Mars Sample Return |
Mars Sample Return |
Apr 7 2006, 07:32 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 370 Joined: 12-September 05 From: France Member No.: 495 |
Next phase reached in definition of Mars Sample Return mission
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJAGNFGLE_index_0.html |
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Nov 8 2007, 02:28 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 |
There's been discussion elsewhere of the concept of sending a vehicle with a supply of fuel (typically liquid hydrogen), then after landing extracting liquid oxygen from the Martian atmosphere by breaking-down CO2. There was even a plan to fly a test version of the system on one of the recent landers (possibly MPL, doesn't really matter, it was dropped). This seems like a promising direction for MSR. Further, with the more recent establishment of the existence of water ice near the surface over much of Mars, simple electrolysis (via solar power) would allow production of both fuel and oxidizer on site, so this simplifies the MSR problem to that of delivering an empty launcher to the surface, along with associated equipment to generate the oxidizer (and perhaps fuel).
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 26th September 2024 - 09:42 AM |
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