Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

SpaceNut · 2015-09-20 20:39:58

http://www.marssociety.org/home/news/?p … ompetition

Mars Society is launching an international student engineering contest to design the Gemini Mars mission, creating a plan for a two-person Mars flyby that could be placed on the desk of the President-elect in late 2016 and be completed by the end of his or her second term. The requirement is to design a two-person Mars flyby mission that can be launched no later than 2024 as cheaply, safely and simply as possible. All other design variables are open.

The contest will be open to teams of engineering students from universities around the world, with the team offering the best design getting a $10,000 prize, and prizes of $5,000, $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 going to the second, third, fourth, and fifth place contestants, respectively.

SpaceNut · 2015-09-21 19:41:15

Flyby's are not new as Dennis Tito wanted to use the SLS for such a trip to take place in 2018 but Nasa has recently indicated that the first manned use of the Orion will not happen until long after that scheduel.

http://www.space.com/19985-private-mars … aphic.html

http://www.inspirationmars.com/Inspirat … s_IEEE.pdf

SpaceNut · 2015-09-26 20:49:10

Happened upon this site and it has the status of launchers http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/Comp … ch_systems

SpaceNut · 2015-10-05 19:48:21

Here is a page from Mardrive of simular contests http://www.marsdrive.net/what-we-do

past Projects and downloadable Mission Files
Ready For Mars, authored by David Gooding, Terry Wilson and Michael Bloxham.
Sample Return Design Project Rigel, authored by Kent Nebergall.
An initial small package to Mars design by Grant Bonin, precursor to the Explore Mars Time Capsule to Mars project.

I am sure there must be other project examples that could be made use to help those in designing there respective projects.....

Are there others out there?

Torquemadus · 2015-11-10 14:51:37

This competition was announced before the SLS Orion EM2 was put back to 2023. Would the SLS be considered flight ready to launch the mission in time for 2024?

The obvious alternative is SpaceX. However, they have their own plans. SpaceX have made it known that they intend to send humans to Mars in the 2020s, but there have been few official details published so far.

There have been some cryptic mentions that SpaceX plan to unveil their "Big Falcon Rocket" and their plans for it by the end of the year. For example, there is a brief mention towards the end of this article: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/10/ … uman-mars/

SpaceNut · 2015-11-10 18:17:33

Thanks for stopping by Torquemadus and Welcome to NewMars. I hope you stick around for a while....Dive into any topic....

RobertDyck · 2016-01-05 20:51:45

So, my idea. The goal appears to be Inspiration Mars, but done right. Ok.

Start with a Dragon v2 spacecraft. This is a capsule designed for 7 crew members, but this competition is for just 2. It will be zero gravity, and the goal is a flyby past Mars. Baseline for Dragon will have the same non-recycling life support system as Apollo, Dragon will have enough supplies for 7 crew members for 1 week (7 days). So 2 crew members will have 24.5 days. Use that as safety backup.

Launch vehicle will be Falcon Heavy. It has a capability of 13,200 kg direct launch to Mars (TMI). Dragon v2 has been advertised as having the same dry mass as Dragon CRS: 4,200kg. Dragon CRS has 1,290kg propellant. I don't know if all that includes seats, controls, life support, or launch abort system. I suspect we have to add mass for all that.

Next we need recycling life support. Add the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) of a Cygnus spacecraft, without the service module. This will dock to the nose of Dragon v2. Cygnus standard has a dry mass of 1,500kg. This will be loaded with the same recycling life support equipment as the American side of ISS. That is detailed here. This would pack equipment in the cargo module, leaving a tunnel down the centre. The space toilet would go in Dragon. Mass:

Waste Collector Subsystem: (space toilet) = 111.58 kg
Water Processor Assembly = 657.7 kg
Oxygen Generation Assembly = 173.725 kg
Power supply cart for OGA above = 132 kg
Urine Processor Assembly = ?
Sabatier reactor = ?
Regenerable CO2 Removal System = 47.6 kg
Metox canister for above = 14.5 kg
Dehumidifier = 96.43 kg

Total: 1,233.535 kg + unknowns. Budget 1,500 kg total for life support.

Add a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to the other end of Cygnus. Mass of BEAM = 1,360 kg

Total so far is 8,350 kg. Now add body weight of crew, spacesuits, and all that stuff I said was not included in mass of Dragon v2. Result is well within 13,200 kg. So this is direct launch with a single Falcon Heavy launch vehicle.

The link for life support includes data for power consumption. Figure out how much Dragon needs, then how much power solar panels will generate. Will you need larger solar arrays?

Trajectory, this is the trajectory calculated for Inspiration Mars:

Questions: How do you attach Cygnus and BEAM during launch? Dragon is designed to be on top, with launch abort built into its sides. Do you mount Cygnus beneath Dragon? Then have Dragon separate, turn around, and dock while Cygnus is attached to the TMI stage? That's what Apollo did with its Lunar Module. This manoeuver would be after injection into Trans-Mars trajectory. Then what about BEAM? That was designed to be carried in the hollow trunk of Dragon. Do you still do that? Removing it, then deploying onto the other end of Cygnus would require separating Cygnus from the TMI stage, then a space walk to move BEAM. Or do you pre-attach BEAM to the bottom of Cygnus? Detach from the TMI stage, then simply inflate BEAM once Dragon is attached? That would require some sort of spacecraft adapter, so the weight of Cygnus doesn't sit on BEAM during launch. What about power? Would Cygnus have its own solar array? Just the standard Cygnus solar array, but no service module? Or would life support within Cygnus be powered from Dragon? Or both? Would the docking hatch require an external power transfer connector, or a cable run through the hatch? Would you use the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) for ISS? That requires very gentle attachment, currently requiring the space station arm. Or the APAS hatch? That one is design for a spacecraft to dock itself.

Hah! Inspiration Mars depictions show Orion with BEAM attached, or Orion with Cygnus. My design is Dragon v2 with Cygnus and BEAM. Inspiration Mars would require launch by SLS block 2B, with crew delivered separately via CST-100 Starliner launched by Atlas V. My design just requires a single Falcon Heavy.

Last edited by RobertDyck (2016-01-05 21:10:53)

SpaceNut · 2016-01-05 21:11:38

Here are some documents that might fill in the mass for the UPA...
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stati … /1796.html
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi. … 023422.pdf
http://pims.grc.nasa.gov/pimsdocs/publi … _12_22.pdf

RobertDyck · 2016-01-05 21:20:18

Just this minute I received an email from the Mars Society about this competition. It's through my subscription for Mars Society newsletters. I find the timing interesting. The email states letters of intent for the competition are due January 30. Is someone trying to tell me something?

Ps. I'm not a student. I'm 53. In 1994 I was an instructor at Red River Community College; I taught introduction to computer programming using C language.

Last edited by RobertDyck (2016-01-05 21:21:46)

SpaceNut · 2016-01-06 20:50:40

No worries as we can dream, I am 57 so ya not a student either....1994 hummm I was working at a network manufacturer trouble shooting with micro/assembly code..... to part level debug of diagnostic failures....

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Announcement

#1 2015-09-20 20:39:58

Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#2 2015-09-21 19:41:15

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#3 2015-09-26 20:49:10

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#4 2015-10-05 19:48:21

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#5 2015-11-10 14:51:37

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#6 2015-11-10 18:17:33

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#7 2016-01-05 20:51:45

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#8 2016-01-05 21:11:38

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#9 2016-01-05 21:20:18

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

#10 2016-01-06 20:50:40

Re: Mars Society Announces International Gemini Mars Design Competition

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