Full-Scale CO_2 Freezer Project Developments for Mars Atmospheric Acquisition

摘要

The NASA Advanced Exploration Systems In-Situ Resource Utilization Full-Scale Mars Carbon Dioxide (CO_2) Freezer Project is developing technology to demonstrate acquisition of the Mars atmosphere, along with the separation of CO_2 for downstream processing into either oxygen (O_2) or O_2 plus methane for use as propellant. This resource harvesting is ideal to save on launch mass from Earth and storage of fuel in-transit, since the Martian atmosphere consists of approximately 95% CO_2 and residual argon and nitrogen. When the CO2 is converted into propellant with a fuel production system, it will be used to fuel the Mars Ascent Vehicle and allow astronauts to return to Mars orbit for their return to Earth. The AES ISRU Technology Project established the propellant production requirements, which drove the subsystem atmospheric CO_2 collection rates that would sufficiently supply feedstock into a CO_2 electrolysis or Sabatier reactor fuel production system. This paper reports on the status of hardware down selection, system design, and testing to date at Kennedy Space Center.