Flexible piloted Mars missions using the TIHTUS engine

The present investigation points out the potential of continuously propelled spacecraft for piloted Mars missions and compares them to impulsive propulsion (chemical and nuclear thermal) and ballistic trajectories. Although the results are related to piloted Mars missions, the stated issues raised hold true for a broad range of space missions. It is demonstrated that the use of impulsive propulsion leads to inflexible missions and may result in long total mission durations. Meanwhile, the use of continuous electric propulsion not only guarantees short total mission durations of Mars missions with moderate masses but also results in highly flexible missions. These criteria can be met with a continuous electric propulsion system that provides a thrust level of 100 N and 3000 s of specific impulse. Great potential lies in electric hybrid thrusters. The high-power, two-stage hybrid plasma thruster TIHTUS is currently being developed at the Institute of Space Systems (IRS). Its technology including preliminary laboratory testing results are presented.     

Radiation exposure predictions for short-duration stay Mars missions

The human radiation environment for several short-duration stay manned Mars missions is predicted using the Mission Radiation Calculation (MIRACAL) program, which was developed at NASA Langley Research Center. This program provides dose estimates for galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and large and ordinary solar proton flare events for various amounts of effective spacecraft shielding (both operational and storm shelter thicknesses) and a given time history of the spacecraft's heliocentric position. The results of this study show that most of the missions can survive the most recent large flares (if they were to occur at the missions' perihelion) if a 25 g/cm2 storm shelter is assumed. The dose predictions show that missions during solar minima (when solar flare activity is the lowest) are not necessarily the minimum dose cases, due to increased GCR contribution during this time period. The direct transfer mission studied has slightly lower doses than the outbound Venus swingby mission [on the order of 10-20 centi-Sieverts (cSv) lower], with the greatest dose differences for the assumed worst case scenario (when the large flares occur at perihelion). The GCR dose for a mission can be reduced by having the crew spend some fraction of its day nominally in the storm shelter (other than during flare events).     

Hybrid life support systems with integrated fuel cells and photobioreactors for a lunar base

The development of regenerative and sustainable life support systems (LSS) is a basic prerequisite to realize human long-term habitation in space. An efficient and reliable LSS is of high importance for assembling a future research base on the Moon and for further human space exploration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. Because of longer distance to Earth and longer transfer times new requirements appear for LSS operation and functionality in comparison to the International Space Station. The minimization of resupply mass is a crucial factor to cope with this challenge. Regenerating the main media oxygen, water, and carbon as well as demonstrating a closed loop are essential milestones for an efficient and sustainable LSS. The logical step between partly regenerative physico-chemical and bioregenerative LSS is a so-called hybrid LSS characterized by the crosslinked integration of physico-chemical and simple biological system components.The Institute of Space Systems of the University of Stuttgart (IRS), the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics (ITT) of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and the Fraunhofer-Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) work together in a project on advanced LSS research and development. The IRS will investigate the integration of a photobioreactor (PBR) for algae cultivation as biological component and a reversible proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEFC) as physico-chemical component into an LSS. Algae in the PBR absorb the carbon dioxide exhaled by the crew and produce biomass (food) and oxygen under light influence. The oxygen can be directed either into the crew cabin or into the fuel cell for generating electricity. Vice versa the electrolysis process splits water (from the PBR or the fuel cell process) into oxygen and hydrogen used as energy storage or propellant. Main task at IRS is a feasibility study on the mentioned technologies, considering the capability of media and product regeneration as well as the ability of integration of the components into a system. Synergies, mass reduction, dissimilar redundancy, and safety enhancement must be taken into account in order to specify integration problems and filtration costs. The IGB supports this study by its expertise in PBR operation, algae cultivation, and algae species selection. The ITT investigates the coupling of the PBR with three different fuel cell types: namely PEFC, SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell), and AFC (Alkaline Fuel Cell) under electrochemical performance aspects. The influence of PBR products on performance and lifetime of the different fuel cells is of high interest. The potential of potable water and electrical power supply is considered.     

Ground-based investigations on phase-moving phenomenon with space sublimation cooling for lunar exploration missions

The lunar surface is a typical vacuum environment, and its harsh heat rejection conditions bring great challenges to the thermal control technology of the exploration mission. In addition to the radiator, the sublimator is recommended as one of the promising options for heat rejection. The sublimator makes use of water to freeze and sublimate in a porous medium, rejecting heat to the vacuum environment. The complex heat and mass transfer process involves many physical phenomena such as the freezing and sublimation phase change of water in the porous medium and the movement of the phase-change interface. In this paper, the visualized ground-based experimental approaches of space sublimation cooling were presented to reveal the moving law of three-phase point and the growth phenomenon of ice-peak and icicle in microchannels under vacuum conditions. The visualized experiments and results prove that the freezing ice is divided into the porous ice-peak and the transparent icicle. As the sublimation progresses, the phase-change interface moves downward steadily, the length of the ice-peak increases, but the icicle decreases. The visualized experiments of space sublimation cooling in the capillary have guiding significance to reveal the sublimation cooling mechanism of water in the sublimator for lunar exploration missions.     

Extragalactic observations and future missions

We briefly review some questions of extragalactic astrophysics and cosmology that would most benefit from future missions outside the Earth's atmosphere in the IR and submillimeter. These include the formation and early evolution phases in galaxies and the probably related question of quasar formation; the observation of Active Galactic Nuclei embedded in thick dusty structures (torii) and its impact on the still debated unified model of AGN activity; the observability of radiation processes occurring at very highz through background measurements; the investigation of the large scale structure and velocity field in the distant universe; and studies of the interstellar medium in galaxies. Some more emphasis is given on the galaxy formation problem, because we believe that IR-mm sensitive observations will be crucial to its final solution.     

国外火星飞机及火星风洞研究

在简述火星与地球大气飞行环境差异的基础上,分析研究了火星飞机主要布局特征和动力推进问题;阐述了国外开展火星飞机研究发展的地面模拟设备--火星风洞的情况,意在跟踪国外新技术走向,为国内航空航天未来发展提供参考.     

Solar system observations and future missions

This paper aims at placing infrared (IR) and submillimeter (submm) observations of the Solar Sytem in the context of future space missions. First, the information that mm, submm and IR observations bring on planets, satellites and comets is reviewed. Then, some lines of future research in this field are explored, and a number of observations that could enhance our understanding of Solar System objects are suggested. Finally, the adequacy of future space missions in this respect is discussed. The specific cases of ISO, FIRST and the proposed Edison are considered.     

自主可控技术在试验任务领域的应用研究

试验信息系统是航天发射和科研试验任务的关键支撑,需要走自主可控的道路。基于此,首先说明了试验信息系统的自主可控现状,并从多方面分析了面临的主要安全威胁。基于自主可控技术发展水平及发展现状分析了推进自主可控的可行性,再分别从网络设备、计算机设备、存储设备、操作系统、数据库等基础软件、安全防护设备、核心器件等方面提出了自主可控技术应用策略,并相应提出自主可控的应用软件研制策略。最后针对推进自主可控的风险进行了深入分析,提出了具体的应对措施。经过多个典型系统应用表明,基于国产品牌硬件设备和自主基础软件平台,经过一定的适配和系统定制,能够满足试验任务强实时、高可靠性要求。     

Mars Express and MARSIS

Space Science Reviews - The Mars Express mission to be launched in 2003 will provide high resolution measurements of the Martian atmosphere and ionosphere. The neutral density, temperature, and...     

探测器"排队"探火星美国和欧洲再次掀起火星探测热潮

近几年美国和欧洲对火星探测工作给予了高度重视，并将实施多项研究计划，其目标是通过找水源来探索火星是否存在生命。据美国ＮＡＳＡ估计，今后 １０年各参加国在火星取样回送工作上将花约２０亿美元     

Next generation test support systems for the aircraft life cycle

The objective of this paper is to present the experience of EADS in using a common test support system for integration and qualification testing, aircraft ground equipment (AGE), in-service software maintenance facilities (ISMF) and ground crew training. EADS uses its test support system AIDASS (Advanced Integrated Data Acquisition and Stimulation System) in different phases of the aircraft life cycle. AIDASS is comprised of a real-time front-end system and a standard PC for the user interface. The EADS test support system is used in almost all phases of the aircraft life cycle, for instance, for integration and verification testing, as aircraft ground equipment, for in-service software maintenance and training of ground crews. This test support system is used for the software maintenance in the TORNADO program at different airforces in Europe. The airforces also share test setups with industry     

Lower and Upper Ionosphere of Mars

The ionosphere of Mars has been explored mostly with the radio occultation experiment onboard Mariners 6, 7, 9; Mars 2, 3, 4, 6; Viking 1, 2, and more recently on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Express (MEX). In addition to the radio occultation experiment, MEX also carried Mars Advanced Radar for the Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) experiment which provided electron density profiles well above the main ionospheric peak. The atmosphere of Mars was measured directly by the neutral mass spectrometer onboard Viking 1 and 2 Landers. Later, an accelerometer and radio occultation experiment on MGS provided large data sets of atmospheric density at various locations in the upper and lower atmospheres of Mars, respectively. In this paper we review results of these upper and lower atmospheric/ionospheric measurements. Results of these measurements have been compared with theoretical models by several workers; therefore, we also review various atmospheric and ionospheric models of Mars.     

欧美月球GNSS规划现状分析综述

月球是地球最重要的天然卫星,当前国际上正在迎来新一轮月球探索高潮,数十个机构和商业团队正在规划月球探索任务,并设想在未来实现航天员长期驻月,围绕月球的“太空竞赛”刚刚开始。月球GNSS（基于现有的地球GNSS以及新的环月卫星通信导航基础设施的月球卫星通信导航定位技术）是空间基准科研的基础,能够提供航天器着陆定位以及月面（及其覆盖空间）定位、导航与授时等服务,同时可以将月球作为试验场,将导航工具包扩展到更远的目的地（如火星）。对欧美近期发布的月球GNSS规划进行了整理归纳,其中包括美国月球GNSS接收机实验（LuGRE）计划和欧洲月光（MoonLight）计划,以及美国中远期月球通信中继和导航系统（LCRNS）计划,这些计划可以为我国开展月球GNSS规划提供参考。     

Communication from Mars: Requirements and Limitations

The exploration of our nearest planets will require relaying large amounts of data to Earth for study and evaluation. However, our ability to communicate at interplanetary distances is limited. In this paper, an evaluation is made of our capability to communicate from the vicinity of Mars using the present S-band deep-space network, prospects for enhancing that performance, and limitations beyond which no additional improvement seems feasible. In addition, requirements for real-time television are evaluated and prospects for improving the communication rates by operating at higher microwave frequencies considered.     

Bow Shock and Upstream Phenomena at Mars

Mars Global Surveyor is the sixth spacecraft to return measurements of the Martian bow shock. The earlier missions were Mariner 4 (1964), Mars 2 and 3 (1972), Mars 5 (1975) and Phobos 2 (1989) (see reviews by Gringauz, 1981; Slavin and Holzer, 1982; Russell, 1985; Vaisberg, 1992a,b; Zakharov, 1992). Previous investigations of planetary bow shocks have established that their position, shape and jump conditions are functions of the upstream flow parameters and the nature of the solar wind — planet interaction (Spreiter and Stahara, 1980; Slavin et al., 1983; Russell, 1985). At Mars, however, the exact nature of the solar wind interaction was elusive due to the lack of low altitude plasma and magnetic field measurements (e.g., Axford, 1991). In fact our knowledge of the nature of the interaction of Mars with the solar wind was incomplete until the arrival of MGS and the acquisition of close-in magnetic field data (Acuña et al., 1998). As detailed by a series of review papers in this monograph, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission has now shown that the Mars environment is very complex with strong, highly structured crustal magnetic remnants in the southern hemisphere, while the northern hemisphere experiences the direct impingement of solar wind plasma. This review paper first presents a survey of the observations on the Martian bow shock and the upstream phenomena in the light of results from all the missions to date. It also discusses the kinetic properties of the Martian bow shock compared to the predictions of simulations studies. Then it examines the current status of understanding of these phenomena, including the possible sources of upstream low-frequency waves and the interpretations of localized disturbances in the upstream solar wind around Mars. Finally, it briefly discusses the open issues and questions that require further study.     

Urey: Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector

One of the fundamental challenges facing the scientific community as we enter this new century of Mars research is to understand, in a rigorous manner, the biotic potential both past and present of this outermost terrestrial-like planet in our solar system. Urey: Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector has been selected for the Pasteur payload of the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) ExoMars rover mission and is considered a fundamental instrument to achieve the mission’s scientific objectives. The instrument is named Urey in recognition of Harold Clayton Urey’s seminal contributions to cosmochemistry, geochemistry, and the study of the origin of life. The overall goal of Urey is to search for organic compounds directly in the regolith of Mars and to assess their origin. Urey will perform a groundbreaking investigation of the Martian environment that will involve searching for organic compounds indicative of life and prebiotic chemistry at a sensitivity many orders of magnitude greater than Viking or other in situ organic detection systems. Urey will perform the first in situ search for key classes of organic molecules using state-of-the-art analytical methods that provide part-per-trillion sensitivity. It will ascertain whether any of these molecules are abiotic or biotic in origin and will evaluate the survival potential of organic compounds in the environment using state-of-the-art chemoresistor oxidant sensors.     

Core Formation and Mantle Differentiation on Mars

Geochemical investigation of Martian meteorites (SNC meteorites) yields important constraints on the chemical and geodynamical evolution of Mars. These samples may not be representative of the whole of Mars; however, they provide constraints on the early differentiation processes on Mars. The bulk composition of Martian samples implies the presence of a metallic core that formed concurrently as the planet accreted. The strong depletion of highly siderophile elements in the Martian mantle is only possible if Mars had a large scale magma ocean early in its history allowing efficient separation of a metallic melt from molten silicate. The solidification of the magma ocean created chemical heterogeneities whose ancient origin is manifested in the heterogeneous ¹⁴²Nd and ¹⁸²W abundances observed in different meteorite groups derived from Mars. The isotope anomalies measured in SNC meteorites imply major chemical fractionation within the Martian mantle during the life time of the short-lived isotopes ¹⁴⁶Sm and ¹⁸²Hf. The Hf-W data are consistent with very rapid accretion of Mars within a few million years or, alternatively, a more protracted accretion history involving several large impacts and incomplete metal-silicate equilibration during core formation. In contrast to Earth early-formed chemical heterogeneities are still preserved on Mars, albeit slightly modified by mixing processes. The preservation of such ancient chemical differences is only possible if Mars did not undergo efficient whole mantle convection or vigorous plate tectonic style processes after the first few tens of millions of years of its history.