NASA has been investigating the use of Solar Electric Propulsion, Chemical Propulsion, and Nuclear Thermal Propulsion systems to deliver crew and cargo to Mars orbit in support of expeditions to the Martian surface. In order to evaluate the effect of the selection of in-space transportation options on a series of human Mars missions across multiple opportunities, campaign level analysis must be performed and the transportation options must be evaluated using the same set of ground rules and assumptions to provide equal comparison. In this study, a comparison of three in-space transportation options was shown from a campaign level perspective. Campaign level metrics such as total launch mass, launch vehicle launch rate, and total launch vehicle required are presented to show how the different transportation systems perform to field a series of Mars missions across multiple mission opportunities. Each transportation option was utilized to perform three crew roundtrip missions to Mars, with supporting cargo missions starting in 2029, the first crewed mission to Mars in 2035. The transportation options each have strengths and weaknesses from a campaign and strategic investment point of view, as evident by the comparison between the total launch mass and the total number of launch vehicles required. While the analysis shown in this study provides an initial comparison between the transportation options, significant challenges still exists for each options in terms of the detailed mission operations and the feasibility of all of the assumptions.


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    Title :

    Reusable In-Space Transportation Architecture Options for Human Mars Expeditions


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    International Astronautical Congress ; 2019 ; Washington, DC, United States


    Publication date :

    2019-10-21


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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