Gateway Lunar Habitat Modules as the Basis for a Modular Mars Transit Habitat

This paper provides a summary of the results from a recent concept study of various configurations for a Mars Transit Habitat. The designs considered are composed of modules based on published contractor concepts proposed for the lunar Gateway through NASAs NextSTEP program. Using these Gateway concepts as a starting point for the design of a Mars Transit Habitat has potential advantages. Both Gateway and Mars Transit Habitats will have similar requirements for long-term operations in deep space, autonomous and remote operations when the crew is not onboard, and similar requirements for transferring crew to and from a planetary surfacethe Moon and Mars respectively. The contractor designs for Gateway were traded against a monolithic transit habitat previously proposed by NASAs Mars Integration Group. In addition, these concepts were considered for a shakedown mission for the transit habitat hardware in cislunar space to build confidence in new systems, including the advanced environmental control and life support systems needed for Mars missions. The results presented include overall vehicle configurations, mass, and volume estimates for the selected design concepts. Two concepts using large expandable modules are identified as leading candidates for a Mars Transit Habitat and the remaining elements are identified as representative of the habitable pressure vessels needed for safe haven configurations, logistics modules, surface habitats, rovers, and descent and ascent crew cabins in the overall Mars Architecture

Habitation Concepts and Tools for Asteroid Missions and Commercial Applications

In 2009 studies were initiated in response to the Augustine Commission s review of the Human Spaceflight Program to examine the feasibility of additional options for space exploration beyond the lunar missions planned in the Constellation Program. One approach called a Flexible Path option included possible human missions to near-Earth asteroids. This paper presents an overview of possible asteroid missions with emphasis on the habitation options and vehicle configurations conceived for the crew excursion vehicles. One launch vehicle concept investigated for the Flexible Path option was to use a dual launch architecture that could serve a wide variety of exploration goals. The dual launch concept used two medium sized heavy lift launch vehicles for lunar missions as opposed to the single Saturn V architecture used for the Apollo Program, or the one-and-a-half vehicle Ares I / Ares V architecture proposed for the Constellation Program. This dual launch approach was studied as a Flexible Path option for lunar missions and for possible excursions to other destinations like geosynchronous earth orbiting satellites, Lagrange points, and as presented in this paper, asteroid rendezvous. New habitation and exploration systems for the crew are presented that permit crew sizes from 2 to 4, and mission durations from 100 to 360 days. Vehicle configurations are presented that include habitation systems and tools derived from International Space Station (ISS) experience and new extra-vehicular activity tools for asteroid exploration, Figure 1. Findings from these studies and as presented in this paper indicate that missions to near-Earth asteroids appear feasible in the near future using the dual launch architecture, the technologies under development from the Constellation Program, and systems derived from the current ISS Program. In addition, the capabilities derived from this approach that are particularly beneficial to the commercial sector include human access to geosynchronous orbit and the Lagrange points with new tools for satellite servicing and in-space assembly

Case of the month

A 25 year old previously healthy female presented with a sore throat of three days duration. Associated symptoms included dysphagia and odynophagia but no drooling was reported. Her pain progressed to the point that she refused all solid foods and liquids. She also complained of neck pain and swelling that limited the range of motion in her neck. Fever had ranged from 102-104 degrees F. She had a "raspy" voice but did not complain of respiratory difficulty, stridor or wheezing

The James W. Sewall Company Aerial Photographs Collection - A Short History and Three Applications

This article describes three example applications of the Sewall Company Aerial Photographs. It includes a brief history of the Sewall Company and the Aerial Photographs Collection

The James W. Sewall Company Aerial Photographs Collection - A Short History and Three Applications

This article describes three example applications of the Sewall Company Aerial Photographs. It includes a brief history of the Sewall Company and the Aerial Photographs Collection. The collection may be viewed here

Photo Mosaic of Machias Bay November 1966

A mosaic of James W. Sewall Company aerial images, Machias Bay area, November, 1966. Flight line 6 scanned in-house at UMaine Fogler Library. Flight lines 7 through 10 scanned at Sewall Company

Relation of Phospolipids to DNA in Breast and Thigh Muscle Tissue of Chicken

(From the Summary): Abbreviated The content of phospholipids per unit of DNA and the distribution of cephalins, lecithins, and sphingomyelin in the breast and thigh muscle tissues of eight chickens were studied. Nucleic acids were extracted from the muscle tissues with hot trichloroacetic acid and the content of desoxyribose, determined colorimetrically by the Dische diphenylamine reaction, was used as an index to the DNA concentration. Thin layer chromatography was used to separate the triglycerides from the phospholipids and to fractionate the latter compounds. Phosphorus analysis was used to estimate the quantity of phospholipids and of each phospholipid class. The amounts of total lipid, phospholipid, and DNA in a given weight of tissue were lower in the breast than in the thigh on both a wet weight and a dry weight basis. Phospholipids constituted a greater proportion of the total lipids in the breast than in the thigh muscles. Although the mean amount of phospholipid per unit of DNA was higher in the thigh than in the breast, this relationship was not consistent. In both tissues the phospholipid classes in order of decreasing abundance were lecithins, cephalins, and sphingomyelin. Concentrations of cephalins and sphingomyelin were lower in breast than in thigh phospholipids and the percentage of lecithin was correspondingly higher in the breast phospholipids. Cephalin-DNA and sphingomyelin-DNA ratios were higher in thigh than in breast muscle

Space Launch System Co-Manifested Payload Options for Habitation

The Space Launch System (SLS) has a co-manifested payload capability that will grow over time as the launch vehicle matures and planned upgrades are implemented. The final configuration is planned to be capable of inserting a payload greater than 10 metric tons (mt) into a trans-lunar injection trajectory along with the crew in the Orion capsule and its service module. The co-manifested payload is located below the Orion and its service module in a 10 m high fairing similar to the way the Saturn launch vehicle carried the lunar lander below the Apollo command and service modules. Various approaches that utilize this comanifested payload capability to build up infrastructure in deep space have been explored in support of future asteroid, lunar, and Mars mission scenarios. This paper reports on the findings of the Advanced Concepts Office study team at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) working with the Advanced Exploration Systems Program on the Exploration Augmentation Module Project. It includes some of the possible options for habitation in the co-manifested payload volume of the SLS. Findings include a set of module designs that can be developed in 10 mt increments to support these co-manifested payload missions along with a comparison of this approach to a large-module payload flight configuration for the SLS