Space Travel Innovations (original) (raw)
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Electric Propulsion Concepts Enabled by High Power Systems for Space Exploration
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Solar Electric Propulsion Concepts for Human Space Exploration
AIAA SPACE 2014 Conference and Exposition, 2015
Advances in solar array and electric thruster technologies now offer the promise of new, very capable space transportation systems that will allow us to cost effectively explore the solar system. NASA has developed numerous solar electric propulsion spacecraft concepts with power levels ranging from tens to hundreds of kilowatts for robotic and piloted missions to asteroids and Mars. This paper describes nine electric and hybrid solar electric/chemical propulsion concepts developed over the last 5 years and discusses how they might be used for human exploration of the inner solar system.
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Aerojet has identified an affordable architecture for human exploration of deep space. Following the key tenets of launch and in-space commonality, efficient in-space transportation, and phased capability development drives the overall cost of missions to the Moon, NEOs, Phobos, and the surface of Mars to within NASA’s existing Exploration budget while ensuring that risks to the crew and mission are minimized. Using high power solar electric tugs to preposition all non-time critical cargo and using conventional LOX/H2 high thrust systems for crew transportation enables the use of smaller launch vehicles with great commonality across NASA, DoD, and commercial missions, distributing fixed launch costs across a broad customer base and dramatically reducing exploration costs. Both 300kW and 600kW SEP Tugs are used for pre-placement of habitats, exploration equipment, and return vehicles at the destinations, allowing complete systems verification prior to crew Earth departure, significan...
Space Power System - Motivation, Review and Vision
Solar Collectors and Panels, Theory and Applications , Edited by Reccab Manyala, 2010
The world’s population growth is exhausting the world’s limited supply of non-renewable energy sources, and along with it, introducing significant anthropogenic environment and climate change. Although the economic and business inertia trend to cling to the lure of nonrenewable energy resources, it is imperative that in the foreseeable future extensive renewable or green energy sources should be progressively utilized to replace the nonrenewable ones and to sustain reasonable living standard for the entire world’s population. The world’s dream of world’s socio-economic and technological equity and networking is still far from being a reality, and many of the pioneering technology breakthrough for the benefits of humanities, to some extend, contribute to their widening gap. Then it will be timely and appropriate that a new vision for world’s “green” energy be shared by and contributable to a fair distribution of world’s population, presently still grouped into countries with unbalanced capacity distribution. In particular, judging from the large population distribution and growth in developing countries compared to the developed ones, the need and growth for energy resources will also be more or less similar. Mankind success in space exploration has opened up their vision of the uniqueness of the world we live in and the need for conserving our environment (Djojodihardjo, 2009; Djojodihardjo & Varatharajoo, 2009), as illustrated in Figure 1. Such vision which has inspired mankind to develop technological capabilities in atmospheric and space flight as well as exploring new fromtiers beyond the earth’s atmosphere has been profoundly articulated as far back as in 400 BC by Socrates in the well known verse: "Man must rise above the Earth -- to the top of the atmosphere and beyond -- for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives."
NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program: Overview and Update
40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, 2004
NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program is investing in technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the robotic exploration of deep space. For robotic exploration and science missions, increased efficiencies of future propulsion systems are critical to reduce overall life-cycle costs and, in some cases, enable missions previously considered impossible. Continued reliance on conventional chemical propulsion alone will not enable the robust exploration of deep spacethe maximum theoretical efficiencies have almost been reached and they are insufficient to meet needs for many ambitous science missions currently being considered.
Disruptive Propulsive Technologies for European Space Missions
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Advanced space technologies have been reviewed and analysed in view of heavy interplanetary missions of interest for Europe and European industry capabilities. Among the missions of interest: o Heavy robotic missions to outer planets, o Asteroid deflection missions, o Interplanetary manned mission (at longer term). These missions involve high speed increments, generally beyond the capability of chemical propulsion (except if gravitational swing-by can be used). For missions beyond Mars orbit, the fission nuclear energy sources become competitive with solar panels. Two electrical power levels have been considered: 30 kWe and 200 kWe. The lowest power level (30 kWe) is more suited to surface energy source (Moon or Mars manned base) or to relatively small automatic platforms. The 200 kW power level is more suited to heavy robotic missions, including efficient asteroid deflection. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) has been also considered, especially for asteroid deflection. NTP may be c...