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Atmospheric Mining in the Outer Solar System: Issues and Challenges for Mining Vehicle Propulsion
47th AIAA/ ASME/ SAE/ ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit San Diego, CA Bryan Palaszewski NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland OH July 30 to August 3, 2011
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Introduction
Why atmospheric mining? Aerospacecraft cruisers for mining Nuclear engine issues
Gas core engines

Assembly times
Flights per day, per month, for ambitious missions.

Daedalus redux
Propulsion, propulsion, propulsion Operational issues

Concluding remarks Conclusions

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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

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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
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Uranus

JPL

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Uranus moon, Miranda Moons may be good staging areas for testing and vehicle deployment Good ISRU possibilities
JPL

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Neptune

JPL
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Neptune and Moons

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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.

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Outer Planet Atmospheres

Tristan Guillot, Interiors of Giant Planets Inside and Outside the Solar System.

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Outer Planet Atmospheres and Wind Speeds

JPL, Ingersoll

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Orbital Velocities: 10 km altitude

Planet Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Delta-V (km/s) 41.897 25.492 15.053 16.618 Comment BIG BIG More acceptable More acceptable

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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
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AMOSS GCR Designs

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AMOSS GCR Designs

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AMOSS GCR Designs, Pressure Vessel

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AMOSS GCR Designs, Turbopump

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AMOSS GCR Designs

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Gas Core Design and Analysis Overview

Total aerospacecraft vehicle delta-V is 20 km/s. Single stage aerospacecraft. Gas core Isp values = 1800 and 2500 seconds Vehicles mass estimated over a broad range of dry masses. Dry mass (other than tankage) = 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, and 1,000,000 kg.
Typical gas core dry mass = 80,000 to 200,000 kg.

Tankage mass = 2% and 10% of propellant mass. Comparative case: solid core NTP Isp = 900 seconds.

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Gas core, Isp = 1,800 s, Tankage = 2% Mp

Nuclear Aerospacecraft, OC Gas Core; 1,800-s Isp; 20-km/s delta-V capability; 1,000-kg payload

Aerospacecraft mass, initial and final (kg)

10,000,000 1,000,000 100,000 10,000

Initial mass (Mo)

1,000 100 10
1
Tankage mass fraction = 2% Mp, for H2

Final mass (Mf)

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

Dry mass, without tankage (kg)

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Gas core, Isp = 1,800 s, Tankage = 10% Mp

Nuclear Aerospacecraft, OC Gas Core, 1,800-s Isp, 20-km/s delta-V capability, 1,000-kg payload
Aerospacecraft mass, initial and final (kg)
10,000,000

1,000,000
100,000

10,000 1,000
100
Initial mass (Mo) Final mass (Mf)

10
1

Tankage mass fraction = 10% Mp, for H2

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

Dry mass, without tankage (kg)

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Gas core, Isp = 2,500 s, Tankage = 2% Mp

Nuclear Aerospacecraft, OC Gas Core; 2,500-s Isp; 20-km/s delta-V capability; 1,000-kg payload 10,000,000

Aerospacecraft mass, initial and final (kg)

1,000,000 100,000 10,000 1,000

100
Tankage mass fraction = 2% Mp, for H2

Initial mass (Mo)

Final mass (Mf)

10 1 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 Dry mass, without tankage (kg)
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Gas core, Isp = 2,500 s, Tankage = 10% Mp

Nuclear Aerospacecraft, OC Gas Core; 2,500-s Isp; 20-km/s delta-V capability; 1,000-kg payload
Aerospacecraft mass, initial and final (kg)
10,000,000 1,000,000
100,000 10,000

1,000 100 Tankage mass fraction = 10% Mp, for H2 10

1

Initial mass (Mo)

Final mass (Mf)

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

Dry mass, without tankage (kg

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NTP Aerospacecraft, Isp = 900 seconds

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AMOSS NTP Designs: Solid Core and Gas Core

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Firing Times for Ascent to Orbit: Isp = 900, 1800, and 2500 seconds (Mdry = 100,000 kg)

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GCR Aerospacecraft, Isp = 2,500 seconds; Mdry = 1,000,000 kg

GCR Aerospacecraft Mass Summary, Isp = 2500 s, Payload = 1 MT, Tankage = 10% of Propellant mass, Initial mass = 2,651 MT
1,600,000

Aerospacecraft masses (kg)

1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000

400,000 200,000 0 Payload Dry mass Tankage mass Propellant mass

Aerospacecraft elements
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GCR Aerospacecraft, Isp = 2,500 seconds: Mdry = 10,0000 kg

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AMOSS Flight Rates

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AMOSS Flight Rates

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AMOSS Flight Rates

Flight rates of 20 per day are required to meet the 20 year assembly suggested by BIS Daedalus study. Flight rates of 6 per day are needed if the time is relaxed to 50 years (and 3 for 100 years).

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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.).

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Concluding Remarks
Atmospheric mining can open new frontiers. Gas core engines for mining aerospacecraft require very high temperatures. Gas core engines may reduce vehicle mass, but increase their complexity. Gas core engines can reduce the vehicle initial mass by 72% to 80% over solid core NTP powered vehicles. Flight rates of 20 per day are required to meet the 20 year assembly suggested by BIS Daedalus study. Flight rates of 6 per day are needed if the time is relaxed to 50 years (and 3 for 100 years).
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Neptune

JPL

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