SPACE STATION DESIGN WORKSHOP: RECENT EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN ENVIRONMENT FOR HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION

摘要

The Space Station Design Workshop as a conceptual design environment has been developed at the Universitaet Stuttgart for over ten years, providing exceptional capabilities for human space mission design. While the methodology and software tools focused mainly on orbital missions around the Earth in the past, recent evolutions and implementations have substantially increased the suitability of the design environment to be used for space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. The new capabilities concentrate on the areas of transfer trajectory design and optimization, advanced regenerative life support systems, and modelling of planetary surface environments and human base installations. Due to the author's main research field, the lunar base mission design comprises the main part of this paper, while the other areas are shortly addressed as well. The characteristics of the lunar environment itself, their implementation in surface modelling and simulation as well as their impacts for surface installations are outlined in more detail. Finally the utilization of the Space Station Design Workshop as a unique educational tool for systems engineering and conceptual design is addressed, which is underlined by the recent interest by institutions and industry in the capabilities of the design environment.