Austere Human Missions to Mars

Price, Hoppy; Hawkins, Alisa; Radcliffe, Torrey

doi:10.2514/6.2009-6685

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…1 In particular, these missions require unacceptable deployment and operating conditions for supersonic parachutes as a result of high ballistic coefficients, aeroshell size constraints, and insufficient atmospheric density. 1 A number of studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] have explored the initiation of a retropropulsion phase at supersonic conditions, or supersonic retropropulsion (SRP), in serial with or in place of a deployable aerodynamic decelerator, to enable the landing of larger payloads on Mars. These studies have recommended investment by NASA in SRP technology.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies have recommended investment by NASA in SRP technology. 1,3,7,9,10 Much of the current knowledge about supersonic retropropulsion is based on exploratory development efforts prior to the Viking missions in the 1960s and early 1970s. 8 Results from sub-scale wind tunnel testing during this time show varying degrees of preservation of the vehicle's static aerodynamic drag to be possible at low to moderate thrust levels for peripheral retropropulsion configurations, with the degree of aerodynamic drag preservation strongly dependent on the location of the nozzles on the aeroshell forebody and the relative strength of the exhaust flow to the freestream.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1) Recent efforts [2][3][4][5][6][7]9 have examined entry systems relying on SRP to establish performance requirements and operating conditions for future mission applications. Thrust coefficients less than ~ 5 are not realistic for any mission class as a result of the large thrust magnitudes required for mass-optimal propulsion system performance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of Inviscid and Viscous Aerodynamic Predictions of Supersonic Retropropulsion Flowfields

Korzun

Cordell

Braun

2010

10th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference

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Supersonic retropropulsion, or the initiation of a retropropulsion phase at supersonic freestream conditions, is an enabling decelerator technology for high-mass planetary entries at Mars. The current knowledge on supersonic retropropulsion is largely derived from exploratory development efforts prior to the Viking missions in the 1960s and early 1970s, predominantly sub-scale wind tunnel testing. Little literature exists on analytical and computational modeling approaches for supersonic aerodynamic-propulsive interactions at moderate thrust levels and flight-relevant conditions. This investigation presents a discussion of the relevant flow physics to provide insight into the effectiveness of inviscid and viscous computational analysis approaches in consistently and accurately capturing the relevant flow physics. Preliminary computational results for a blunt body with two retropropulsion configurations are compared with experimental data for the location of prominent flow features and surface pressure distributions. This work is intended to provide an initial discussion of the challenges facing the computational simulation of supersonic retropropulsion flowfields.

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Comparison of Inviscid and Viscous Aerodynamic Predictions of Supersonic Retropropulsion Flowfields

Korzun

Cordell

Braun

2010

10th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference

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“…The content of each of the stages must be carefully managed to limit required capability development and cost. In Price et al ( 2009) [13], the Aerospace Corporation completed a set of cost estimates for the development of required Mars exploration elements. While actual costs will depend upon a number of factors, including specific technologies and architecture, acquisition method, and partnerships, these costs can serve as a measure of the relative level of effort (LOE) required to develop different capabilities.…”

Section: Developmental Affordabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential advantages of conducting short duration visits to the Martian surface

Stromgren¹,

Escobar²,

Cirillo

et al. 2018

2018 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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Recent NASA concepts for human missions to Mars, including the Evolvable Mars Campaign and Design Reference Architecture 5.0, have focused on the conduct of missions with long duration stays on the Martian surface. The decision to focus on long duration missions (typically to a single site) is driven by a desire to increase the perceived sustainability of the human Mars campaign, predicated on the assumption that sustainability is best achieved by maximizing the level of activity on the surface, providing for continuous growth in operations, and promoting pioneering of Mars.However, executing a series of long duration missions to a single site is not the only option for human exploration of Mars that has been proposed. Other architectures have been evaluated that focus on missions with short duration surface stays, with each mission visiting a separate site on the surface. This type of architecture is less efficient in that elements are not typically reused from one mission to the next but requires a far less complex surface architecture.There are potentially valid arguments to be made that a short duration, multiple site approach could result in different types of advantages when compared to the long duration, single site approach to Mars exploration, particularly for initial human missions to Mars. These arguments revolve around four areas: Achieved Value, Risk Mitigation, Developmental Affordability, and Operational Affordability & Flexibility.The question of Achieved Value relates to the prioritization of goals for Martian exploration. As discussed, goals related to pioneering and expanding human presence are often referenced as justifications for the long duration approach. However, there are other competing goals, including science and exploration. While there is not a clear consensus among planetary scientists, many have argued that the value of being able to visit multiple sites could outweigh the value of continually visiting a single site.Risk Mitigation is a major concern for initial human missions to Mars. There are a number of hazards related to operating on the Martian surface that are not well characterized. It may be desirable to conduct a series of short duration missions to better understand the nature of these risks prior to committing to a long duration mission.Developmental Affordability relates to the ability of NASA and its partners to develop and deploy the proposed architecture. Any human missions to Mars will be among the most complex endeavors ever undertaken. The capabilities that must be developed to enable any human Mars missions are extremely challenging. The total design, development, test, and evaluation (DDT&E) budget required to develop just the essential capabilities alone will be substantial. If additional surface capabilities are required to support long duration surface stays, the development effort could be unaffordable.Operational Affordability & Flexibility relates to the continued costs to execute the Mars campaign. Long duration missions, even with some amount of in-sit...

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“…After going subsonic, the heat shield would be jettisoned, the landing legs would be deployed, and the terminal descent would take place to soft land the crew on the surface of Mars. This is described in more detail by Price et al 7 The first landing mission might only be a short-stay visit, similar to Apollo 17 in scope. For later landing missions, it is envisioned that a surface habitat would be preplaced at the landing site to support lengthy surface stays.…”

Section: B a Representative Mars Lander Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

Human Missions to Mars Orbit, Phobos, and Mars Surface Using 100-kWe-Class Solar Electric Propulsion

Price

Baker

Strange

et al. 2014

AIAA SPACE 2014 Conference and Exposition

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Solar electric propulsion (SEP) tugs in the 100-kWe range, may be utilized to preposition cargo in the Mars system to enable more affordable human missions to Phobos and to the surface of Mars. The SEP tug, a high heritage follow-on to the 50-kWe SEP spacecraft proposed for the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM), would have the same structure, tankage, electric propulsion components, and avionics as the ARRM version, But with double the number of solar arrays, Hall thrusters, and power processor units (PPUs) and would be accommodated within the same launch envelope defined for ARRM. As a feasibility study, a 950-day human mission to Phobos using a conjunction-class trajectory, such as the 2033 opportunity, was developed using two 100-kWe SEP vehicles to preposition a habitat at Phobos and propulsion stages in high Mars orbit (HMO). An architecture concept for a crewed Mars surface lander mission was also developed as a reference to build on the Phobos mission architecture, adding a lander element that could be delivered using chemical propulsion and aerocapture. Nomenclature

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Austere Human Missions to Mars

Cited by 15 publications

References 1 publication

Comparison of Inviscid and Viscous Aerodynamic Predictions of Supersonic Retropropulsion Flowfields

Comparison of Inviscid and Viscous Aerodynamic Predictions of Supersonic Retropropulsion Flowfields

Potential advantages of conducting short duration visits to the Martian surface

Human Missions to Mars Orbit, Phobos, and Mars Surface Using 100-kWe-Class Solar Electric Propulsion

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