How NASA will use robots to create rocket fuel on Mars: The year is 2038

Leucht, Kurt W.

doi:10.1109/mspec.2018.8513782

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…On Mars, there is no shortage of CO 2 , which constitutes 95% of the atmosphere, and hydrogen could be produced from hydrated minerals. 130 It should be noted that because methane can be used as a propellant for return rockets, in-situ production of methane from the Martian atmosphere has long been a part of NASA’s Mars exploration strategy. The fact that there is already a plan to produce a large quantity of methane using the Sabatier reaction—a proven process that has been in practice since the 19th century and already tested in space missions—is another promising aspect of using methane to process Martian regolith to obtain elemental sulfur.…”

Section: Processes Leading To the Formation Of Elemental Sulfur And T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Obtaining elemental sulfur for Martian sulfur concrete

Barkatt

Okutsu

2022

Journal of Chemical Research

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A potential candidate material for the construction of Mars habitats is concrete made from the Martian regolith and sulfur extracted from the regolith itself. Sulfur concrete, which has excellent mechanical properties, can be prepared at a low temperature (<150 °) and without water (unlike Portland-cement concrete). The surface of Mars has a much higher concentration of sulfur than those of the Earth, the Moon, or the asteroids. Sulfur on Mars, however, exists not as elemental sulfur—which is needed in concrete production—but as sulfates (usually hydrated) and sulfides. This paper surveys thermochemical and electrochemical methods that might be used to produce elemental sulfur from its compounds contained in the minerals on Mars. Possible methods include chemical or electrochemical oxidation or decomposition of sulfides, which include sulfides that exist naturally on Mars as well as sulfides that are produced via chemical or electrochemical reduction of sulfates. Some of the methods to obtain elemental sulfur—such as chemical or electrochemical oxidation or decomposition of metal sulfides or hydrogen sulfide—have already been demonstrated. The methods of producing elemental sulfur from sulfur-containing minerals on Mars will have the added benefit of generating byproducts (e.g. water, hydrogen, oxygen, and metals) that are useful for explorations of the Red Planet. In the future, chemical processes for the production of elemental sulfur may also have important industrial applications on Earth.

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Section: Processes Leading To the Formation Of Elemental Sulfur And T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Obtaining elemental sulfur for Martian sulfur concrete

Barkatt

Okutsu

2022

Journal of Chemical Research

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“…It is estimated that each kilogram of useful technology sent to Mars requires 7–11 kg of mass launched from Earth and translates to 5.6–8.8 kg of propellant needed per kilogram of material ( Johnson et al., 2018 ). If transporting propellant from Earth to Mars to set up a local fuel depot, gear ratios become an important consideration during mission design ( Leucht, 2018 ) and estimates show that Mars requires a gear ratio of 226:1 ( Sanders et al., 2015 ). In other words, 226 kg of propellant is required to have 1 kg of propellant on Mars.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on these characteristics and readily available technology on Earth, Mars offers a significant opportunity for methane-based ISPP. NASA hopes to set up an in-situ propellant production on Mars that can leverage local conditions to refuel 7 metric tons of liquid methane and 22 metric tons of liquid oxygen in 16 months ( Leucht, 2018 ). In comparison, the SpaceX Starships that could carry humans to Mars and back would need to be refueled with 267 metric tons of liquid methane and 933 metric tons of liquid oxygen ( Heldmann et al., 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic modeling of in-situ rocket propellant fabrication on Mars

et al. 2022

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“…It is estimated that each kilogram of useful technology sent to Mars requires 7-11 kg of mass launched from Earth and translates to 5.6-8.8 kg of propellant needed per kilogram of material (Johnson et al, 2018). If transporting propellant from Earth to Mars to set up a local fuel depot, gear ratios become an important consideration during mission design (Leucht, 2018) and estimates show that Mars requires a gear ratio of 226:1 (Sanders et al, 2015). In other words, 226 kg of propellant is required to have 1 kg of propellant on Mars.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%