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Sustainable Planetary Surfaces

Go anywhere, anytime

Accessible Planetary Surface

Earth’s Neighborhood

A National Vision--Stepping Stones

Earth and LEO

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Credits

• Eduardo Lopez del Castillo, Kennedy Space Center• Shawn Quinn, KSC Exploration Office• Berrin Tansel, Florida International University• John Sager, KSC Biological Sciences Office• Pete Palmer, San Francisco State University• Joey H. Norikane, University of Kentucky• Paul Larrat, University of Rhode Island• Maynette Smith, Kennedy Space Center• Darin Skelly, Kennedy Space Center• Sid Clements, Appalachian State University• Carlos Calle – KSC Spaceport Engineering and Technology

Debits

All errors and opinions are the responsibility ofRobert Cook, Yamacraw Prof. of Computer Sciences

Georgia Southern University

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National Spaceport Vision for Tomorrow

• High flight rates

– Increase responsiveness

– Support concurrent operations

– Reduce costs

• Seamless integration with National Airspace System

– Global coverage

• Nationally Interoperable

– Implement standardization

– Enhance flexibility & adaptability

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Cross Agency Systems of Systems

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“It is not possible for astronauts to travel to Mars without recycling their own liquids and solids.”

• Shower water 5.44 L/d• Hand wash water 8.16 L/d• Urinal flush water 1.00 L/d• Average urine donation 3.00 L/d• Humidity condensate 4.54 L/d• Oral hygiene water 0.73 L/d

TOTAL (for two) 22.9 L/d

Two person crew water use (Garland et al., 2003)

Closed loop water recovery system

Astronaut wastewater

Drinking water

How much water is needed for space travel?

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Role of Bioregenerative Components in Future Life Support

Short Durations Longer Durations Autonomous(early missions) Colonies

Stowage and Physico-Chemical

~1-5 m 2 total ~10-25 m 2 / person ~50 m 2 / person

Plant Growing Area

Bioregenerative

Courtesy of Ray Wheeler

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Low Pressure Testing: Mars Greenhouse

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Martian Dust Storms

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permanent gases,volatile organics, and

unexpected compounds

metabolicemissions

material outgassing,fluid leaks, etc.

biogenicemissions

• Ensure nominal air quality for humans• Evaluate effects of accidental releases of chemicals• Validate composition data from alternate sensors• Evaluate efficiency of trace contaminant removal subsystems• Determine presence of phytotoxic compounds

SOURCES OF AIR CONTAMINANTS

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In-situ Space Resource Utilization is Enabling for Exploration

Risk ReductionExpands Human

Exploration & Presence

Cost ReductionMass Reduction

Enables Space Commercialization

Space Resource Utilization

• Reduces number and size of Earth launch vehicles

• Allows reuse of landers

• Increase Surface Mobility & extends missions

• Habitat & infrastructure construction

• Propellants, life support, power, etc.

• Reduces dependence on Earth supplied logistics

• Enables self-sufficiency

• Provides backup options & flexibility

• Radiation Shielding

• Develops material handling and processing technologies

• Provides infrastructure to support space commercialization

• Earth, Moon, & Earth-Moon space manufacturing, and product/resource development, resupply, & transportation

• Reduces Earth to orbit mass by 20 to 45%

• Estimated 300 MT/yr reduction in Earth logistics

ISRU ISRU enablesenables mass & cost mass & cost efficient Near-Earth & Solar efficient Near-Earth & Solar

System Space TransportationSystem Space Transportation

ISRU ISRU enableenables s “Accessible” & “Accessible” & “Sustainable” “Sustainable”

planetary surface planetary surface exploration of Moon & exploration of Moon &

MarsMars

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Common Resources & Processes SupportMultiple Robotic/Human Mission Destinations

In-Situ Resource Utilization is not Destination Specific!!In-Situ Resource Utilization is not Destination Specific!!

Core Building Blocks

• Atmosphere & Volatile Collection & Separation

• Regolith Processing to Extract O2, Si, Metals

• Water & Carbon Dioxide Processing

• Fine-grained Regolith Excavation & Refining

• Drilling

• Volatile Furnaces & Fluidized Beds

• 0-g & Surface Cryogenic Liquefaction, Storage, & Transfer

• In-Situ Manufacture of Parts & Solar Cells

Possible Destinations

Moon

Mars & Phobos

Near Earth Asteroids &

Extinct Comets

Titan

Europa

Common Resources

Water• Moon• Mars• Comets• Asteroids• Europa• Titan• Triton• Human Habitats

Carbon• Mars (atm)• Asteroids• Comets• Titan• Human Habitats

Helium-3• Moon• Jupiter• Saturn• Uranus• Neptune

Metals & Oxides

• Moon• Mars • Asteroids

Core Technologies

- Microchannel Adsorption

- Constituent Freezing- Molecular Sieves

- Water Electrolysis- CO2 Electrolysis- Sabatier Reactor- RWGS Reactor- Methane Reformer- Microchannel

Chem/thermal units

- Scoopers/buckets- Conveyors/augers- No fluid drilling

- O2 & Fuel Low Heatleak Tanks (0-g & reduced-g)

- O2 Feed & Transfer Lines

- O2/Fuel Couplings

- Thermal/Microwave Heaters

- Heat Exchangers- Liquid Vaporizers

- Carbothermal Reduction

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Modular Surface Support Equipment

•Multiple uses for modules that can be reconfigured

•Think space “LEGO”s

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Deployable Structures

Applications such as:

• mobile field antenna towers

• access and handling equipment

• scaffolding

• construction of deployable storage facilities

• gantries

• stiff leg derricks

• other Lunar operations applications.

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Fuel Depots

Surface Cryogenics and Consumables• A Moon/Mars based cryogenics depot involves the

same features as its earth-based analog; Storage, Distribution, and Liquefaction

• Experience– Cryogenic Systems Development & Ops– Insulation Systems– Storage & Distribution– Leak Detection– Umbilicals

• Development – Pumping LOX with Magnetic Fields– Deployable Cryo Tank & Lines– Super-insulation Research

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Jet Plume / Regolith Interactions