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Mars in Situ Resource Utilization Technology EvaluationWe have examined the technologies required to enable Mars In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) because our understanding of Mars resources has changed significantly in the last five years as a result of recent robotic missions to the red planet. Two major developments, (1) confirmation of the presence of near-surface water in the form of ice in very large amounts at high latitudes by the Phoenix Lander and (2) the likely existence of water at lower latitudes in the form of hydrates or ice in the top one meter of the regolith, have the potential to change ISRU technology selection. A brief technology assessment was performed for the most promising Mars atmospheric gas processing techniques: Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) and Methanation (aka Sabatier), as well as an overview of soil processing technology to extract water from Martian soil.
Document ID
20120001775
Acquisition Source
Kennedy Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Muscatello, Anthony C.
(NASA Kennedy Space Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Santago-Maldonado, Edgardo
(NASA Kennedy Space Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 9, 2012
Subject Category
Space Sciences (General)
Report/Patent Number
KSC-2011-106RR
KSC-2011-106R
KSC-2012-002R
KSC-2011-106
Meeting Information
Meeting: 50TH AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting
Location: Nashville, TN
Country: United States
Start Date: January 9, 2012
End Date: January 12, 2012
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS10-03006
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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