (EVA) ingress is an attractive solution. Beyond addressing the immediate MAV access issue, a reusable tunnel may be useful for other surface applications, such as rover to habitat transfer, once its primary mission is complete. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) team is studying the optimal balance between surface tunnel functionality, mass, and stowed volume as part of the Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC). The study team began by identifying the minimum set of functional requirements needed for the tunnel to perform its primary mission, as this would presumably be the simplest design, with the lowest mass and volume. This Minimum Functional Tunnel then becomes a baseline against which various tunnel design concepts and potential alternatives can be traded, and aids in assessing the mass penalty of increased functionality. Preliminary analysis indicates that the mass of a single-mission tunnel is about 237 kg, not including mass growth allowance.

Rucker, Michelle A.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Liquefaction and Storage of In-Situ Oxygen on the Surface of Mars

ISRU is currently base-lined for the production of oxygen on the Martian surface in the Evolvable Mars Campaign Over 50 of return vehicle mass is oxygen for propulsion. There are two key cryogenic fluid-thermal technologies that need to be investigated to enable these architectures. High lift refrigeration systems. Thermal Insulation systems, either lightweight vacuum jackets of soft vacuum insulation systems.

Liquefaction↗

NASA NTRS2016

NASA Environmental Control and Life Support Technology Development and Maturation for Exploration: 2015 to 2016 Overview

Over the last year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has continued to refine the understanding and prioritization of technology gaps that must be closed in order to achieve Evolvable Mars Campaign objectives and near term objectives in the cislunar proving ground. These efforts are reflected in updates to the technical area roadmaps released by NASA in 2015 and have guided technology development and maturation tasks that have been sponsored by various programs. This paper provides an overview of the refined Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) strategic planning, as well as a synopsis of key technology and maturation project tasks that occurred in 2014 and early 2015 to support the strategic needs. Plans for the remainder of 2015 and subsequent years are also described.

Schneider, Walter F.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Graphical Visualization of Human Exploration Capabilities

NASA's pioneering space strategy will require advanced capabilities to expand the boundaries of human exploration on the Journey to Mars (J2M). The Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) architecture serves as a framework to identify critical capabilities that need to be developed and tested in order to enable a range of human exploration destinations and missions. Agency-wide System Maturation Teams (SMT) are responsible for the maturation of these critical exploration capabilities and help formulate, guide and resolve performance gaps associated with the EMC-identified capabilities. Systems Capability Organization Reporting Engine boards (SCOREboards) were developed to integrate the SMT data sets into cohesive human exploration capability stories that can be used to promote dialog and communicate NASA's exploration investments. Each SCOREboard provides a graphical visualization of SMT capability development needs that enable exploration missions, and presents a comprehensive overview of data that outlines a roadmap of system maturation needs critical for the J2M. SCOREboards are generated by a computer program that extracts data from a main repository, sorts the data based on a tiered data reduction structure, and then plots the data according to specified user inputs. The ability to sort and plot varying data categories provides the flexibility to present specific SCOREboard capability roadmaps based on customer requests. This paper presents the development of the SCOREboard computer program and shows multiple complementary, yet different datasets through a unified format designed to facilitate comparison between datasets. Example SCOREboard capability roadmaps are presented followed by a discussion of how the roadmaps are used to: 1) communicate capability developments and readiness of systems for future missions, and 2) influence the definition of NASA's human exploration investment portfolio through capability-driven processes. The paper concludes with a description of planned future work to modify the computer program to include additional data and of alternate capability roadmap formats currently under consideration.

Rodgers, Erica M.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Human Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Architecture Study Overview

The Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) Architecture Study is a multi-NASA center activity to analyze candidate EDL systems as they apply to human Mars landing in the context of the Evolvable Mars Campaign. The study, led by the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), is performed in conjunction with the NASA's Science Mission Directorate and the Human Architecture Team, sponsored by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The primary objective is to prioritize future STMD EDL technology investments by (1) generating Phase A-level designs for selected concepts to deliver 20 t human class payloads, (2) developing a parameterized mass model for each concept capable of examining payloads between 5 and 40 t, and (3) evaluating integrated system performance using trajectory simulations. This paper summarizes the initial study results.

Cianciolo, Alicia D.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Intelligent (Autonomous) Power Controller Development for Human Deep Space Exploration

As NASAs Evolvable Mars Campaign and other exploration initiatives continue to mature they have identified the need for more autonomous operations of the power system. For current human space operations such as the International Space Station, the paradigm is to perform the planning, operation and fault diagnosis from the ground. However, the dual problems of communication lag as well as limited communication bandwidth beyond GEO synchronous orbit, underscore the need to change the operation methodology for human operation in deep space. To address this need, for the past several years the Glenn Research Center has had an effort to develop an autonomous power controller for human deep space vehicles. This presentation discusses the present roadmap for deep space exploration along with a description of conceptual power system architecture for exploration modules. It then contrasts the present ground centric control and management architecture with limited autonomy on-board the spacecraft with an advanced autonomous power control system that features ground based monitoring with a spacecraft mission manager with autonomous control of all core systems, including power. It then presents a functional breakdown of the autonomous power control system and examines its operation in both normal and fault modes. Finally, it discusses progress made in the development of a real-time power system model and how it is being used to evaluate the performance of the controller and well as using it for verification of the overall operation.

Power Systems↗

NASA NTRS2016

Plasma Oscillation Characterization of NASA's HERMeS Hall Thruster via High Speed Imaging

For missions beyond low Earth orbit, spacecraft size and mass can be dominated by onboard chemical propulsion systems and propellants that may constitute more than 50 percent of the spacecraft mass. This impact can be substantially reduced through the utilization of Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) due to its substantially higher specific impulse. Studies performed for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate have demonstrated that a 50kW-class SEP capability can be enabling for both near term and future architectures and science missions. A high-power SEP element is integral to the Evolvable Mars Campaign, which presents an approach to establish an affordable evolutionary human exploration architecture. To enable SEP missions at the power levels required for these applications, an in-space demonstration of an operational 50kW-class SEP spacecraft has been proposed as a SEP Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM). In 2010 NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began developing high-power electric propulsion technologies. The maturation of these critical technologies has made mission concepts utilizing high-power SEP viable.

Ground Tests↗

NASA NTRS2017

Laser Processed Condensing Heat Exchanger Technology Development

The reliance on non-permanent coatings in Condensing Heat Exchanger (CHX) designs is a significant technical issue to be solved before long-duration spaceflight can occur. Therefore, high reliability CHXs have been identified by the Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) as critical technologies needed to move beyond low earth orbit. The Laser Processed Condensing Heat Exchanger project aims to solve these problems through the use of femtosecond laser processed surfaces, which have unique wetting properties and potentially exhibit anti-microbial growth properties. These surfaces were investigated to identify if they would be suitable candidates for a replacement CHX surface. Among the areas researched in this project include microbial growth testing, siloxane flow testing in which laser processed surfaces were exposed to siloxanes in an air stream, and manufacturability.

Hansen, Scott↗

NASA NTRS2017

Sensitivity Analysis of Hybrid Propulsion Transportation System for Human Mars Expeditions

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration continues to develop and refine various transportation options to successfully field a human Mars campaign. One of these transportation options is the Hybrid Transportation System which utilizes both solar electric propulsion and chemical propulsion. The Hybrid propulsion system utilizes chemical propulsion to perform high thrust maneuvers, where the delta-V is most optimal when ap- plied to save time and to leverage the Oberth effect. It then utilizes solar electric propulsion to augment the chemical burns throughout the interplanetary trajectory. This eliminates the need for the development of two separate vehicles for crew and cargo missions. Previous studies considered single point designs of the architecture, with fixed payload mass and propulsion system performance parameters. As the architecture matures, it is inevitable that the payload mass and the performance of the propulsion system will change. It is desirable to understand how these changes will impact the in-space transportation system's mass and power requirements. This study presents an in-depth sensitivity analysis of the Hybrid crew transportation system to payload mass growth and solar electric propulsion performance. This analysis is used to identify the breakpoints of the current architecture and to inform future architecture and campaign design decisions.

Chai, Patrick R.↗

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 NTRSDate not supplied

The Space Superhighway: A Cost Analysis of an In-Space Logistics Resupply Network

The Space Superhighway is a concept for an in-space logistics network for payload delivery and propellant resupply within the Earth-Moon system. It is expected that in the next several years the number of spacecraft in cislunar space will increase significantly. Commercial launch service providers have significantly reduced the cost of access to space and reduced the barrier to entry for private companies to build and operate their own satellites. Many of these newer satellites are being designed to take advantage of future In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities. In addition, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intends to develop and maintain a sustained human presence in cislunar space and on the surface of the Moon. The sustained lunar presence will then serve as a steppingstone for human missions to Mars. The combined demand for propellant resupply and payload delivery in cislunar space for NASA's Moon to Mars campaign in addition to commercial ventures will likely exceed 1,000 t in the upcoming decades. This work presents a concept for an in-space logistics network to fulfill that demand. The network consists of commercial launch vehicles, propellant tankers, orbital depots, and in-space electric propulsion tugs. This work specifically analyzes the cost of developing, producing, and operating such a network at varying levels of customer demand.

nrho↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Space Superhighway: A Cost Analysis of an In-Space Logistics Resupply Network

The Space Superhighway is a concept for an in-space logistics network for payload delivery and propellant resupply within the Earth-Moon system. It is expected that in the next several years the number of spacecraft in cislunar space will increase significantly. Commercial launch service providers have significantly reduced the cost of access to space and reduced the barrier to entry for private companies to build and operate their own satellites. Many of these newer satellites are being designed to take advantage of future In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities. In addition, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intends to develop and maintain a sustained human presence in cislunar space and on the surface of the Moon. The sustained lunar presence will then serve as a steppingstone for human missions to Mars. The combined demand for propellant resupply and payload delivery in cislunar space for NASA's Moon to Mars campaign in addition to commercial ventures will likely exceed 1,000 t in the upcoming decades. This work presents a concept for an in-space logistics network to fulfill that demand. The network consists of commercial launch vehicles, propellant tankers, orbital depots, and in-space electric propulsion tugs. This work specifically analyzes the cost of developing, producing, and operating such a network at varying levels of customer demand.

space superhighway↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Biological Research and Space Health Enabled by Machine Learning to Support Deep Space Missions

A key science goal of the NASA “Moon to Mars” campaign is to understand how biology responds to the Lunar, Martian, and deep space environments in order to advance fundamental knowledge, reduce risk, and support safe, productive human space missions. Through the powerful emerging computer science approaches of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), a paradigm shift has begun in biomedical science and engineered astronaut health systems, to enable Earth-independence and autonomy of mission operations. We present a decadal view of AI/ML architecture to support deep space mission goals, developed in concert with leaders in the field. We describe current AI/ML methods to support 1) fundamental biology, 2) in situ analytics, 3) high performance computing hardware, 4) automated science, 5) self-driving labs, 6) remote data management, 7) integrated real-time mission biomonitoring, and 8) a Precision Space Health system. Cutting-edge AI/ML approaches that can be integrated to support these domains include active learning, explainable AI, adaptive learning, causal inference, knowledge graphs, federated learning, transfer learning, and large language models. Finally, we present results from several current ML projects that are underway in the field to address key challenges of small sample n, high feature count, heterogeneity, and sparse data. These include 1) connecting omics data to phenotypic data using an ensemble model to infer causality of spaceflight rodent liver health disruption, 2) usage of explainable ML to interrogate the muscular underpinnings of spaceflight muscle atrophy, 3) ML models analyzing and determining directed acyclic graphs of human space health risk leveraging rodent bone datasets, 4) usage of large pre-trained models connecting biomedical knowledgebases with small spaceflight datasets to understand gene-to-gene interaction networks, and 5) a suite of benchmarked open science datasets (spaceflight mouse liver; radiation DNA damage) enabling programmers to identify the best ML algorithms to answer space biological science questions.

space biology↗