AMOSS JPC 2010 University Studies Mining Issues (2.0)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER

SOLAR SYSTEM: UNIVERSITY STUDIES
OF MINING VEHICLES AND PROPULSION
Presented to the
46th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion
Conference
and Exhibit
Nashville, TN
Bryan Palaszewski
NASA Glenn Research Center
Cleveland, OH
July 25-28, 2010
www.nasa.gov
Introduction
• Why atmospheric mining?
• Aerospacecraft cruisers for mining
• Student design studies with Case Western
Reserve University (CWRU), 2009
– Support infrastructure
– Orbital transfer vehicles
– Outer planet moon bases
• Daedalus redux
– Propulsion, propulsion, propulsion
– Operational issues
• Conclusions
www.nasa.gov
In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

• In Situ Resource Utilization uses the materials
from other places in the solar system to sustain
human exploration
• Using those resources reduces the reliance on
Earth launched mass, and hopefully reduces
mission costs
• There are powerful capabilities to free humans
from Earth
www.nasa.gov
Why Atmospheric Mining?

• Benefits:
– Large amount of matter to mine (hydrogen and
helium 3)
– Potentially easier than mining regolith (dust) and
rock
– Larger reservoir of materials not readily available
in regolith (and in a gaseous state)
• Potential drawbacks
– Dipping deep into the gravity well of planets is
expensive for propulsion systems
– Lifetime of systems
– Repetitive maneuvers
– Cryogenic atmospheric environments
– Long delivery pipelines
www.nasa.gov
Uranus
JPL
www.nasa.gov
• Uranus’ moon,
Miranda
• Moons may be
good staging
areas for testing
and vehicle
deployment
• Good ISRU
possibilities
JPL
www.nasa.gov
Neptune
JPL
www.nasa.gov
Neptune and Moons
www.nasa.gov
Mining Scenarios and OTVs

• Using cruiser aerospacecraft for mining in the
atmosphere at subsonic speeds.
• Cruiser aerospacecraft then ascends to orbit,
transferring propellant payload to OTV.
• OTV will be the link to interplanetary transfer
vehicle (ITV) for return to Earth.
• Moon bases for a propellant payload storage
option was investigated.
www.nasa.gov
Outer Planet Atmospheres
Tristan Guillot, “Interiors of Giant Planets Inside and

Outside the Solar System.”
www.nasa.gov
Outer Planet
Atmospheres
and
Wind Speeds
JPL, Ingersoll
www.nasa.gov
Orbital Velocities:
10 km altitude
Planet Delta-V (km/s) Comment

Jupiter 41.897 BIG
Saturn 25.492 BIG
Uranus 15.053 More acceptable
Neptune 16.618 More acceptable
www.nasa.gov
Cruiser Mining (1)

Combined Miner and Aerospacecraft
Cruiser: mining aerospacecraft (a)
Uranus atmospheric mining altitude
Cruiser: departs
atmosphere (b)
Uranus atmospheric interface
OTV
Uranus orbit
Fuel storage facility
Earth orbit
www.nasa.gov
ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

CWRU Design Studies, 2009
Dr. Jackie Sung, CWRU Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE)
Professor and Advisor
• Team 1: USCAM: Uranus Subsonic Cruiser for Atmospheric Mining

• Team 2: FIRES Engineering, Inc.: Foremost Interplanetary Resource
Extraction Systems - Helium-3 from Uranus
• Team 3: SYMON: System for Mining on Neptune

• Team 4: Project POSSAM: Potential Outer Solar System
Atmospheric Miner - Helium 3 from Neptune
• Team 5: HOME: Helium 3 from Oberon Mining Expedition
• Team 6: Project ARR: Acquire, Refine, Return – Mining on Nereid
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies, 2009
Dr. Jackie Sung, CWRU Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE)
Professor and Advisor
Team 1: USCAM: Uranus Subsonic Cruiser for Team 4: Project POSSAM: Potential Outer Solar
Atmospheric Mining System Atmospheric Miner - Helium 3 from
• Jeff Taylor, Neptune
• Sameer Kulkarni, • W. Zach Hallum
• Jason Walker • Jim Henning
Team 2: FIRES Engineering, Inc.: Foremost • Taylor Kaar
Interplanetary Resource Extraction Team 5: HOME: HELIUM 3 FROM OBERON
Systems - Helium-3 from Uranus MINING EXPEDITION
• Justin Elchert, • Christopher Center
• Nathan McArthur, • Danny Foti
• Daniel King • George Jenkins
Team 3: SYMON: System for Mining on • Zach Jones
Neptune Team 6: Project ARR: Acquire, Refine, Return –
• Daniel J. Doucet Mining on Nereid
• Bryan W. Weber • Frederick Doering
• Matej Znidarčić • Amanda Durk
• Paul Rockwell
• Andrew Smith
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Gas Core Nuclear Powered Cruiser, Team 1
Specific impulse = 2425 seconds

GTOW = 329,382 kg, delta-V = 16 km/s
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Gas core nuclear cruiser, Team 1 – Cruiser mass versus delta-V
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Gas core nuclear cruiser, Team 1 – Cruiser mass versus delta-V,
with helium 3 collection time
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Gas core nuclear cruiser, Team 1 – Cruiser mass summary
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Gas core nuclear cruiser, Team 1
• Team 1 summary.
• Atmospheric cruiser selected.
• Good use of gas core design (for high specific
impulse and high thrust).
• Overall, the vehicle was effective with helium 3
mining completed in 137 days.
• Design parametric analyses were created to
guide the selection of the “best” design.
www.nasa.gov
CWRU Design Studies
Team 2 - Aerostat Operations inflating the aerostat
Smith, I. S., “The Mars 2001 Balloon Design,” AIAA-1997-1448, June 1997
www.nasa.gov
CWRU Design Studies
Team 2 - Aerostat Operations
www.nasa.gov
CWRU Design Studies

Team 2 – Cruiser engine parameters and mass summary
(1/2)
www.nasa.gov
CWRU Design Studies

(2/2)
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Team 2
• Team 2 summary.
• Aerostat (balloon) selected.
• Serious oversights occurred.
– Balloon inflation gases (and their related tankage
masses) left out of design.
– Low temperature (cryogenic) balloon shown to be
ineffective.
– Time for balloon inflation may lead to mission failure.
• Corrections may include smaller, hotter balloons to
accommodate inflation time issues.
• Mining time for 500 kg of helium 3 is 11 years.
– Must increase power level to allow higher mining rate.
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Cruiser sizing, Team 3
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Gas Core Vehicle sizing, Team 3
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies -
Team 3
• Team 3 summary.
• Atmospheric cruiser selected.
• Effective use of gas core rocket engine design.
• Design parametric space created for mining
rates.
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Cruiser integration issues, Team 4
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Cruiser integration issues, Team 4
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Team 4
• Team 4 summary.
• Atmospheric cruiser selected
• Gas core rocket engine selected.
• Thermal protection system mass estimate was
excessively large, making overall mission
impractical.
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Outer planet moon mining vehicle,Team 5
ThyssenKrupp - Robins
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
ThyssenKrupp - Robins
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
• Team 5 summary.
• Large mining vehicles landed on Oberon.
• Reactor mass estimates were completed and
were effective for the mission.
• Comparisons with past conceptual mining
systems helped guide design.
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Brown, Michael E., Christopher Koresko, Geoffrey Blake, “Detection of Water Ice on Nereid,”
The Astrophysical Journal, 508:L175–L176, December 1,1998.
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
Vermeer Manufacturing Inc. (n.d.), “Terrain Surface Leveler,” Retrieved March 2009
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
• Team 6 summary.
• Review of astronomical spectral data on outer
planet moons was useful for mining selections.
• Mining vehicles selected and modified based on
low gravity, etc.
• Lunar mining and Nereid mining comparisons
were instructive.
www.nasa.gov

Mining Conditions
www.nasa.gov
AMOSS: What’s Next?

• Daedalus Redux (British Interplanetary Society (BIS) Study, Martin, A.,
et al., 1979).
– More attention to atmospheric mining for starship fueling.
• Schedules of ISRU fuel deliveries.
– Effect on construction – if ISRU process slowed or speeded up?
• Daedalus study assumed fusion powered atmospheric transfer
vehicles and aerostats for gathering helium 3 and deuterium
from Jupiter’s atmosphere.
– Move mining location to Uranus or Neptune.
– Recent studies of AMOSS (Palaszewski, et al. AIAA JPC
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) have used nuclear thermal
propulsion (NTP) aerospacecraft (cruiser aircraft) for fuel
mining and orbital delivery.
– Is NTP effective as a propulsion option? Is fusion required?
– Development of micro-factories (or macro-factories, or nano-
factories(?)) for ship assembly and non-fuel related construction.
• Time added for nano- or micro-factory versus macro-factory
construction (time for assembling atoms and molecules,
literally…)
www.nasa.gov
Atmosphere of Uranus:
K.A. Rages, H.B. Hammel, A.J. Friedson,
Evidence for temporal change at Uranus’ south pole, 2004
• Flight in the outer planet

atmospheres are based
on flight at altitudes
where the atmospheric
pressure is about 1
atmosphere.
• The charts notes that this
altitude implies flying in
the haze layer of Uranus.
• The issue of flight in the
haze layer should be
investigated (effects on
aerospacecraft, mining
efficiency , etc.).
www.nasa.gov

Concluding Remarks (1/2)
• Six student teams concluded design projects for

AMOSS.
• Four teams investigated atmospheric mining
vehicles.
• One team for Uranus moon mining (Oberon).
• One team for Neptune moon mining (Nereid).
• Unique gas core nuclear cruiser vehicles
invoked.
• Parametric mass, performance studies help guide
designs.
• Hydrogen tank integration issues alleviated with
high specific impulse designs.
www.nasa.gov

Concluding Remarks (2/2)
• Some teams did not use time effectively, or

conduct sanity checks, or implement vehicle
revisions.
• Supersonic capturing of gases leads to vehicle
complications (Team 3).
• Massive systems needed for moon mining.
• Outer planet moon mining requires enormous
time investments, with 20 to 87 years needed for
mining.
• Atmospheric mining can be completed in 137 to
343 days.
www.nasa.gov
Neptune
JPL
www.nasa.gov

Conclusions
www.nasa.gov
CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov
Conclusions (1/3)
• Orbital transfer vehicles investigated for 3He
payload deliveries.
– To interplanetary transfer vehicles, returning
3He to Earth.
– Moon bases for storage are an option.
• Moon bases add complexity

– Many more vehicles and maneuvers required.
– OTV, landers, factories,
– Lifetime and maintenance issues, etc.
• Find the “magic” in simplification
www.nasa.gov
Conclusions (2/3)
• Cruiser designs for small vehicles are best
– Hypersonic to subsonic flight optimization favors Space
Shuttle orbiter-like design
– Added nuclear engine may allow “barn door” cruiser
flight without optimal aerodynamics
• Large aircraft are viable for cruisers, if needed.

– Historical studies investigate 1000 MT GTOW vehicles.
• Moon base may be fraught with complexity

– Dusty environments
– Damage to sensitive propulsion systems, during
maintenance.
– Fueling requires high reliability ISRU factories.
– Many repetitive fights required for NTP vehicles.
www.nasa.gov
Conclusions (3/3)
• Investigations of alternative fusion fuels
shows boron 11 may have promise over
helium 3.
– ISRU extraction of 3He them favors in space use.
– Extended outer planet explorations.
– Daedalus-class interstellar missions.
• So, onward. The stars beckon.
www.nasa.gov

CWRU Design Studies
www.nasa.gov
Atmosphere of Uranus:
K.A. Rages, H.B. Hammel, A.J. Friedson,
Evidence for temporal change at Uranus’ south pole, 2004
www.nasa.gov
Uranus
JPL
www.nasa.gov

Mining Mission Issues Identified
www.nasa.gov

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER

In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

Why Atmospheric Mining?

Neptune and Moons

Mining Scenarios and OTVs

Outer Planet Atmospheres

Tristan Guillot, “Interiors of Giant Planets Inside and

Planet Delta-V (km/s) Comment

Cruiser Mining (1)

Uranus atmospheric mining altitude

Uranus atmospheric interface

Fuel storage facility

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

• Team 1: USCAM: Uranus Subsonic Cruiser for Atmospheric Mining

• Team 3: SYMON: System for Mining on Neptune

• Team 6: Project ARR: Acquire, Refine, Return – Mining on Nereid

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

Specific impulse = 2425 seconds

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

CWRU Design Studies

CWRU Design Studies

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

AMOSS: What’s Next?

• Flight in the outer planet

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

• Six student teams concluded design projects for

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

• Some teams did not use time effectively, or

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

• Moon bases add complexity

• Find the “magic” in simplification

• Large aircraft are viable for cruisers, if needed.

• Moon base may be fraught with complexity

• So, onward. The stars beckon.

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM:

ATMOSPHERIC MINING IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM: