Advanced nuclear technologies for deep space exploration

Water can be electrolyzed into LOX and LH₂ or it can directly be used as a propellant in a nuclear propulsion system. There is abundant evidence that water is present in Carbonaceous Chondrites, which forms the C-Class asteroids in the main asteroid belt. There is a strong belief that water is also available in the form of regolith ice and chemically bound sources. Water is vital for manned space programs as it can be used for drinking water, agriculture and radiation shielding. Approximately 90% of this water can be carried from Earth and recycled within a life support system. But for a very long duration human presence in missions beyond the asteroid belt, refueling water from the main asteroid belt for sustainability can be an enabling aspect of such a mission. Hence the value of information for water maps on the main asteroid belt can be a very lucrative market for futuristic space missions. ❧ With NASA’s renewed interest in exploring the gas giants and their moons, cost reduction is on the forefront of concern. Concurrently, the surge in successful CubeSat launches to Near-Earth Orbit, has spawned interest in examining their use for deep space applications. In current CubeSat flight heritage, the communication systems use RF signals on lower bands, milli Watt class of power and compact omnidirectional Antenna system. But in order to close the communication link for distances greater than 10 AU, kW class of power is required to overcome the >250 dB space loss. Subsequently, the antenna diameter size goes into the order of a couple of meters. This results in the communication system to be bulky and spacious, increasing the cost of launch and operations into a billion-dollar tier mission. The study discussed in this chapter targets the reduction of this generic RF communication system’s mass and size, by replacing it with laser communication technology, which can fit in a 6U CubeSat constraint. Achieving this miniaturization can lower the cost of deep-space missions to the order of a million-dollar tier making it more accessible to small budget organizations such as university research labs. ❧ There have been various proposals for a successor to the Huygens lander to further explore the Earth-like nature of Saturn’s moon Titan. Each proposed mission attempts to further understand Titan’s methane cycle, its nitrogen rich atmosphere and hydrocarbon lakes, which are the Solar Systems’ only observed liquid bodies outside of Earth. The ideal science target of Titan is its lake, Kraken Mare. The aforementioned missions each recommend various mid to large mass exploration spacecraft (> 100 kg) to accomplish this task. The following study proposes a low mass and cost effective alternative, the quadcopter. This modified quadcopter concept will be able to survive and operate in the Saturnian moon’s atmospheric and surface environment. The study provides an in-depth model and analysis of the entry, descent, and landing of the mission architecture. It also outlines the scientific objectives and instrumentation that the probe will carry as a payload to Titan and deploy for experimentation and measurement quantification.