Spaceship Discovery's Crew and Cargo Lander Module Designs for Human Exploration of Mars

Benton, Mark G.

doi:10.1063/1.2845056

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Benton made a preliminary study on the Mars probe through the modular design method of spacecraft and cargo lander and increased the shell to improve the reliability [8]. However, there is little literature on the improvement of load strength and upgoing coverage of cargo ships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of the Space Camera Protection System during Launch Process

Wang,

Tian,

Yan

2023

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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In order to improve the safety and reliability and maintain the stability of imaging quality when a space camera with a cargo spaceship is launched, a protection system for the space camera is designed. Firstly, according to the mechanical properties of the space camera, a working principle of the protection system is elaborated, and a model of the system is proposed. Secondly, a protective cover and a vibration isolation block are designed on the basis of shape, size, and requirements of the space camera. Thirdly, based on the finite element mesh, static and sinusoidal vibration simulation calculations of the space camera and its protection system are carried out. Finally, the protection system is validated after mechanical experiment. The results reveal that the three directional fundamental frequencies of space camera are 43.39 Hz, 26.74 Hz, and 22.83 Hz, respectively, and the maximum response of sinusoidal vibration acceleration is 17.02 g, which is amplified by 3.4 times. The image quality of the space camera lens is consistent before and after the test, which satisfies the requirement of the cargo ship.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of the Space Camera Protection System during Launch Process

Wang,

Tian,

Yan

2023

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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“…4 Updated designs were presented at the STAIF 2008 conference. 5 LM2/LM3 entry descent and landing (EDL) concept, operations concept, mass properties, outer moldline (OML) …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crew and Cargo Landers for Human Exploration of Mars-Vehicle System Design

Benton

2008

5th AIAA Theoretical Fluid Mechanics Conference

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This paper describes Mars lander design concepts that were first presented as part of the Spaceship Discovery independent research project. This conceptual space vehicle architecture for human solar system exploration was presented in 2006. The Spaceship Discovery architecture includes two types of Mars exploration landers: A piloted crew lander, designated Lander Module 2 (LM2), and an autonomous cargo lander, designated Lander Module 3 (LM3). The LM2 and LM3 designs were first presented at the AIAA Space 2007 conference. The LM2 and LM3 concepts have recently been extensively redesigned. The objective of this paper is to present these revised designs. The LM2 and LM3 landers are based on a common design that can be configured to carry either crew or cargo. They utilize a combination of aerodynamic reentry, parachutes, and propulsive braking to decelerate from orbital velocity to a soft landing. The LM2 crew lander provides two-way transportation for a nominal three-person crew between Mars orbit and the surface, and provides life support for a 24-day contingency mission. It contains an ascent section to return the crew to orbit after completion of surface operations. The LM3 cargo lander provides one-way, autonomous transportation of cargo from Mars orbit to the surface and can be configured to carry a mix of consumables and equipment, or equipment only. Lander service life and endurance is based on the Spaceship Discovery conjunction-class Design Reference Mission 2. The LM3 is designed to extend the surface stay for three crew members in an LM2 crew lander such that two sets of crew and cargo landers enable human exploration of the surface for the bulk of the 454 day wait time at Mars, in two shifts of three crew members each. Design requirements, mission profiles, mass properties, performance data, and configuration layouts are presented for the LM2 crew and LM3 cargo landers. These lander designs are a proposed solution to the problem of safely transporting a human crew from Mars orbit to the surface, sustaining them for extended periods of time on the surface, and returning them safely to orbit. They are based on reliable and proven technology and build on an extensive heritage of successful unmanned probes. Safety, redundancy, and abort and rescue capabilities are stressed in the design and operations concepts. The designs share many common features, hardware, subsystems, and flight control modes to reduce development cost. The LM2 and LM3 Mars landers presented in this paper are an integral part of the Spaceship Discovery architecture but could be used in any other Mars exploration architecture that utilizes a Mars orbit rendezvous methodology.

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Manned Mars Mission Analysis Using Mission Architecture Matrix Method

2022

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With the development of deep space exploration technology, manned missions to Mars are expected to be realized in the near future. However, the journey to Mars requires more supplies and fuel than near-Earth missions, including moon landings. Using the traditional Apollo-style mission method will result in the spacecraft reaching the LEO mass of 2000 tons, which is not easy to achieve. The use of the modular design method and multiple launches will significantly reduce the mass of a single launch. In addition, the use of nuclear power engines (Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, NTP, and Nuclear Electric Propulsion, NEP) can greatly improve propulsion efficiency, reducing the mass of the propellant. This paper uses the Mission Architecture Matrix (MAM) method to concisely and precisely analyze a series of mission architectures in the case of impulse maneuver transfer and low-thrust transfer. The results show that when only chemical propulsion (specific impulse is 440s) is used, the maximum LEO launch mass in the optimal mission architecture is 325 tons, and the total LEO mass of the system is 1142 tons. With the usage of NTP (specific impulse is 900s) and NEP (the specific impulse is 6000s) technology, the maximum LEO launch mass in the optimal mission architecture is only 85 tons, and the total LEO mass of the system is only about 400 tons. Considering the current rocket technology, the total cost is about USD 1149 million US.

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Spaceship Discovery's Crew and Cargo Lander Module Designs for Human Exploration of Mars

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

Design of the Space Camera Protection System during Launch Process

Design of the Space Camera Protection System during Launch Process

Crew and Cargo Landers for Human Exploration of Mars-Vehicle System Design

Manned Mars Mission Analysis Using Mission Architecture Matrix Method

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