Mars Rocket Vehicle Using In Situ Propellants

Metal-CO2 Propulsion for Mars Missions: Current Status and Opportunities

“…One of them postulates production of CO and O 2 by electrolysis of the Martian CO 2 in a zirconia cell for use as a liquid bipropellant in rocket engines [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Because CO=O 2 propellant provides relatively low performance [5], generation of only liquid oxygen on Mars for use with better (hydrocarbon) fuel transported from Earth was also considered.…”

Mars Hopper Vehicle Configuration Design Sensitivity Analysis

“…Several propellant production techniques and compatible propulsion devices have been proposed for ballistic Mars hopper vehicles [9][10][11][12]. One is to produce CO and O 2 through electrolysis of Martian CO 2 for use as a liquid bipropellant in rocket engines, but the electrolyzers are fragile and require high operating temperatures.…”

Artillery based explorers: A new architecture for regional planetary geology

“…A NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts study also explores the idea of an ISPP refuelable rocket for unmanned and manned exploration on Mars [8], and the concept is applied to manned lunar transportation beyond 100 km in [9]. Landis proposes an autonomous ISPP hopper for regional scale robotic exploration on the order of several kilometers [10], and Shafirovich proposes another type of robotic ISPP hopper that uses CO 2 and metal as a propellant [11].…”