Martian Moons and Space Transportation Using Chemical and Electric Propulsion Options
TLDR
Using chemical and nuclear electric propulsion for the exploration of the Martian moons is investigated in this article, where the initial masses, propellant masses, and trip times for a variety of space vehicle payload masses are compared.Abstract:
Using chemical and nuclear electric propulsion for the exploration of the Martian moons will be investigated. Both oxygen/hydrogen chemical propulsion and nuclear electric propulsion with 500 kilowatt electric (kWe) to 10 megawatt electric (MWe) reactors will be assessed. The initial masses, propellant masses, and trip times for a variety of space vehicle payload masses will be compared. For high energy orbital transfer, the nuclear electric propulsion vehicles required a small fraction of the propellant mass over oxygen/hydrogen orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs). The moons, Phobos and Deimos, may hold resources for refueling future space vehicles. In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) can be a powerful method of reducing Earth dependence on space vehicle propellants, liquid water, and breathing gases. Historical studies have identified the potential of water in carbonaceous chondrites on the moons. The moon-derived propellants OTVs that move payloads between the moons and to other important operational Mars orbits. Also, the propellants have been suggested to support reusable Mars landers. To extract the water, the mined mass, its volume and the mining time were estimated. The water mass fraction may be as low as 2x10−4. Very large masses were needed to be extracted for up to 100 MT of water.read more
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Propulsion Requirements for Controllable Satellites
TL;DR: In this article, a closed-form analytic solution for the optimum low thrust transfer between inclined circular orbits of different radii was found for the purpose of minimizing perturbations due to the atmosphere, the Earth's bulge, and the sun and moon.
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Evolution of the water regime of Phobos
TL;DR: An improved model of the evolution of the water regime of Phobos is presented in this paper, which is a time-dependent solar insolation model that is influenced both by the increasing solar power output over geologic time and by the obliquity and eccentricity cycles of Mars and Phobos.
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A Mariner 9 atlas of the moons of Mars
Joseph Veverka,Michael Noland,Carl Sagan,James B. Pollack,L. Quam,R. B. Tucker,Botand Eross,Thomas C. Duxbury,William Green +8 more
TL;DR: This paper contains a complete set of the best enhancements of Mariner 9 high resolution television pictures of Phobos and Deimos, consisting of 27 different views ofPhobos, and 9 of deimos.
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Human exploration of Phobos
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Manned sample return mission to phobos: A technology demonstration for human exploration of Mars
Natasha Bosanac,Ana Diaz,Victor Dang,Frans H. Ebersohn,Stefanie Gonzalez,Jay Qi,Nicholas Sweet,Norris Tie,Gianluca Valentino,Abigail A. Fraeman,Alison Gibbings,Tyler Maddox,Chris Nie,Jamie Rankin,Tiago Rebelo,Graeme Taylor +15 more
TL;DR: The Technology Advancing Phobos Exploration and Return (TAPER-1) as discussed by the authors was designed as an opposition class mission to Phobos, carrying four astronauts, with a launch date in April 2033, and a nominal time of flight of 456 days.
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