Comparative assessment of human–Mars-mission technologies and architectures

We compare a variety of mission scenarios to assess the strengths and weaknesses of options for Mars exploration. The mission design space is modeled along two dimensions: trajectory architectures and propulsion system technologies. We examine direct, semi-direct, stop-over, semi-cycler, and cycler architectures, and we include electric propulsion, nuclear thermal rockets, methane and oxygen production on Mars, Mars water excavation, aerocapture, and reusable propulsion systems in our technology assessment. The mission sensitivity to crew size, vehicle masses, and crew travel time is also examined. Many different combinations of technologies and architectures are applied to the same Mars mission to determine which combinations provide the greatest potential reduction in the injected mass to LEO. We approximate the technology readiness level of a mission to rank development risk, but omit development cost and time calculations in our assessment. It is found that Earth–Mars semi-cyclers and cyclers require the least injected mass to LEO of any architecture and that the discovery of accessible water on Mars has the most dramatic effect on the evolution of Mars exploration.     

Human exploration of near earth asteroids: Mission analysis for chemical and electric propulsion

This paper presents a mission analysis comparison of human missions to asteroids using two distinct architectures. The objective is to determine if either architecture can reduce launch mass with respect to the other, while not sacrificing other performance metrics such as mission duration. One architecture relies on chemical propulsion, the traditional workhorse of space exploration. The second combines chemical and electric propulsion into a hybrid architecture that attempts to utilize the strengths of each, namely the short flight times of chemical propulsion and the propellant efficiency of electric propulsion. The architectures are thoroughly detailed, and accessibility of the known asteroid population is determined for both. The most accessible asteroids are discussed in detail. Aspects such as mission abort scenarios and vehicle reusability are also discussed. Ultimately, it is determined that launch mass can be greatly reduced with the hybrid architecture, without a notable increase in mission duration. This demonstrates that significant performance improvements can be introduced to the next step of human space exploration with realistic electric propulsion system capabilities. This leads to immediate cost savings for human exploration and simultaneously opens a path of technology development that leads to technologies enabling access to even further destinations in the future.     

中国航天固体火箭技术的发展

叙述了20世纪50年代以来中国航天固体火箭推进技术的发展历程，介绍了9种最具代表性的固体火箭发动机的技术特征、研制过程、地面试验和飞行情况，这些发动机分别应用于中国的探空火箭、运载火箭上面级和应用卫星变轨系统。文中还简要地评述了中国固体推进各单项技术的发展水平。     

国外深空探测推进技术发展及启示

推进系统为探测器的飞行提供所需的控制力和控制力矩,一定程度上决定了探测器的规模、最远飞行距离,乃至任务的成败,是探测器的重要分系统之一。为满足不同的深空探测任务需求,国外发展了多种形式的推进技术,但总体上仍以化学推进为主,部分采用了电推进系统,并在发展高性能低温推进技术等。对国外典型探测器推进系统进行了叙述,分析了其技术特点和发展趋势,并分别针对无人探测和载人探测应用探讨了对我国开展深空探测推进技术研究的启示。     

微纳卫星新型动力系统研究进展

微纳卫星指采用现代技术、微电子技术、机械技术等设计制造的具有高性价比的现代微小卫星。因其具有发射成本低廉、应用灵活等特点,微纳卫星受到各国的广泛关注。微纳卫星动力系统具有良好的发展前景。本文综述了微纳卫星动力系统的发展现状,针对自中和射频离子推力器、离子液体推力器、碳纳米管阵列推力器、石墨烯材料光驱动等几种新型且有望用于微纳卫星推进的方案,简要说明其工作原理,并分析其核心技术以及性能优势。给出了发展建议:提升总冲、功耗、调节精度等参数是微纳卫星动力系统未来主要的发展方向;研发工作中需要重点关注结构工艺、离子束流中和等关键技术。     

混合推进最省燃料轨道设计方法

使用混合推进方式设计地-月圆型限制性三体模型下的最省燃料转移轨道。将化学发动机以及电推进发动机的燃料消耗总和作为目标函数进行优化,推导一阶必要条件和雅可比矩阵。选择从近地圆轨道出发到达地-月L1附近Halo轨道的转移轨道为例测试上述方法。仿真结果表明,相比发射脉冲固定的情况,混合推进方式进一步降低了燃料消耗,而且给出了飞行时间和燃料消耗不同的组合方式,给予任务设计更大的灵活性。     

基于氢化镁的核电/核热双模共质空间核动力技术

针对未来空间任务对能源和动力日益提高的需求,提出了基于氢化镁的核电核热双模共质空间核动力技术。该技术以一种储氢密度高、热稳定性较好,能够以常温常压储存的氢化镁作为工质,通过核能加热后氢化镁分解成为核热推进可用的高压氢气和电推进可用的单质镁,并结合高效动态热电转换系统,形成大功率核电源、大功率超高比冲核电推进、高比冲氢气核热推进以及大推力镁核热推进多种工作模式。基于氢化镁的多模共质空间核动力技术解决了低温推进剂、气态工质在空间应用时的存储安全性和存储密度低的问题,其具备的多种工作模式能够针对不同任务需求提供相应的能源或者动力输出,提高核动力飞行器任务能力。     

Mission analysis and systems design of a near-term and far-term pole-sitter mission

This paper provides a detailed mission analysis and systems design of a near-term and far-term pole-sitter mission. The pole-sitter concept was previously introduced as a solution to the poor temporal resolution of polar observations from highly inclined, low Earth orbits and the poor high-latitude coverage from geostationary orbit. It considers a spacecraft that is continuously above either the north or south pole and, as such, can provide real-time, continuous and hemispherical coverage of the polar regions. Being on a non-Keplerian orbit, a continuous thrust is required to maintain the pole-sitter position. For this, two different propulsion strategies are proposed, which result in a near-term pole-sitter mission using solar electric propulsion (SEP) and a far-term pole-sitter mission where the SEP thruster is hybridized with a solar sail. For both propulsion strategies, minimum propellant pole-sitter orbits are designed. In order to maximize the spacecraft mass at the start of the operations phase of the mission, the transfer from Earth to the pole-sitter orbit is designed and optimized assuming either a Soyuz or an Ariane 5 launch. The maximized mass upon injection into the pole-sitter orbit is subsequently used in a detailed mass budget analysis that will allow for a trade-off between mission lifetime and payload mass capacity. Also, candidate payloads for a range of applications are investigated. Finally, transfers between north and south pole-sitter orbits are considered to overcome the limitations in observations due to the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis that causes the poles to be alternately situated in darkness. It will be shown that in some cases these transfers allow for propellant savings, enabling a further extension of the pole-sitter mission.     

DFH-4卫星电推进系统的应用可行性研究

DFH-4平台是我国新研制的大容量、长寿命静止轨道卫星平台。为了延长平台寿命、增加平台载荷,需要考虑引入电推进系统执行南北位保任务。针对几种国际上已经得到应用且相对较成熟的电推进系统,从工程角度对其在DFH-4上的应用价值进行了比较和评价,初步设计了电推进系统在DFH-4平台上执行南北位保任务的应用方案,分析了电推进系统对卫星平台、其它轨道和姿态参数、控制策略以及星上其它系统带来或可能带来的影响。     

混合发动机的研究现状及应用前景

混合发动机技术是一项新型的、具有广阔发展前景的推进技术。本文介绍了混合发动机技术发展的现状和特点,综述了国内外混合发动机技术的应用情况,分析了当前混合发动机技术研究中存在的主要技术难点。     

火星环绕器推进系统建模与可视化研究

针对液体推进系统的联合仿真演示需求,基于模块化建模思想,根据守恒方程和状态方程,应用AMESim开发了通用液体火箭发动机组件模块库并建立了推进系统仿真模型,利用Simulink和LabVIEW开发了仿真控制模块和视景仿真模型,搭建了全系统联合仿真环境与平台.结合某型火星环绕器推进系统的任务要求以及具体构成,实现了该火星...     

霍尔电推进技术的发展与应用

霍尔电推进具有推力密度大、推力功率比大、比冲高及系统可靠等优点,在20世纪60~70年代突破关键技术、完成空间试验后,在俄、美、欧等航天器上获得大量应用,执行位置保持、轨道转移、轨道调整和深空探测主推进等任务。目前,100 W级到5 k W级功率的霍尔推力器已经实现在轨应用,100 k W功率的霍尔推力器已在研制中。针对未来载人深空探测、GEO卫星、低轨和超低轨卫星及轨道机动飞行器等任务需求,霍尔电推进朝着更大功率包络,更强多模式调节能力,更高性能,更长寿命及推进剂多样化等方向发展。在分析霍尔电推进技术特点和适用任务后,对国内外霍尔电推进技术的发展现状、任务应用等进行了综述,最后对霍尔电推进的发展趋势进行了展望。     

水基推进系统综述

水基推进系统的发展为航天器推进、供电、能量储存、系统构建提供了新的选择。这一系统的核心是一体化可再生燃料电池,它利用太阳能电池帆板提供的电能电解水．产生的氢氧气体既可以用于燃烧推进,又可以通过燃料电池反应重新复合为水进行供电。介绍了水基推进系统的基本组成与工作原理,通过质量估算与性能分析,评估了水基推进系统的工作能力、适用范围及空间应用优势。     

两种激光烧蚀微推力器工作模式的讨论

激光烧蚀微推力器技术是激光推进技术最有可能率先实现工程应用的技术研究方向。作为一种新型的空间推进领域电推进推力器技术,以其系统集成度较高、电功耗较低、冲量元精准等优势特性,在推进性能和系统集成等方面形成鲜明的特色,对于多种空间推进任务具备潜在的应用价值。以激光烧蚀微推力器发展历程为背景,总结提炼当前推力器技术发展趋势,提出了激光烧蚀微推力器目前最具研究价值的两种工作模式,分别对高低比冲两种不同工作模式进行了性能分析和比对,对激光烧蚀微推力器应用前景进行了展望,最后给出了进一步研究的建议。     

Project Icarus: Analysis of Plasma jet driven Magneto-Inertial Fusion as potential primary propulsion driver for the Icarus probe

Hopes of sending probes to another star other than the Sun are currently limited by the maturity of advanced propulsion technologies. One of the few candidate propulsion systems for providing interstellar flight capabilities is nuclear fusion. In the past many fusion propulsion concepts have been proposed and some of them have even been explored in detail, Project Daedalus for example. However, as scientific progress in this field has advanced, new fusion concepts have emerged that merit evaluation as potential drivers for interstellar missions. Plasma jet driven Magneto-Inertial Fusion (PJMIF) is one of those concepts. PJMIF involves a salvo of converging plasma jets that form a uniform liner, which compresses a magnetized target to fusion conditions. It is an Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF)–Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) hybrid approach that has the potential for a multitude of benefits over both ICF and MCF, such as lower system mass and significantly lower cost. This paper concentrates on a thermodynamic assessment of basic performance parameters necessary for utilization of PJMIF as a candidate propulsion system for the Project Icarus mission. These parameters include: specific impulse, thrust, exhaust velocity, mass of the engine system, mass of the fuel required etc. This is a submission of the Project Icarus Study Group.     

低功率水电弧加热发动机的初步研究

本文研究了以水为推进剂的电弧加热发动机。其中电弧加热发动机的流量为15mg/s、电流为8A,此时平均电压为80.5V、功率约为640W、平均推力为0.0975N,以此计算得到比冲为650s左右、效率为55%～60%。成功地验证了水做为电弧加热发动机的推进剂、产生推力的能力。     

High energy-density propulsion—reducing the risk to humans in planetary exploration

The potential benefits to humankind of space exploration are tremendous. Space is not only the final frontier but is also the next marketplace. The orbital space above Earth offers tremendous opportunities for both strategic assets and commercial development. The critical obstacle retarding the use of the space around the Earth is the lack of low cost access to orbit. Further out, the next giant leap for mankind will be the human exploration of Mars. Almost certainly within the next 30 years, a human crew will brave the isolation, the radiation, and the lack of gravity to walk on and explore the Red planet. Both of these missions will change the outlook and perspective of every human being on the planet. However, these missions are expensive and extremely difficult. Chemical propulsion has demonstrated an inability to achieve orbit cheaply and is a very high-risk option to accomplish the Mars mission. An alternative solution is to develop a high performance propulsion system. Nuclear propulsion has the potential to be such a system. The question will be whether humanity is willing to take on the challenge.     

Mission to Mars using integrated propulsion concepts: considerations, opportunities, and strategies

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of a mission to Mars using the Integrated Propulsion Systems (IPS) which means to couple Nuclear-MPD-ISPU propulsion systems. In particular both mission analysis and propulsion aspects are analyzed together with technological aspects. Identifying possible mission scenarios will lead to the study of possible strategies for Mars Exploration and also of methods for reducing cost. As regard to IPS, the coupling between Nuclear Propulsion (Rubbia's engine) and Superconductive MPD propulsion is considered for the Earth-Mars trajectories: major emphasis is given to the advantages of such a system. The In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) concerns on-Mars operations; In Situ Propellant Utilization (ISPU) is foreseen particularly for LOX-CH4 engines for Mars Ascent Vehicles and this possibility is analyzed from a technological point of view. Tether Systems are also considered during interplanetary trajectories and as space elevators on Mars orbit. Finally strategic considerations associated to this mission are considered also.     

国外空间推进技术现状和发展趋势

空间推进技术通常可分为常规化学推进、电推进、微推进和新型推进4大类。常规化学推进是目前航天器的主要推进方式,性能继续提升。电推进已成功证明其优势和可靠性,在各种卫星和深空探测器上大量应用,且朝更宽泛功率的方向发展。蓬勃发展的微小卫星对微小推力、小质量、低功耗的微推进提出了迫切需求。无毒化学推进、太阳帆推进、核推进等新型推进技术正在加紧研制或进行空间飞行试验。首先综述国外卫星和深空探测器等航天器的各类空间推进技术应用和研究现状,然后分析其发展趋势,最后提出对我国空间推进技术的发展建议。     

国外卫星推进技术发展现状与未来20年发展趋势

新形势下航天技术的发展对推进技术提出了更高的要求,无论在技术的广度和深度上都是前所未有的,如15年以上静止轨道卫星和8年以上低轨道卫星对高性能长寿命推进系统的要求、电推进技术的应用、微小卫星轨道保持的应用和深空探测对先进推进技术的依赖等。本文从先进化学推进技术、电推进技术、微推进技术和新概念推进技术4个方面分析了国外卫星推进技术的发展状况,总结了未来20年卫星推进技术的发展趋势,给出了对我国今后技术发展的启示。