Reducing the Cost of Long-Duration Human Spaceflight with Torpor-Inducing Transfer Habitats

摘要

Cost reduction remains one of the most significant barriers to achievable, human exploration of the solar system. In recent years, SpaceWorks Enterprises has conducted numerous architectural design studies for human spaceflight missions; including a three-mission campaign to explore the surface of Mars. Contrary to de facto industry practices, SpaceWorks has included preliminary cost estimation as a core feature of conceptual and preliminary design studies. This capability increases confidence in proposed designs and extends their utility to a broader base of stakeholders. Additionally, considering cost in conceptual design has exposed new design trades that would not be apparent to teams only considering the traditional design metrics of size, weight, and power. This paper explores the integration of cost estimation with traditional, aerospace engineering analyses to develop an integrated design framework. Such a design framework was essential to enabling SpaceWorks recent cost-analysis and comparison of traditional and torpor-enabled crew transportation systems (CTS) for Mars exploration. Sizing, performance, and cost-estimates are presented for these alternative architecture designs and special attention is paid to the cost-reductions realized as a direct result of the torpor-enabled habitat. The authors demonstrate the value of both torpor technology, and the conceptual-level costing approach by demonstrating that the torpor-enabled CTS results in a total cost reduction of nearly $10B (24%) compared to the traditional CTS.