resource prospector - nasa

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Resource Prospector(RP)

Mission Concept Overview

December 2014

Title_Design Editor SBU / NO-ITAR Pre-Decisional 12/16/2014 2

Why do we care about Space Resources?

• Mission Mass Savings

– Apollo concept can only support missions to cis-lunar space

– Apollo concept requires huge rockets and/or multiple launches of mid-

sized rockets.

– Apollo approach to exploration results in high costs per mission

– Apollo approach does not allow for long duration surface missions due

to resupply costs.

– Scaling up the Apollo approach for human missions to Mars is not

practical

• 89% of the mass of the Saturn V at liftoff was propellant!

– The ability to obtain propellant in space can reduce the initial launch

mass of an exploration mission by a factor of 5!

Schematic representation of the scale of an Earth launch system for scenarios to land

an Apollo-size mission on the Moon, assuming various refueling depots and an in-

space reusable transportation system. Note: Apollo stage height is scaled by

estimated mass reduction due to ISRU refueling

Each Apollo

mission utilized

Earth-derived

propellants (Saturn V liftoff

mass = 2,962

tons)

What if lunar lander was refueled

on the Moon’s surface?

73% of Apollo mass (2,160 tons)

Assume refueling at L1 and on

Moon: 34% of mass (1,004 tons)

Assume refueling at

LEO, L1 and on Moon:

12% of mass (355 tons)

+Reusable lander

(268 tons)

+Reusable upper

stage & lander (119

tons)

Propellant from the Moon will revolutionize our current space transportation approach

B. Blair, et. al.,

Space Resource

Roundtable VI,

November 2004

What’s the Next Step?• A source of water in space would

allow the production of hydrogen and oxygen for propellant and the establishment of fuel depots in space

• We now know from LCROSS that there is water ice at one spot on the moon.

• Comparison’s of LRO’s orbital instrument data with the LCROSS plume seem to suggest that the water ice is not evenly distributed.

• Until we know the distribution and accessibility of the water ice we don’t really know if we have a usable resource.

• A “Ground Truth” surface mission is the next logical step.

• The RESOLVE payload being developed for Resource Prospector is designed to answer these questions


Resource Prospector Mission Requirements

Verify the existence of and characterize the constituents and

distribution of water and other volatiles in lunar polar

surface materials

– Map the distribution of hydrogen rich materials– Neutron Spectrometer, Near-IR Spectrometer

– Acquire subsurface samples from a depth of 1 m with minimal loss of volatiles – Drill /Auger Subsystem

– Heat these samples to ~500°F to drive off volatiles for analysis – OVEN Subsystem

– Determine the composition and quantity of the volatiles released– LAVA Subsystem

Hope to find and quantify H2, He, CO, CO2, CH4, H2O, N2, NH3, H2S, SO2

Survive limited exposure to HF, HCl, and Hg


RESOLVE (Regolith & Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction)

Sample Acquisition –Auger Drill [Provider TBD]

• Auger up to 1 m of depth

• Lifts cuttings up to surface to observation and

transfer to OVEN

• Low mass/power (<15 kg)

• Wide variation in regolith/rock/ice

characteristics for penetration and sample

collection

• Wide temperature variation from surface to

depth (300K to <100K)

Resource Localization –Neutron Spectrometer (NS)

• Low mass/low power for flight

• Water-equivalent hydrogen > 0.5 wt% down

to 1 meter depth at 0.1 m/s roving speed

Sample Evaluation –Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIR)

• Low mass/low power for flight

• Mineral characterization and ice/water

detection before volatile processing

• Controlled illumination source

Volatile Content/Oxygen Extraction –Oxygen & Volatile Extraction Node (OVEN)

• Temperature range of <100K to 900K

• 50 operations nominal

• Fast operations for short duration missions

• Process 30 to 60 gm of sample per operation

(Order of magnitude greater than TEGA & SAM)

Operational Control –[NASA KSC]

• Custom power and data

acquisition design

Surface Mobility/Operation [NASA JSC]

• Low mass/large payload capability

• Tele-operated using stereo-cameras and sensors

• Ground communications and thermal

management

RESOLVE Instrument Suite Specifications• Nom. Mission Life = 4+ Cores, 12+ days• Mass = 60-70 kg• Dimensions = w/o rover: 68.5 x 112 x 1200 cm• Ave. Power; 200 W

Volatile Content Evaluation –Lunar Advanced Volatile Analysis (LAVA)

• Fast analysis, complete GC-MS

analysis in under 2 minutes

• Measure water content of regolith

at 0.5% (weight) or greater

• Characterize volatiles of interest

below 70 AMU

• On-board calibration and sweep gases @

2000psi


RESOLVE 3rd Generation PrototypeNear Flight Mass, Volume and Power


NASA Resource Prospector

Design Reference Mission*

* The following charts describe the current Design Reference Mission (DRM)

for Resource Prospector. Plans are preliminary and subject to discussions

with candidate partners


Getting there… (NASA notional plan)

• Cruise Phase:

– 5-day direct Earth to Moon transfer w/DSN S-band

– Spin up to 1 rpm using Attitude Control System (post-TLI)

• No de-spin during TCMs

– Perform system checkout

– Perform two TCMs (nom.)

– Perform two Neutron Spec calibrations (nom.)

• Contingency / Off nominal

– Allows for two (2) additional TCMs

– Propellant margin for spin / de-spin for thermal anomalies

Earth Departure

TLI

Moon Arrival(Direct Descent)

TCM

TCM

Neutron

Spectrometer

Calibration 1

Neutron

Spectrometer

Calibration 2

System

Checkout


Landing there… (NASA notional plan)

Cruise

Landed Surface

Operations

Descent & Landing

TCMs w/Spin

stabilized attitude

perpendicular to Sun

DTE Comm via omni

antenna

During cruise, comm

link is used for

payload calibration &

bake-out operations

Assume power up

post separation (after

shroud jettison)

Lander power down upon landing

Rover DTE

comm. during

surface ops

Payload & rover

checkout + NS cal,

prior to release &

roll-off of rover.

Payload/rover

powered on

during descent

Landing images

captured during

descent


Prospecting… (NASA notional plan)

1. While roving, Near IR Spectrometer searches for

surface H2O/OH, and the Neutron Spectrometer

searches for subsurface hydrogen-bearing

compounds


Prospecting… (NASA notional plan)




compounds

2. When elevated levels of hydrogen are found a

decision is made to either auger and observe tailings

with NIR Spec or to capture a sample and evaluate

using OVEN/LAVA.


Evaluating… (NASA notional plan)




compounds

2. When elevated levels of hydrogen are found a

decision is made to either auger and observe tailings

with NIR Spec or to capture a sample for detailed

analysis

3. If a sample is acquired it is processed and evaluated

by OVEN/LAVA


Mapping… (NASA notional plan)

Mapping of volatiles and samples continue across

a variety environments, testing theories of

emplacement and retention, and constraining

economics of extraction.


Polar landing site based on meeting the

following four criteria

1. Surface/Subsurface Volatiles

− High hydrogen content

(LRO LEND instrument)

− Constant <100 K temperatures

10 cm below surface

(LRO Diviner instrument)

− Surface OH/H2O (M3, LRO LAMP &

Diviner)

2. Reasonable terrain for traverse

3. Direct view to Earth for communication

4. Sunlight for duration of mission for power

Subsurface volatiles

Sun illumination

Traversable

terrain

Direct to

Earth (DTE)

comm

RPM Landing Site Selection


SA

SB

SC

Red labels indicate examples of candidate landing sites

considered so far

Cabeus

Shoemaker

Landing Site Possibilities(South Pole)

Haworth

NH

NN


Study Site for MCR: NW Haworth (S6)

Site ID: S6

Latitude: -86.33

Longitude: -14.192

Altitude (km): 0.468

Haworth

HW

Sunrise/Landing Date: 4/30/2018

Sunrise/Landing Time: 5:46

Sundown Date: 5/6/2018

Sundown Time: 11:52

Sunlit Surface Duration: 6.3 Days


Nominal Surface Traverse

Minimum Success Full Success

643

1. Landing Site & Check Out

2. Minimum Success achieved

3. Auger. Drive-Prospecting

4. Reach PSR. Evaluate and checkout

5. Prospecting inside shadowed area

6. Evaluation of shadow data, plan PSR

campaign and recharge battery for next entry

7. Re-enter PSR. Do detailed science

evaluation, auger, core, samples

8. Depart PSR, do data evaluation, regolith

oxygen extraction (ROE) test. Full Mission

Success achieved. Stretch mission begins.

2 5 7 8


Notional Mission Animation


Mission Status

• Payload continues in development with an integrated demonstration

including the Rover scheduled for September 2015 at JSC.

• International partner contributions will be finalized by the end of 2015.

• Flight Payload Development begins in FY16 and payload is delivered for

integration with rover and spacecraft in Spring 2019.

• Launch tentatively scheduled for Spring 2020.

– Exact launch date will be driven by final site selection


Backups


Robotic Lunar Lander

Reference Configuration

Cruise Configuration

Power •Solar Array Power lunar day

•Secondary Batteries for peak power needs

•Power System Electronics

Propulsion •Bi-Propellant (MMH / MON1)

•70 lbf Descent Engines RS34 (16)

•5 lbf ACS Engines (12)

•4 custom metal diaphragm tanks

•Star 48 for braking

Avionics •Integrated Flight Computer and PDU

(LADEE)

RF •S-band Transponder

•Antenna on lander, RF equipment on rover

GN&C • Star Tracker (dual)

• Sun Sensors

• IMU (LN200)

• Radar Altimeter

• Landing Cameras (2)

Structure • Riveted sheet metal aluminum primary

structure

•No deployable ramps

•Wide base, low CG

Star 48

Descent

Engines RS34

ACS Engines

Riveted Structure

Star Tracker

Avionics

Dish Antenna

Omni Antenna

Omni Antenna

Lander Element


RPM “Who’s Who” - NASA

AES: Advanced Exploration Systems

ARC: Ames Research Center

FPO: Flight Project Office

GRC: Glenn Research Center

HEO: Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate

HQ: Headquarters

JPL: Jet Propulsion Lab

JSC: Johnson Space Center

KSC: Kennedy Space Center

LSP: Launch Services Program

MSFC: Marshall Spaceflight Center

ARC

Instruments

LSP

LV

KSC

Payload

MSFC

Gov’t Lander concept

APL

Gov’t Lander

Support

JSC

Gov’t Lander concept

JPL

Gov’t Lander

Support

GRC

Payload Support

ARC

PM, MSE, SMA, PS, Ops,

I&T, EPO

HQ/HEO

AES

JSC

Instruments

JPL

Instrument


RPM “Who’s Who” – Int’nl Partners

NASA (USA)

RPM Payload, LV, Ops, I&T

CSA (Canada)

Rover?

NASA (USA)

Rover?

CSA (Canada)

Drill?

NSPO (Taiwan)

Lander?

KARI (S Korea)

Drill?

JAXA (Japan)

Lander?


NASA RPM System Elements

The following charts reveal the notional system elements supportin the

NASA DRM for RPM.


Resource Prospector Mission Segments

Launch Vehicle

Launch Support Services

Payload Processing

Launch Segment

Hardware

Software

Facilities

Ground Segment

ARC MMOC

OC Connectivity

Ground Data System

DSN 34m

Networks

Mission OC – ARC

Rover OC – CSA

Payload OC – KSC

Lander OC - MSFC

Operation(s) Centers

Space Segment

Space Vehicle

Subsystems

Lander

RESOLVE

Instrument

Suite

Rover

Surface Segment

RESOLVE

Instrument

Suite

Rover


ETU Reference Design

Base 660 mm x 850 mm

Payload Element

• The Neutron Spectrometer Subsystem will be used to verify

the presence of hydrogen rich materials and then map the

distribution of these materials to assist in sample site selection.

• The Near Infrared (NIR) Spectrometer Subsystem will be used

to scan the immediate vicinity of the drill site before and during

drill/auger operations to look for near real-time changes in the

properties of the materials exposed during the drilling process.

• The Drill Subsystem includes the hardware to physically

excavate/extract regolith from the lunar surface to a depth of 1 m

and deliver the sample to one or more reactor chambers for

further processing by the OVEN Subsystem.

• The Oxygen and Volatile Extraction Node (OVEN) Subsystem

will accept samples from the Drill Subsystem and will evolve the

volatiles contained in the sample by heating the regolith in a

sealed chamber and will also extract oxygen from the remaining

regolith sample.

• The Lunar Advanced Volatile Analysis (LAVA) Subsystem

will accept the effluent gas/vapor from the OVEN Subsystem and

will analyze that effluent gas using gas chromatograph and/or

mass spectrometer sensor technologies.


Rover Element

Requirement Value

Volume Envelope 2m x 1.4m x 1.6m (H x L x W)

3m X 1.6m X 1.6m under review in

rover/lander ICD

Mass ~300 Kg (180 kg rover, 110kg payload) (TBC)

Speed 10 cm/s (nominal) .. 30 cm/s (max),

Power & Energy 3.7Kwhr battery, static solar panel avg. 200 W

Maximum Range 3 Km max traverse

Maximum Gradient/Side Slope 15 degrees / 10 degrees

Localization 5 m over 100m traverse (To be met w/ Mission

Ops)

Ground Clearance/Obstacle

Crossing

35 cm / 30 cm

Payload Bay Payload to be integrated, and then to rover

Bandwidth Limits ~2 kbits/s (low rate), ~400 kbits/s (high rate)

Shadow Operations 6 hours (repeatable)

Lunar Night Survivability Under investigation


Lander Element

• Purpose

Deliver Payload (Rover with RESOLVE instruments) from TLI to lunar surface– Provide thermal and power to rover during cruise phase

– Soft landing with 100 meter radius landing accuracy.

– Allow rover egress

– Rover w/ payload mass 325 kg

– Design to lowest cost (for lander partner)

– Fit on Falcon 9 V1.1 launch vehicle


Payload/Rover/Lander Element Assembly

Space Segment

Lander / Space Vehicle

Surface Segment

Rover

Science Payload


Sampling

Prospecting

NIR Volatiles Spectrometer

System (NIRVSS)• Surface H2O/OH identification

• Near-subsurface sample

characterization

• Drill site imaging

• Drill site temperatures

The RPM Tool Box (NASA notional plan)

Auger / Core Drill• Subsurface sample acquisition

• Auger for near-surface assay

• Core for detailed subsurface

assay

Neutron Spectrometer System

(NSS)• Water-equivalent hydrogen > 0.5

wt% down to 1[m] depth

MobilityRover• Mobility system

• Cameras

• Surface interaction

Processing &

Analysis

Oxygen & Volatile Extraction

Node (OVEN)• Volatile Content/Oxygen

Extraction by warming

• Total sample mass

Lunar Advanced Volatile

Analysis (LAVA) • Analytical volatile identification

and quantification in delivered

sample with GC/MS

• Measure water content of

regolith at 0.5% (weight) or

greater

• Characterize volatiles of

interest below 70 AMU


Mass Budget Notional Assumptions

Maximum Landed Mass: 1,084.8 kgMaximum Landed Mass = Lander / Rover / Payload Mass – Propellants

Mass Allocation

(kg)

Lander Dry Mass 737.8

Inerts * 22.0

Propellants 307.2

Lander Wet Mass 1,067.0

Science Payload 105.0

Rover 220.0

Lander / Rover / Payload Mass 1,392.0

Braking Stage & Hardware 2,194.0

Interstage Adapters 84.0

Spacecraft Mass at TLI 3,670.0

Project Mgmt Reserve** 183.5

Launch Vehicle Reserve*** 6.6

LV Max Throw at TLI 3,860.1

** Calculated as 5% of "Spacecraft Mass at TLI"

*** Calculated as "LV Max Throw at TLI" minus "Spacecraft Mass at TLI" minus "Project Mgmt Reserve"

32

* Residual propellants, pressurants in the tanks and lines


NASA Landing Site & Operations

The following charts reveal the notional landing site, conditions and

mission surface plans


Cabeus

Shoemaker

Lunar South Pole Context


RPM Example Traverse

resource prospector - nasa

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