EQUPMENT | Marsmission

MISSION EQUIPMENT

PREPARATORY EQUIPMENT

FIRST LAUNCH

To allow for a long-stay Mars mission it is vital to send some preparatory and research equipment prior to the launch of humans to the planet. This enables researchers to learn about the Martian surface and atmosphere to build a safer and more effective trip for human life. One way of achieving this is by delivering an unfueled and unmanned Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) as outlined by the Mars Direct project by Zubrin (Zubrin, 1992). The preparatory mission will be completed using a ‘Single Shuttle Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle’ consisting of the ERV, liquid hydrogen, a 100kW nuclear reactor, compressors, scientific rovers, and an automated chemical processing system (Zubrin, 1992). The role of each component will be outlined throughout this page, for more information on the mission design, see the DESIGN page and for finance, the FINANCE page.

SECOND LAUNCH

Within the second launch, another ERV will be launched to Mars, this time containing a ‘habitation module’ with a crew of four inside along with provisions and necessary equipment for a three-year duration. Further included within this launch will be a ground rover for human operation and a landing engine assembly allowing for safe landing to the Martian surface.

ROVERS

Rovers are used for the exploration and research of planetary surfaces using various pieces of scientific equipment. NASA has previously sent four rovers to explore the Martian environment and conduct experiments in regards to Mars’s surface, atmosphere and suitability for human life. These missions include the ‘Sojourner’, ‘Spirit’, ‘Opportunity’ and ‘Curiosity’ rovers spanning from 1997 to the present day. Despite their agility and flexibility for research, rovers can be very temperamental pieces of equipment that are prone to being highly sensitive. Previous rovers have stopped working due to battery overloading or getting trapped.

The ‘Curiosity’ rover, seen in Fig. 1, is currently conducting research of the Martian surface with four main goals (NASA, 2011)-

Determine whether life ever arose on Mars
Characterize the climate of Mars
Characterize the geology of Mars
Prepare for human exploration.

The scientific equipment employed by 'Curiosity'-

Cameras
Spectrometers
Radiation Detectors
Environmental Sensors
Atmospheric Sensors

Figure 1: Self Portrait of Curiosity

For more information on the specific models used by the ‘Curiosity’ rover click here (opens in new tab).

Rovers for the Mars mission would play a crucial part in the preliminary research of the planetary surface and assistance of the astronauts with their research. With the wide range of experiments and research they are capable of, they would provide groundbreaking impacts to the mission.

ROCKETS AND SHUTTLES

In 2018, it was announced that NASA would begin a project called the ‘Exploration Campaign’, which aims to ‘bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.’ (Northon, 2018). To enable and support this to happen they are employing the use of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Their mission design is to first set up a lunar base before expanding to Mars. Therefore, only the equipment proposed for long-distance space travel will be discussed. The SLS has the capability to send missions further and faster through space, as it develops it will have the ability to send heavier payloads into space. According to NASA, the SLS will produce ‘13% more thrust at launch than the space shuttle and 15% more than Saturn V during liftoff and ascent.’ (Boen, 2020). The SLS is a combination of twelve different sections from engines to propulsion assistants. Fig. 2 shows the complete configuration, a similar model would be ideal for the Mars mission due to the high level of power and thrust provided.

The scale of this new rocket opens up many possibilities for space exploration and research, with high levels of power and the capability of carrying large payloads, a mission to Mars becomes a lot more accessible. The payload ranges from 27 tonnes to 46 tonnes depending on the SLS configuration. With this, it is possible to carry more equipment and technology to Mars without the need for multiple trips. For more information on the SLS rocket, NASA has released a series of videos (available here) delving into stages of the SLS rocket. There are many different types and scales of rockets, however, the SLS rocket is at the forefront of research and development and therefore is considered for the ambitious mission to Mars.

Figure 2: A breakdown of the different components that make up the SLs rocket. (NASA, 2020)

RESEARCH EQUIPMENT

Study on the Martian surface would presumably be what we have done for decades: has life ever existed there and could it be habitable in the future? Such research would include the study of elemental abundances on the surface. It has been shown that handheld spectrographs will be important and useful in achieving these goals, and could be used operating from a rover on an EVA (Extravehicular Activity) (Sehlke et al., 2019). Ideally, we would regularly send the crew on EVAs throughout their stay, especially if they are going to be there for 600+ days (see TIMESCALE). The suits used by our team could be similar to what NASA has planned for their planned missions to the Moon - the xEMU (Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit) (Roberts, 2020). Unfortunately sending humans to do this job may come at a price - we could negate any research that has already been done by Curiosity, Viking 1 and 2, Insight etc. by contaminating Mars when we get there by bringing microbial life with us (Fairén et al., 2017).

LIVING FACILITIES

A habitable installation on Mars would have to provide for our astronauts in a number of ways - namely life support, research, communications and accommodation. NASA’s reference mission outlays a breakdown of potential living space into the weight of each component, for a total dry mass of 27000kg (Hoffman and Kaplan, 1997).

One important part of sustaining habitability whilst on Mars is the use of carbon dioxide. CO2 makes up about 95% of the Martian atmosphere and is important in numerous chemical processes (Franz et al., 2017). It can be used to produce oxygen and methane through the following equations:

2CO +4hv 2CO+O (1)

2H O+2CO +8hv 2O +CH (2)

This is done utilising a specific electrocatalyst in the process of electrolysis to form a fuel cell (Chen et al., 2012). According to a previous study, around 0.82kg of O a day is required for each crew member to survive (although this depends on physiology as well) (Skinner, 2019). MOXIE, which is onboard the NASA rover Perseverance (scheduled to land in February 2021), is the method that is currently in development for producing oxygen for a manned mission. It is estimated that the finished version sent on such a mission could weigh around 1000kg (Good, 2020). In addition, the Sabatier process:

CO +4H CH +H O (3)

is another chemical reaction which has been postulated as a way of producing on Mars using hydrogen transported from Earth (Grover et al., 1998). Altogether, devices to produce oxygen, water and methane are a vital part of the living facility and should be sent in advance to Mars to allow for less weight as part of the crewed launch. Making use of the NASA reference mission once again, there are different ways a life support system can be arranged, such as the hybrid distribution in Fig. 3:

Figure 3: Hybrid distribution (Hoffman and Kaplan, 1997).

This reference has much more in detail about an idealised Mars plan - see Ch. 3 pages 95-111 for more information about habitation - including power systems.

A communications transmitter would be sent as part of the mission as well. It could make use of NASA’s Deep Space Network to send messages back to Earth via the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as is done for the Curiosity rover (NASA). This of course would be done if our mission can collaborate with other space programmes like NASA.

There have been multiple potential plans for making use of 3-D printing to create this habitat. One article outlays an idea to produce a basalt 3-D printer on Mars, which would then create the habitation facility and its components for life support and communication (Kading and Straub, 2014). It collates a total mass for its plan of 83,200kg. Another possibility is transporting and deploying an ‘ice dome’ - a base surrounded by a shell of water ice - which also provides protection from radiation received on Mars (Gillard, 2017). See Fig. 4 for an artistic rendering of an ice dome.

Figure 4: NASA artist rendering of an ice dome design (credits: NASA/Clouds AO/SEArch) (Gillard, 2017).

RETURN VEHICLE

An idea to save on total weight is to utilise aerobraking on return to Earth - as opposed to burning fuel to slow our craft down for reentry. Aerobraking is the way a spacecraft slows down due to the friction of a planetary atmosphere and is used to transfer between orbits or to land on other celestial bodies (Woodfill, 2004). If we choose a certain trajectory, using this method could reduce the mass of the return vehicle by ~20-60% (Braun and Powell, 1992).

Figure 5: Possible designs for a vehicle which could return to Earth. Alpha is the angle of attack on return, L/D is the lift to drag ratio for aerobraking and AFE is the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (Braun and Powell, 1992) (Woodfill, 2004).

One way we could return our astronauts is to develop a system to rendezvous the landed habitation module with separate stages when it launches back into Mars orbit. According to a simplified scenario, a propulsion stage and the reentry capsule are left in Mars orbit when the crew land on the red planet, which saves payload as there is less fuel required for ascent and descent (Salotti, 2011). It should be noted that this source has developed a plan for only two astronauts to go to Mars with the resource-producing facilities all on one craft, which differs from our larger-scale operation. Based on the previous research, it seems that we could implement this for the crewed stage of our mission having landed and assembled a habitation module prior to their arrival.

The research provided for the 'First Launch', 'Second Launch', 'Rovers' and 'Rockets and Shuttles' was completed by Eve Rafferty, for more information about her professional interests and project responsibilities check the WHO WE ARE page.

The research provided for the 'Research Equipment', 'Living Facilities' and 'Return Vehicle' was completed by Padraig Manning, for more information about his professional interests and project responsibilities check the WHO WE ARE page.

REFERENCES

NASA., (2011). Mars Curiosity Rover Science. [online]. Mars Exploration Program. [Viewed 15 October]. Available from: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/science/summary/
Northon, K., (2018). NASA Unveils Sustainable Campaign to Return to Moon, on to Mars. [online]. NASA [viewed 16 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-unveils-sustainable-campaign-to-return-to-moon-on-to-mars
Boen, B., (2020). Nasa Space Launch System (SLS) Rocket. [online]. NASA [viewed 16 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.nasa.gov/sls/multimedia/gallery/sls-infographic3.html
NASA., (2020). Space Launch System Fact Sheet [online]. Hunstville, AL: NASA. FS-2020-09-38-MSFC. [Viewed 16 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/0080_sls_fact_sheet_sept2020_09082020_final_0.pdf

Sehlke, A. et al., (2019). Requirements for Portable Instrument Suites during Human Scientific Exploration of Mars. Astrobiology, 19(3) pp. 401-425
Roberts, J. (2020). Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) [online] NASA. Available at https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/exploration-extravehicular-mobility-unit-xemu [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020].
Fairén, A. et al. (2017). Searching for Life on Mars Before It Is Too Late. Astrobiology, 17(10), pp. 962-970.
Hoffman and Kaplan (1997). Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team. NASA, pp. (3-98)-(3-100).
Franz, H. et al. (2017). Initial SAM calibration gas experiments on Mars: Quadrupole mass spectrometer results and implications. Planetary and Space Science, 138, pp. 44-54.
Chen, Z. et al. (2012). Splitting CO2 into CO and O2 by a single catalyst. PNAS, 109(39), pp. 15606-15611.
Skinner, K. (2019). Capture, Conversion, and Utilization of Abundant CO2 and Various Martian Natural Resources for in situ Energy Production for Research and Short-Term Habitation. [online] Metropolitan University of Denver. Available at http://digital.auraria.edu/content/AA/00/00/72/28/00001/Skinner_Thesis2019.pdf [Accessed 26 Nov. 2020].
Good, A. (2020). MOXIE Could Help Future Rockets Launch Off Mars. [online] NASA. Available at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7792 [Accessed 15 Dec. 2020].
Grover, M. et al. (1998). Extraction of Atmospheric Water on Mars in Support of the Mars Reference Mission. In: Proceedings of the Founding Convention of The Mars Society. Boulder: Univelt, Inc. Available at http://www.marspapers.org/paper/MAR98062.pdf [Accessed 15 Dec. 2020].
NASA website (no author given). Mars Curiosity Rover Communications With Earth. [online] NASA. Available at https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communications/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2020].
Kading, B. and Straub, J. (2014). Utilizing in-situ resources and 3D printing structures for a manned Mars mission. Acta Astronautica, 107(2015), pp. 317-326.
Gillard, E. (2017). A New Home on Mars: NASA Langley’s Icy Concept for Living on the Red Planet. [online] NASA. Available at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/a-new-home-on-mars-nasa-langley-s-icy-concept-for-living-on-the-red-planet [Accessed 15 Dec. 2020].
Woodfill, J. (2004). LAUNCH AND REENTRY TECHNIQUES. [online] NASA. Available at https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/know23.html [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020].
Braun, R. and Powell, R. (1992). Earth Aerobraking Strategies for Manned Return from Mars. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 29(3), pp. 297-304.
Salotti, J. (2011). Simplified scenario for manned Mars missions. Acta Astronautica, 69, pp. 266-279.