Presented this morning in Rome at a press conference, by the Aerospace District of Sardinia (DASS), in collaboration with the Center for Research, Development of Higher Studies in Sardinia (CRS4), the University of Cagliari, the Italian Aerospace Research Center (CIRA), ALI Consortium, Avio and Lead Tech, the Space manufacturing in-situ project, recently funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) with four million euros.
The project aims to define a mission to transfer to the surface of Mars machinery suitable for the on-site production of artifacts to support future settlements on the red planet.
To pursue these goals, the activities include maximizing the use of the main European technologies in space, such as launch systems, propulsion systems and innovative thermal protection systems in the landing phase, finally, the development of machinery for the construction of structural elements that can exploit the materials available on the Martian soil.
In particular, during phase 1, the mission aims, among others, to maximize the use of Italian and European launch systems, such as the VEGA launcher and its evolutions.
During phase 2, interplanetary transfer will be studied. Currently, VEGA is already able to transfer paystocks within interplanetary missions, as already demonstrated with the development of its fifth stage for other European projects and missions, such as ESA Path Finder. A trade-off between re-entry strategies (“classical” Hohmannian transfer or Aerocaputure) will be made.
Phase 3 will carry out the study of the system together with all the main subsystems.
Phase 4 provides, once the spacecraft has reached a Martian orbit, also the presence of a de-orbiting module, to carry out the maneuver of entry and descent on the surface of the planet. At this stage, a salient aspect of the proposal in question was identified, namely the use of a deployable umbrella technology chosen in order to optimize the volume on the launcher and maximize the weight of the payload. Therefore, the re-entry and landing system will be based on a technology derived from the proprietary IRENE technology. The heat shield thus proposed, being an innovative technology compared to the entire proposed mission, will not be limited to the system study, but will also be analyzed through the construction of a ground demonstrator, which will be tested in a suitable CIRA plasma tunnel simulating the Martian re-entry conditions.
Downstream of the re-entry phase, phase 5 will study, again at system level, the landing phase.
Phase 6 will deal with the system study of the release of the payload on the surface of Mars.
Finally, the last phase 7 will deal with the second payload of interest, i.e. the equipment capable of making samples using powders and materials present directly on Mars. As for the system of entry into the planet, being an innovative technology of the proposal, it will be studied both at the system level and through a ground test. In particular, a process, patented by DASS, will be implemented in an automated manner. The Space manufacturing in-situ project is naturally part of the larger Small mission to Mars project, already at the attention of Comint and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
The purpose of the latter, coordinated from a technological point of view by CIRA and with the collaboration of DASS, which holds the scientific coordination, the Aerospace District of Campania (DAC), with its members, the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), ALI, the Polytechnic of Milan, Avio and Telespazio is to carry out a mission, through advanced technology entirely sovereign, for sending a probe to the planet Mars by 2031.
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