Radiation Shielding for Space Exploration: the MoMa - COUNT Programme

Destefanis, R.; Briccarello, M.; Falzetta, Giuseppe; Guarnieri, V.; Lobascio, Cesare; Belluco, M.; Durante, Marco; Pugliese, M.; Casolino, M.

doi:10.4271/2008-01-2161

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

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“…For micro-meteoroid protection, Starship, similar to the Columbus module of the ISS, is assumed to have a protective layer reinforced with Kevlar and Nextel, a so-called Stuffed Whipple Shield (SWS), which bursts incoming objects with three layers of protective material and thus prevents them from penetrating 41 .…”

Section: Starship System Massmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This results in 1.2 g/cm 2 (12 kg/m 2 ) and therefore 1.2 MT for the SWS around the crewed section of Starship. For the remaining part of Starship, 3 mm thick Al 2219-T851 aluminium with 0.8 g/cm 2 is to be used as the back wall 41 . For simplification, a height of 40 m is assumed without protection of the engine area, which results in an outer skin of 1005 m 2 with the same base area of 50 m 2 according to Eq.…”

Section: Starship System Massmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The surface area to be covered is thus 1105 m 2 . Good insulation is to be provided by 40 layers of MLI with a surface density of 0.2 g/cm 2 (2 kg/m 2 ) 41 . The mass of the required MLI is thus 2.21 MT.…”

Section: Starship System Massmentioning

confidence: 99%

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About feasibility of SpaceX's human exploration Mars mission scenario with Starship

Maiwald,

Bauerfeind,

Fälker

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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After decades where human spaceflight missions have been reserved to low Earth orbit, recent years have seen mission proposals and even implemented plans, e.g. with the mission Artemis I, for returning to the lunar surface. SpaceX has published over various media (e.g., its official website, conference presentations, user manual) conceptual information for its reusable Starship to enable human exploration missions to the Martian surface by the end of the decade. The technological and human challenges associated with these plans are daunting. Such a mission at that distance would require excellent system reliability and in-situ-resource utilization on a grand scale, e.g. to produce propellant. The plans contain little details however and have not yet been reviewed concerning their feasibility. In this paper we show significant technological gaps in these plans. Based on estimates and extrapolated data, a mass model as needed to fulfill SpaceX’s plans could not be reproduced and the subsequent trajectory optimization showed that the current plans do not yield a return flight opportunity, due to a too large system mass. Furthermore, significant gaps exist in relevant technologies, e.g. power supply for the Martian surface. It is unlikely that these gaps can be closed until the end of the decade. We recommend several remedies, e.g. stronger international participation to distribute technology development and thus improve feasibility. Overall, with the limited information published by SpaceX about its system and mission scenario and extrapolation from us to fill information gaps, we were not able to find a feasible Mars mission scenario using Starship, even when assuming optimal conditions such as 100% recovery rate of crew consumables during flight.

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Section: Starship System Massmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Starship System Massmentioning

confidence: 99%