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AIAA SciTech Forum 8–12 January 2018, Kissimmee, Florida 2018 AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Water Electrolysis for Propulsion of a Crewed Mars Mission Kyle P. Doyle* and Mason A. Peck† Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853 NASA’s Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 study is the latest in a series of thorough investigations of architecture options for a crewed Mars mission. This paper examines the chemical propulsion option that was considered in that study, comparing its on-orbit assembly approach with an alternative that uses tanks of liquid water pre-positioned ahead of the crew vehicle to resupply the mission. By pre-positioning propellant for refueling operations at key points, the mass of the crewed vehicle is significantly reduced for the majority of the mission. This reduces the amount of propellant required to achieve each maneuver, which is reflected in a lower overall launch mass and fewer total launches required for the mission. Additionally, the on-orbit assembly time before departure from is reduced from four months to only two. The alternatives presented here use water electrolysis propulsion, allowing propellant to be launched and stored as liquid water instead of as cryogenic liquid hydrogen and oxygen. The water is then electrolyzed on-demand into hydrogen and oxygen for combustion. This change addresses one of the chemical propulsion concerns expressed in the Design Reference Architecture: the storage life of LH2/LOX propellant and engines. Propellant pre-positioned as water will be inert, stable, and low-pressure during storage, providing indefinite storage life and further reducing the required dry mass. Up to two Space Launch System launches (out of five) can be eliminated from the mission architecture with the proposed approach, depending on the electrolysis propulsion performance. Additional launches can be replaced with a launch or launches of less expensive, lower payload capacity vehicles such as Falcon Heavy. 10.2514/6.2018-1537 ∆𝑉 = 𝐼𝑠𝑝 = 𝑉 = 𝑒 DAV = HAB = MTV = SLS = FH = F9 = TMI = TEI = MOI = LEO = GTO = HEO = LL2 = DRA = Change in orbital velocity Specific impulse Exhaust velocity Descent/Ascent Vehicle Habitat Mars Transport Vehicle Space Launch System Falcon Heavy Falcon 9 Trans-Mars Injection Trans-Earth Injection Mars Orbit Injection Low Earth Orbit Geostationary Transfer Orbit Highly Elliptical Orbit Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2 Design Reference Architecture Nomenclature * Graduate Student, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 452 Upson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, AIAA Student Member † Associate Professor, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 455 Upson Hall, Ithaca NY 14853, AIAA Full Member. 1 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Copyright © 2018 by Kyle Doyle and Mason Peck. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. Downloaded by NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTRE on January 30, 2018 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/6.2018-1537PDF Image | Water Electrolysis for Propulsion of a Crewed Mars
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