2-8. Opportunities for Space Power in the Global Exploration of Mars Alan J. Willoughby Analex Corporation, 21775 Brookpark Road, Fairview Park, OH 44126-3224, USA. Space power technology is seen as both an enabler and a beneficiary of a protracted scientific exploration of the planet Mars. A scenario is unfolded which involves many national partners in an infrastructure based global exploration of the red planet. Potential roles, options and benefits of various power technologies are specified for surface activities, orbital nodes and space transportation. The major spacefaring nations would develop a space infrastructure inclusive of the cargo and human transportation system. The smaller nations would sponsor additional Mars rovers of their own design, which would explore under their own flags. The rovers would be teleoperated from an international command post in Mars orbit. From here, productive exploration is possible without threat of biological contamination. The pros and cons of nuclear power on the rovers, regarding lifetime, maneuverability and thermal issues, are addressed. Except for standardization of power and command interfaces, each nation may design and build their rovers however they wish and land them wherever they choose. Scientific payoff, rather than risk avoidance, can be the theme of the exploration. Two major space nodes are envisioned near Mars: a gravity station and a Deimos base. The Deimos base would serve as an equipment storage area, assembly and repair platform, a source of materials and a propellant production site. Both sites have a variety of needs for power and either could serve as a power beaming site to the Mars surface or to other orbital elements. Nuclear power is a key to economical space transportation. The rovers should be clustered together in low Earth orbit onto a transport frame, equipped with ion engines and common command and navigation. This can be a bootstrap operation in which the rover on-board power contributes to the transportation, or a passive freight operation in which the transport provides all the power. Rover designs can be highly adapted to the Mars terrain because propulsive braking at Mars arrival allows more design freedom than does aerobraking. Nuclear thermal rockets are a further option for economical human transportation. The conference attendees are challenged to start with a global set of Mars exploration objectives and devise the power systems which will do the job; rather than start with traditional, cheap or convenient power technology and hope it can be useful. (Paper number IAF-ICOSP89-2-8.) 3. ENERGY STORAGE 3-1. Optimal Design of Thermal Energy Storage for Space Power Hamid Torab Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gannon University, Erie, PA 16541, USA. Thermal Energy Storage (TES) has been utilized in most thermal systems which exhibit temporal variations in the quantity of energy available that do not coincide with thermal load demand. Encapsulated Phase Change Material (PCM) Thermal Energy Storage may be used to reduce the total volume and mass of the heat rejection system in pulsed space power supplies. The storage system receives waste heat generated during high power sprint operation. The stored energy will then be dissipated into space using a radiator during the non-operational period of orbit. Since the non-operational period is much longer than the operational period, the use of a storage system allows the size of the radiator to be made significantly smaller. This study is concerned with optimization of a high temperature ETS using encapsulated PCM. The
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