Conceptual design of a habitation module for a deep space exploration mission

The paper deals with the conceptual design of a habitable module conceived for long duration space exploration missions. The pressurized habitation module (HAB) was specifically sized for a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) mission, named AENEA ―humAn Exploration mission to a Near Earth Asteroid‖. This mission is conceived as an intermediate step before going to further destinations and aims at testing technologies necessary for reaching more challenging targets. In accordance to the mission objectives, the HAB was devised as a reusable space infrastructure, suitable for different exploration scenarios with only minor changes in the architecture/design. The paper describes the design process that, starting from the mission statement, was followed to define the objectives, the requirements and the architecture of the module in terms of system and subsystems configuration. In particular, the HAB was designed to safely sustain the life of 4 astronauts, for a mission to a NEA lasting about 6 months. The main subsystems of the HAB were sized in order to provide the astronauts with the needed resources, support the activities during all operational phases, including the Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) on the asteroid's surface, and protect them against the external environment, with particular attention to the space radiation, one of the most critical aspects of this kind of mission. In this regard, appropriate analyses were carried out for selecting the best shielding strategy. For the execution of the EVAs on the asteroid surface, a dedicated airlock and specific EVA support tools were included. The paper reports a detailed description of the subsystems and their innovative aspects. Starting from the mission phases and the related scenarios, different modes of operations were identified. System budgets were evaluated for the envisaged operational modes. The paper illustrates both the applied methodologies and the results, highlighting the major criticalities to be faced (long exposure to space radiations, EVA operations on the asteroid surface) and the key technologies (radiation shielding, inflatable technology, EVA support tools

A methodology to support strategic decisions in future human space exploration: from scenario definition to building blocks assessment

The human exploration of multiple deep space destinations (e.g. Cis-Lunar, NEAs), in view of the final challenge of sending astronauts to Mars, represents a current and consistent study domain especially in terms of its possible scenarios and mission architectures assessments, as proved by the numerous on-going activities about this topic and moreover by the global exploration roadmap. After exploring and analysing different possible solutions to identify the most flexible path, a detailed characterisation of several Design Reference Missions (DRMs) represents a necessity in order to evaluate the feasibility and affordability of deep space exploration missions, specifically in terms of enabling technological capabilities. The study presented in this paper was aimed at defining an evolutionary scenario for deep space exploration in the next 30 years with the final goal of sending astronauts on the surface of Mars by the end of 2030 decade. Different destinations were considered as targets to build the human exploration scenario, with particular attention to Earth-Moon Lagrangian points, NEA and Moon. For all the destinations selected as part of the exploration scenario, the assessment and characterisation of the relative Design Reference Missions were performed. Specifically they were defined in terms of strategies, architectures and mission elements. All the analyses were based on a pure technical approach with the objective of evaluating the feasibility of a long term strategy for capabilities achievement and technological development to enable future space exploration. This paper describes the process that was followed within the study, focusing on the adopted methodology, and reports the major obtained results, in terms of scenario and mission analysi

The international post-graduate Master programme for space exploration, SEEDS: education and training from a System Engineering perspective

The SEEDS (SpacE Exploration Development Systems) initiative was initially conceived and promoted by Politecnico di Torino and Thales Alenia Space-Italy in 2005. It aimed at establishing a post-graduate International Master Program in space exploration to offer an opportunity to young engineers to get prepared for the future of Europe in space and specifically in human space exploration. ISAE-Supaero in France and University of Leicester in UK participate to SEEDS together with Politecnico di Torino (Italy). Turin, Toulouse and Leicester have a long common tradition of space activities at both the industrial and academic level and within the SEEDS initiative they represent three poles of European cooperation in space programs. The Master course comprises two different steps in sequence: an initial learning phase and a Project Work phase. Both phases pursue a multidisciplinary approach, where all specialized disciplines are integrated to make the students able to acquire the system view and then to accomplish the conceptual design of a selected case-study. The distinguishing feature of SEEDS is the Project Work activity, performed by all students together under the supervision of academic and industrial tutors. Main objective of the Project Work is to train the students on the basic principles of the system engineering design, through their application to a well-defined project related to a specific human space exploration mission. The Project Work includes the Preparatory Work, during which the students identify the complete architecture and overall scenario of the mission, and the conceptual design activities, performed in the three European sites to develop a limited number of building blocks. Seven academic years of activities have passed and seven project works have been successfully completed, dealing with various space exploration themes. The eighth edition is currently under way with the aim of designing a “Transit and return habitable Mars orbital port”. The paper focuses on the description of the Master Program, both from the point of view of its contents, structure and multidisciplinary design methodologies, and on the main results achieved in terms of Project Work activities. The positive experience of seven years of SEEDS is brought to evidence and the lessons learned are discussed

3-YEAR OF INDUSTRIAL TO THE ISS OPERATIONS OF THE ESA ELEMENTS

Europe has now entered the full exploitation phase of its contribution to the International Space Sta- tion. The implementation of the operations tasks for the ISS Operations Program has been delegated by ESA to the Integrated Operations Team (IOT) which, through a single End-to-End Contract, provides the services necessary to maintain, support and operate the European Elements of the ISS. A continuous process has been put in place for the collection of lessons-learnt, the denition of the necessary recovery actions and the control of their implementation, in close-cooperation among the various parties, ESA, COL-CC, USOCs and the Industrial consortium. After this initial three years cycle, the lessons-learnt assessment has enabled to highlight the change of attitude embedded in transitioning from Design and Development to the actual real Operations on-orbit: this leap is particularly evident in the shorter re- action times, in the exibility obtained by re-interpreting system performances beyond the design and qualication boundaries to meet extra-operational needs andso forth. The paper brie y describes the IOT organization and relationships with ESA, recalls the TAS-I role in general and in particular for Columbus operations, gives some hints on the established Lessons Learnt Process, analyzes the challenges for engineering and operations integration to keep up with on-board activity ow, focusing in detail on some notable cases as examples of anomaly management. Moreover, some specic cases will be addressed as peculiar examples of the change of pace imposed by the on-orbit operations: the WOOV8 blockage (Columbus TCS internal issue), DMS vital layer failure (Columbus system-wide issue), ETCS loop A Pump stop (station-wide issue).

Next space exploration step: human expeditions to Libration points

The next step in the human space exploration is to travel beyond Low Earth Orbit and in this regard the Earth-Moon Lagrangian points represent an interesting and logical first destination. In this paper a discussion about the major aspects related to human expeditions to Librations points is reported. An orbital infrastructure deployed in cis-lunar will represent the first human outpost beyond LEO, to be firstly used as a platform for research and to demonstrate a set of critical technologies and associated operations required to perform a further deep space human exploration mission (e.g. to a NEO or to Mars). As a matter of fact, placing the module in one of the Libration points allows reproducing conditions that would be encountered during a deep space travel, thus guaranteeing the possibility to test specific technologies in a more significant environment with respect to what possible on ground or in LEO (e.g. effects of radiations on human body outside the protection of the Van Allen belts and radiation protection system test). Moreover a station located in one of the Lagrangian points can be exploited to support lunar human exploration missions, providing a staging post and a safe heaven for crew working on the Moon surface. The paper describes the mission concept for the cis-lunar destination, in terms of missions' architectures and needed building blocks also highlighting how this destination concept can be coupled with other destinations missions, in a wider human exploration scenario. Within the paper an assessment of the required and applicable, innovative and critical technologies is reported. In particular, the mission concept is built such that it can in principle be feasible in the following few years (station deployment in 2017), but at the same time it is conceived to allow a progressive implementation of more and more innovative technologies through different successive missions (e.g. crew missions, logistics missions). The paper describes the rationale and the adopted methodologies, as well as the main obtained result

Future Human Space Exploration: key technologies assessment and applicability analysis

The paper deals with the assessment of the key technologies needed for future space exploration missions. A human expedition to Mars is so far considered the most interesting target for the future Human Space Exploration (HSE). To accomplish this challenging goal, a gradual approach shall be implemented through the exploration of multiple deep space intermediate destinations (e.g Cis-lunar, NEAs). Several studies are being carried out in this perspective, aimed at defining the best path to be followed in order to achieve the capabilities required for a human mission on Mars surface. According to this, a HSE reference scenario was built and an analysis of the most critical technologies needed to accomplish the missions was performed. To build up the reference HSE scenario, the human expedition to Mars by the end of 2030’s, as defined by NASA DRA 5.0, was taken as reference mission. The intermediate destinations were selected so that they will guarantee the implementation and achievement, through a step-by-step approach, of all the capabilities required to accomplish the human mission to Mars. All the scenario destinations missions were analyzed and characterized in terms of architectures and needed building blocks. The most innovative and not yet space qualified technologies were identified that can be applicable in HSE elements and missions. They were organized in Technological Areas and mapped on all the elements included in the HSE Scenario, in order to get an overall picture of the “required” technologies through the various destinations as well as their “applicability”. This kind of mapping allows understanding and visualizing where and in which elements each technology can potentially be applied and tested (maybe at limited extent), before being implemented in a specific mission where it is absolutely required. This database can be very useful to understand how much (in terms of percentage of required or applicable technologies) each destination, according to the defined concept/missions, can contribute in the achievement of specific capabilities needed for further destinations. In the first part of the paper an overview of the HSE reference scenario, as well as the adopted methodology, is provided. Then, it focuses on the assessment and analysis of the key technologies with particular attention to their applicability throughout the various destinations (applicability maps)

Future Human Space Exploration: key technologies assessment and applicability analysis

The paper deals with the assessment of the key technologies needed for future space exploration missions. A human expedition to Mars is so far considered the most interesting target for the future Human Space Exploration (HSE). To accomplish this challenging goal, a gradual approach shall be implemented through the exploration of multiple deep space intermediate destinations (e.g Cis-lunar, NEAs). Several studies are being carried out in this perspective, aimed at defining the best path to be followed in order to achieve the capabilities required for a human mission on Mars surface. According to this, a HSE reference scenario was built and an analysis of the most critical technologies needed to accomplish the missions was performed. To build up the reference HSE scenario, the human expedition to Mars by the end of 2030's, as defined by NASA DRA 5.0, was taken as reference mission. The intermediate destinations were selected so that they will guarantee the implementation and achievement, through a step-by-step approach, of all the capabilities required to accomplish the human mission to Mars. All the scenario destinations missions were analyzed and characterized in terms of architectures and needed building blocks. The most innovative and not yet space qualified technologies were identified that can be applicable in HSE elements and missions. They were organized in Technological Areas and mapped on all the elements included in the HSE Scenario, in order to get an overall picture of the "required" technologies through the various destinations as well as their "applicability". This kind of mapping allows understanding and visualizing where and in which elements each technology can potentially be applied and tested (maybe at limited extent), before being implemented in a specific mission where it is absolutely required. This database can be very useful to understand how much (in terms of percentage of required or applicable technologies) each destination, according to the defined concept/missions, can contribute in the achievement of specific capabilities needed for further destinations. In the first part of the paper an overview of the HSE reference scenario, as well as the adopted methodology, is provided. Then, it focuses on the assessment and analysis of the key technologies with particular attention to their applicability throughout the various destinations (applicability maps

A methodology for innovative technologies roadmaps assessment to support strategic decisions for future space exploration.

Travelling beyond LEO is the next step in the conquest of the solar system and so far, a human expedition to Mars is considered the most interesting goal of the future Human Space Exploration (HSE). Due to the technological and operational challenges associated to a human mission to the Red Planet, it is necessary to define an opportune path of exploration, relying on many missions to intermediate and “easier” destinations, which would allow a gradual achievement of the capabilities required for the human Mars mission. According to the actual interest in this topic, a study was carried out with the aim of defining a HSE reference scenario and analyse the relative technological issues. The reference scenario was built considering as final target the human mission to Mars as defined by NASA DRA 5.0. The intermediate destinations were selected so that they will guarantee the implementation and achievement, through a step-by-step approach, of all the capabilities required to accomplish the human mission to Mars. All the scenario destinations’ missions were analysed and characterized in terms of strategies, architectures and needed building blocks. Then specific analyses concerning the key technologies to accomplish those missions were performed, starting from the definition of a large database collecting the most innovative and not yet space qualified technologies up to the analysis of how the most important ones are implementable through the various destinations and missions elements. The obtained results are represented by a versatile tool, useful to support strategic decisions, allowing understanding and visualizing where, when and in which elements each technology can potentially be applied and tested (maybe at limited extent), before being implemented in a specific mission where it is absolutely required. This could be very helpful to well place investments in the development of specific systems to allow future space exploration missions. The paper, after an overview of the HSE reference scenario and of the process followed to build it, focuses on the description of the methodology defined to build a tool for technologies roadmaps assessment. Specific examples are provided to better explain how the tool can be exploited

A sustainable bridge between Low Earth Orbits and Cislunar Infrastructures: the Lunar Space Tug

The International Space Station (ISS) is the first space human outpost and over the last 15 years, it has represented a peculiar environment where science, technology and human innovation converge together in a unique microgravity and space research laboratory. With the ISS entering the second part of its life and its operations running steadily at nominal pace, the global space community is starting planning how the human exploration could move further, beyond Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO). According to the Global Exploration Roadmap, the Moon represents the next feasible pathway for advances in human exploration towards the final goal, Mars. Based on the experience of the ISS, one of the most widespread ideas is to develop a Cislunar Station in preparation of long duration missions in a deep space environment. Cislunar space is defined as the area of deep space under the influence of Earth-Moon system, including a set of special orbits, e.g. Earth-Moon Libration points (EML) and Lunar Retrograde Orbit (LRO). This habitat represents a suitable environment for demonstrating and testing technologies and capabilities in deep space. In order to achieve this goal, there are several crucial systems and technologies, in particular related to transportation and launch systems. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is a reusable transportation capsule designed to provide crew transportation in deep space missions, whereas NASA is developing the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built, which could provide the necessary heavy-lift launch capability to support the same kind of missions. These innovations would allow quite-fast transfers from Earth to the Cislunar Station and vice versa, both for manned and unmanned missions. However, taking into account the whole Concept of Operations for both the growth and sustainability of the Cislunar Space Station, the Lunar Space Tug (LST) can be considered as an additional, new and fundamental element for the mission architecture. The Lunar Space Tug represents an alternative to the SLS scenario, especially for what concerns all unmanned or logistic missions (e.g. cargo transfer, on orbit assembly, samples return), from LEO to Cislunar space. The paper focuses on the mission analysis and conceptual design of the Lunar Space Tug to support the growth and sustainment of the Cislunar Station. Particular attention is dedicated to interface requirements between the Space Tug and the modules of the Station, whose design can be deeply affected by the Space Tug. Main results are presented and discussed, and main conclusions are drawn