Prototype Development of an Integrated Mars Atmosphere and Soil-Processing System

Abstract

The concept of living off the land by using the indigenous resources of the Moon, Mars, or other potential sites of robotic and human exploration has been termed in situ resource utilization (ISRU) and will be an enabling technology to open up the solar system. Although the most recent National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) human Mars mission study (Design Reference Architecture 5.0) showed that production of propellants and life support consumables was a mission-enabling capability, mission planners were hesitant to select the newly proposed water extraction from Mars soil option because of the perceived high risk associated with this approach. To overcome resistance in putting ISRU capabilities in the critical path of mission success, NASA ISRU developers have adopted the approach of designing and building hardware into end-to-end systems at representative mission scales and testing these systems under mission-relevant conditions at analog field test sites. Previous ISRU field demonstrations have been standalone lunar ISRU modules running on alternating current power with nonoptimal integration. The primary goal of the Mars atmosphere and regolith collector/processor for lander operations (MARCO POLO) project is to design, build, and test an end-to-end first-generation Mars ISRU atmospheric and soil-processing system powered by mission-relevant direct current power while also demonstrating closed-loop power production via the combination of a fuel cell and electrolyzer. A secondary goal is to perform remote and autonomous operations with this integrated system on a 3×3-m(∼9×9-ft) octagon lander and transfer oxygen and methane produced to a cryocart for use with a thruster to demonstrate an end-to-end Mars resource-to-thrust concept. This paper will outline the overall design, technologies used, and concept of operations for the MARCO POLO project and its upcoming field demonstration.