Infrastructure Construction using Mars Resources in support of a Safe Initial Human Mars Settlement

This proposal builds on two complementary 2017 CIF/IRAD efforts that assessed the surface infrastructure requirements, technologies and capabilities needed to robotically and autonomously construct GCR-protected habitats (and other surface infrastructure such as roads, berms, launch pads, landing pads, etc...) prior to crew arrival. The "Autonomous Surface Site Establishment to Ensure Safe Crew Arrival and Operations" 2017 CIF/IRAD effort lead by Christopher Jones (LARC-E402) defined the required infrastructure that ensures a safe site and how autonomous robots can prepare, operate, and maintain the site. The "Safe Crew Abort and Recovery for Ascent and Descent at the Moon and Mars" 2017 CIF/IRAD effort lead by David R. Komar (LARC-E401) completed a feasibility assessment of a new, innovative concept design that offers improved crew safety relative to past planetary lander vehicles for both the Moon and Mars. This vehicle, known as the Hercules Single-Stage Reusable Vehicle (HSRV), is a conceptual spacecraft designed and configured to offer reusability, commonality, operational flexibility, and maximum crew safety for campaign missions to the Moon and Mars that enable human pioneering and settlement. Together these complementary efforts took major strides forward in designing for crew safety and identifying key development needs to support the Safe Sites strategy.\n This effort extends on those previous efforts but focuses on utilization of Mars local resources to address crew safety. Construction techniques and strategies to enable GCR-protected habitats using local resources such as regolith, water, or locally produced commodities such as polyethylene, hydrogen, or methane, will be explored. This includes considering modern manufacturing techniques (e.g. - additive 3D printing) but also will consider those systems required to acquire and process local resources. In addition, options for excavation and construction of settlement infrastructure elements including beams, launch pads, landing pads, roads, trenches, etc... will be evaluated. In addition, leveraging NASA subject matter expert in radiation environments to assist in quantifying the material requirements vs. dose limits. The primary product of this proposal is a design overview for a Safe Site surface architecture that supports campaign with up to 20 crew initially but that is extended to 100 crew with near-Earth independence or 1000 crew with Earth independence. \n If NASA is serious about human exploration of Mars, ensuring a Safe Site before the crew arrives is crucial to mission success. If NASA is serious about long term, permanent human presence on Mars, this capability is a fundamental necessity like Earth launch or habitation. This study would present a vision that takes the need for a Safe Site into account, and would create guidance and performance targets for technology developers in the area of robotics, autonomy, assembly, construction, resource acquisition and processing, and more. \n Embracing this philosophy of autonomously creating the Safe Site before the crew arrives for Mars exploration will affect how other human exploration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit are designed and operated. It will increase the probability of success, allow recovery from failures, and ensure the long-term viability of human exploration. The advancements in autonomy, robotics, 3D printing construction, landscape excavation, and resource acquisition and processing capabilities will have crosscutting applicability to other human and robotic missions and operations (e.g. in-space assembly and manufacturing, robotic exploration of planetary bodies).

A successful Human Mars settlement campaign requires a safety-driven design approach that places a high priority on crew safety. Many crew health and operational risks are design drivers in that 1) they appear to be significant, and 2) are not well understood. Primary among these are the effects of galactic cosmic radiation (GRC) and low-/micro-gravity on crew health. Typical exploration-class Human Mars missions are driven by artificial goals of delivering human crews to the surface "as soon as politically viable". The problem with the "boots-on-Mars" ASAP approach is that it tends to discourage the development of key technologies and capabilities that address safety, including protecting the crews on Mars surface from GCR's. To achieve a high level of crew safety the Mars campaign and surface architecture must consider utilizing an alternative campaign strategy and architectural approach that postpones human presence until a "Safe Site" is achieved. This study would present a vision that takes the need for a Safe Site into account, and would create guidance and performance targets for technology developers in the area of robotics, autonomy, assembly, construction, resource acquisition and processing, and more. Embracing this philosophy of autonomously creating the Safe Site before the crew arrives for Mars exploration will affect how other human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit are designed and operated. It will increase the probability of success, allow recovery from failures, and ensure the long-term viability of human exploration. The advancements in autonomy, robotics, 3D printing construction, landscape excavation, and resource acquisition and processing capabilities will have crosscutting applicability to other human and robotic missions and operations (e.g. in-space assembly and manufacturing, robotic exploration of planetary bodies).

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