Spaceship Discovery - Vehicle Architecture for Human Exploration of Moon, Mars, and Beyond

Abstract

With the recently revived interest in space exploration, this design study was undertaken by the author in an attempt design a vehicle architecture that could achieve the national vision of human travel to the Moon, Mars, and in progressively more ambitious steps. This paper presents a conceptual architecture for human interplanetary travel in the not-to-distant future. The main flight vehicle resembles the spaceship Discovery depicted in the novel and film 2001 - A Space Odyssey. Like its namesake, this spaceship could one day transport a human expedition explore the moons of Jupiter. This spaceship Discovery is a real engineering design that could be implemented using technologies that are currently near the state-of-the-art, including advanced, bi-modal nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engines for main propulsion and electrical power. Spaceship Discovery is a modular design: Requirements, features, mass properties, and configuration layouts are presented for each module. Four types of lander designs are presented, including requirements, mission profiles, performance data, and configuration layouts: (1) A reentry module return the crew Earth at the conclusion of a mission or after aborts, (2) a crew exploration lander for Earth's Moon or Callisto that utilizes only vacuum propulsive braking, and (3 and 4) two types of Mars exploration landers that utilize both aerodynamic and propulsive braking. Four Design Reference Missions (DRMs) were used develop design requirements: (1) A high-energy mission the Moon, (2 and 3) low- and high-energy missions Mars, and (4) A high-energy mission Jupiter's moon Callisto. The Spaceship Discovery design includes dual, strap-on boosters that enable the high-energy Mars and Jupiter DRMs. Mission profiles, performance data, mass properties, and configuration layouts are presented for each DRM, and then compared side-to-side. Launch requirements, mass properties, and module launch configurations are presented. Spaceship Discovery offers many advantages for human exploration of the Solar System: (1) Nuclear propulsion enables propulsive capture and escape maneuvers at Earth and target planets, eliminating the need for risky aero-capture maneuvers. (2) Strap-on NTR boosters provide robust propulsive energy, enabling missions beyond Mars, and Mars missions with short transit times and free-return aborts. (3) A backup abort propulsion system enables crew aborts at multiple points in the mission. (4) Clustered NTR engines provide engine out redundancy. (5) The design provides efficient implementation of omnidirectional GCR shielding using main propellant LH2. (6) The design provides artificial gravity mitigate crew physiological problems on long-duration missions. (7) The design is modular and can be launched using proposed upgrades EELVs or Shuttle-derived launch vehicles. (8) High value parts of the vehicle are reusable for Mars and Lunar missions. (9) The design is flexible, with inherent growth capability, and will enable an in-family progression to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.