Showing papers by "Steven R. Oleson published in 2012"
20 Jul 2012
TL;DR: In this article, a 40kW end-of-life solar electric propulsion (SEP) system is presented that could rendezvous with, capture, and subsequently transport a 1,000metric-ton near-Earth asteroid back to cislunar space.
Abstract: In situ resource utilization (ISRU) in general, and asteroid mining in particular are ideas that have been
around for a long time, and for good reason. It is clear that ultimately human exploration beyond low-Earth
orbit will have to utilize the material resources available in space. Historically, the lack of sufficiently capable
in-space transportation has been one of the key impediments to the harvesting of near-Earth asteroid
resources. With the advent of high-power (or order 40 kW) solar electric propulsion systems, that impediment
is being removed. High-power solar electric propulsion (SEP) would be enabling for the exploitation of
asteroid resources. The design of a 40-kW end-of-life SEP system is presented that could rendezvous with,
capture, and subsequently transport a 1,000-metric-ton near-Earth asteroid back to cislunar space. The
conceptual spacecraft design was developed by the Collaborative Modeling for Parametric Assessment of
Space Systems (COMPASS) team at the Glenn Research Center in collaboration with the Keck Institute for
Space Studies (KISS) team assembled to investigate the feasibility of an asteroid retrieval mission. Returning
such an object to cislunar space would enable astronaut crews to inspect, sample, dissect, and ultimately
determine how to extract the desired materials from the asteroid. This process could jump-start the entire
ISRU industry
22 citations
TL;DR: The HERRO strategy refrains from placing humans on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars in the near-term, and focuses on sending piloted spacecraft and crews into orbit around Mars and other exploration targets of interest, and conducting astronaut exploration of the surfaces using telerobots and remotely-controlled systems.
16 citations
01 Apr 2012
TL;DR: The first half-TDRSS-sized box spacecraft, the Lunar Relay Satellite (LRS) as discussed by the authors, was designed to provide relay communications between the South Pole assets and the Earth.
Abstract: The Lunar Relay Satellite (LRS) COllaborative Modeling and Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) session was tasked to design a satellite to orbit in an elliptical lunar polar orbit to provide relay communications between lunar South Pole assets and the Earth. The design included a complete master equipment list, power requirement list, configuration design, and brief risk assessment and cost analysis. The LRS is a half-TDRSS sized box spacecraft, which provides communications and navigation relay between lunar outposts (via Lunar Communications Terminals (LCT)) or Sortie parties (with user radios) and large ground antennas on Earth. The LRS consists of a spacecraft containing all the communications and avionics equipment designed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory s (JPL) Team X to perform the relay between lunar-based assets and the Earth. The satellite design is a standard box truss spacecraft design with a thermal control system, 1.7 m solar arrays for 1 kWe power, a 1 m diameter Ka/S band dish which provides relay communications with the LCT, and a Q-band dish for communications to/from the Earth based assets. While JPL's Team X and Goddard Space Flight Center s (GSFC) I M Design Center (IMDC) have completed two other LRS designs, this NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) COMPASS LRS design sits between them in terms of physical size and capabilities.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a mission architecture designed to substantially increase the science capability of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Astrophysics Explorer Program for all AO proposers working within the near-UV to far-infrared spectrum is described.
Abstract: We describe a mission architecture designed to substantially increase the science capability of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Astrophysics Explorer Program for all AO proposers working within the near-UV to far-infrared spectrum. We have demonstrated that augmentation of Falcon 9 Explorer launch services with a 13 kW Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) stage can deliver a 700 kg science observatory payload to extra-Zodiacal orbit. This new capability enables up to ~13X increased photometric sensitivity and ~160X increased observing speed relative to a Sun-Earth L2, Earth-trailing, or Earth orbit with no increase in telescope aperture. All enabling SEP stage technologies for this launch service augmentation have reached sufficient readiness (TRL-6) for Explorer Program application in conjunction with the Falcon 9. We demonstrate that enabling Astrophysics Explorers to reach extra-zodiacal orbit will allow this small payload program to rival the science performance of much larger long development time systems; thus, providing a means to realize major science objectives while increasing the SMD Astrophysics portfolio diversity and resiliency to external budget pressure. The SEP technology employed in this study has strong applicability to SMD Planetary Science community-proposed missions. SEP is a stated flight demonstration priority for NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT). This new mission architecture for astrophysics Explorers enables an attractive realization of joint goals for OCT and SMD with wide applicability across SMD science disciplines.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a mission architecture designed to substantially increase the science capability of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Astrophysics Explorer Program for all AO proposers working within the near-UV to far-infrared spectrum is described.
Abstract: We describe a mission architecture designed to substantially increase the science capability of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Astrophysics Explorer Program for all AO proposers working within the near-UV to far-infrared spectrum. We have demonstrated that augmentation of Falcon 9 Explorer launch services with a 13 kW Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) stage can deliver a 700 kg science observatory payload to extra-Zodiacal orbit. This new capability enables up to ~13X increased photometric sensitivity and ~160X increased observing speed relative to a Sun- Earth L2, Earth-trailing, or Earth orbit with no increase in telescope aperture. All enabling SEP stage technologies for this launch service augmentation have reached sufficient readiness (TRL-6) for Explorer Program application in conjunction with the Falcon 9. We demonstrate that enabling Astrophysics Explorers to reach extra-zodiacal orbit will allow this small payload program to rival the science performance of much larger long development time systems; thus, providing a means to realize major science objectives while increasing the SMD Astrophysics portfolio diversity and resiliency to external budget pressure. The SEP technology employed in this study has strong applicability to SMD Planetary Science community-proposed missions. SEP is a stated flight demonstration priority for NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT). This new mission architecture for astrophysics Explorers enables an attractive realization of joint goals for OCT and SMD with wide applicability across SMD science disciplines.
2 citations
01 Jul 2012
TL;DR: In this article, two design options were explored to address the requirement to provide lunar piloted missions with continuous communications for outpost and sortie missions, and two unique orbits were assessed, along with the appropriate spacecraft (S/C) to address these requirements.
Abstract: Two design options were explored to address the requirement to provide lunar piloted missions with continuous communications for outpost and sortie missions. Two unique orbits were assessed, along with the appropriate spacecraft (S/C) to address these requirements. Both constellations (with only two S/C each) provide full time coverage (24 hr/7 d) for a south polar base and also provide continuous 7 day coverage for sorties for specified sites and periodic windows. Thus a two-satellite system can provide full coverage for sorties for selected windows of opportunity without reconfiguring the constellation.