MARCO POLO: Atmospheric In-Situ Resource Utilization for manned Martian missions
- Paper number
IAC-15,D3,1,6,x30140
- Author
Mr. Trey Poole, NASA, United States
- Year
2015
- Abstract
Success of future manned and sample return missions to Mars and other deep space bodies will rely upon In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) to provide return propellant and life support system commodities from indigenous resources. The Mars Atmospheric and Regolith COllector/PrOcessor for Lander Operations (MARCO POLO) is a multi-center NASA project working towards an ISRU lander payload that integrates Mars soil and atmosphere processing to produce propellant. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has focused on the Atmospheric Processing Module (APM) of MARCO POLO. The purpose of the APM is to capture and pressurize carbon dioxide from a simulated Martian atmosphere (95.32% CO2, 2.7% N2, 1.6% Ar plus minor components) at Martian pressures (~8 torr) using dual cryocoolers. The resulting pressurized carbon dioxide is used as feedstock, along with hydrogen derived from water in the Martian regolith, for a Sabatier reactor to yield methane and water, which is electrolyzed into oxygen and hydrogen. The methane and oxygen will be used as a propellant for Earth return missions. The oxygen is also useful for life support systems. Hydrogen is sent back into the Sabatier reactor to make more methane. This paper discusses the performance of a new Sabatier reactor design and integration of the APM.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)