The National Academies Press

Currently Skimming:

Pages 534-559

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.

From page 534... ... 21 Technology Technology is the foundation of scientific exploration. Two Voyager spacecraft were launched over four decades ago, now far beyond any human made object, and are still returning valuable scientific data about the interstellar medium. Read the entire page →
From page 535... ... TECHNOLOGY 535 and industry. Such advances can be better leveraged if the technology roadmaps are assessed and adjusted to take advantage of them as they emerge. Read the entire page →
From page 536... ... 536 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE FIGURE 21-1 Technology management reflecting best practices. BOX 21-1 Science Enterprise Technology Development Principles • The technology strategy considers both short-term and long-term development efforts that encom pass the upcoming decade and at least two decades after. Read the entire page →
From page 537... ... TECHNOLOGY 537 NASA data, the level of funding fell short of the recommended 6–8 percent level with it declining to about 4 percent. The V&V recommended that it was critical that technology funding not be used to cover overrun costs of missions stating, "Reallocating technology funds to cover tactical exigencies is tantamount to "eating the seed corn." The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future stated: "At least 8 percent of the budgets of federal research agencies should be set aside for discretionary funding managed by technical program managers in those agencies to catalyze high-risk, highpayoff research" (NAS et al. Read the entire page →
From page 538... ... 538 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE would contribute substantially to a transparent organizational approach, which valued the input and feedback of its stakeholders. Finding: The committee found it difficult to uncover what technology activities were currently active and how much funding was being allocated to technology development, an issue that was also identified in the V&V midterm review (NASEM 2018) Read the entire page →
From page 539... ... TECHNOLOGY 539 Enabling technologies, by their nature, are the highest priority for investment but the remaining technologies, enhancing and dormant, reduce future costs and increase future mission performance. However, there does not currently appear to be a way to know how significant these technologies could be from a science return on investment. Read the entire page →
From page 540... ... 540 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE • Allowing missions to include technologies with high RoI for future missions by allocating additional reserves over and above any cost caps to cover unknowns; • Creating a separate technology line similar to the former New Millennium Program where multiple technologies could be demonstrated in small flight missions; and • Adopting a systematic way of bounding the risks, the cost, and the schedule of technologies at TRL-6 by requiring additional information at TRL-6 such as defining work required to complete the space qualification of all components necessary to achieve flight status and documenting the attendant list of technical and programmatic risks. Space Technology Mission Directorate Technology Development Collaboration between SMD and STMD has enabled technology development for several significant planetary spaceflight exploration technologies. Read the entire page →
From page 541... ... TECHNOLOGY 541 TABLE 21-1 Technologies Identified to Be Advanced in This Decade and Beyond Key Science Questions/ Applicable Technology Area Rationale PD Chapter Destinations Instrumentation General in situ Instruments to perform in situ measurements require 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Venus, Moon, Mars, instruments technology developments to improve sensitivity and dynamic 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 small bodies, ocean range, mitigate noise sources, and reduce mass, power, and worlds, gas giants, volume requirements. ice giants General remote Remote sensing instruments require improved sensitivity and All All sensing instruments dynamic range, wavelength coverage, spectral, and/or spatial resolution, as well as reduced mass, power, and volume. Read the entire page →
From page 542... ... 542 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE TABLE 21-1 Continued Key Science Questions/ Applicable Technology Area Rationale PD Chapter Destinations Entry/deorbit, Further advancements in TRN and HD&A are required to 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, Venus, Moon, Mars, descent, and enable recommended missions and SR objectives in this 12 small bodies, ocean landing systems decade. Other technologies include anchoring and sampling worlds on low-gravity bodies, TPS, aero-decelerators and high-ISP throttleable descent engines. Read the entire page →
From page 543... ... TECHNOLOGY 543 INSTRUMENTATION General In Situ Instruments Instruments to perform in situ measurements need to continue to be advanced by technology developments to improve sensitivity and dynamic range, mitigate noise sources, and reduce mass, power and volume requirements. Many of these developments are enabling for the strategic research objectives within this survey, including for priority missions. Read the entire page →
From page 544... ... 544 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE In Situ Sample Acquisition, Handling, and Preprocessing Planetary missions featuring in situ sample analysis need to meet requirements for sample acquisition, handling, and processing. Significant technological development has already been achieved for active and passive sample acquisition. Read the entire page →
From page 545... ... TECHNOLOGY 545 raw data sets (e.g., optical imaging) , and eventually achievement of science objectives through goal-seeking and optimization processes. Read the entire page →
From page 546... ... 546 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE data volumes generated by modern, high-resolution instruments are not efficiently transmitted from remote environments and analyzed on Earth within reasonable timeframes to address complex scientific analyses (Theiling et al. Read the entire page →
From page 547... ... TECHNOLOGY 547 quantify radiation effects on the batteries, further technologies for protecting batteries from radiation are essential to enhance such missions. Finding: Approaches and technologies to protecting spacecraft electronics and power storage systems from radiation have been developed, but further technical advances will enhance future missions targeting icy moons around giant planets. Read the entire page →
From page 548... ... 548 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE In the meantime, the following technology advances can continue improve data transfer efficiency: higher radio frequencies and channel coding and modulations can avoid spectrum congestion while using limited power and spectrum; better compression processes can reduce data sizes, leading to efficient communication; and large, deployable mesh reflectors dramatically improve communication rates (Hamkins 2020) Read the entire page →
From page 549... ... TECHNOLOGY 549 crucial for the landing of larger payloads on Mars and for enabling atmospheric probes on Venus, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, and Neptune. HEEET (currently at TRL-6 for certain conditions) Read the entire page →
From page 550... ... 550 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE to Apollo's LRV tires. Also, onboard actuators consume electric power to warm up and keep their performance. Read the entire page →
From page 551... ... TECHNOLOGY 551 There have also been recent advances in trajectory design and optimization that combine gravity assists, lowthrust high-ISP propulsion, aero-assist, and other tools available to the trajectory and mission designer to increase delivery mass and shorten transit times for a variety of mission types (landers, orbiters, flyby) Read the entire page →
From page 552... ... 552 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE slow-push methods. Impulsive techniques involve kinetic impactors or deployment of nuclear explosive devices (NEDs) Read the entire page →
From page 553... ... TECHNOLOGY 553 Concepts for terminal sterilization -- that is, the complete elimination of all biological contamination at the landing site following the completion of all scientific investigation -- are in the formulation phase as part of the Europa Lander mission concept technology efforts. At bodies where the timescales of surface-subsurface transport exceed the 1,000-year period of biological exploration, missions might not require such extreme measures, providing significant cost savings. Read the entire page →
From page 554... ... 554 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE For the outer solar system, solar array performance under low irradiance, low temperature (LILT) conditions continues to improve, with Juno operating successfully at 5AU, and recent advanced array developments that make solar power at Saturn (~10 AU) Read the entire page →
From page 555... ... TECHNOLOGY 555 also allows penetration through a range of overburden/soil, sediment, and possibly seasonal ice (though again, this is body-dependent) Read the entire page →
From page 556... ... 556 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE As these technologies become available, the aerospace community can take advantage of them to improve the way we build and operate our space missions as they continue to explore the solar system and beyond. The following technology trends have the potential to have game-changing impacts in future SMD missions. Read the entire page →
From page 557... ... TECHNOLOGY 557 Small Fission Reactors for Power and Propulsion Fission power systems (FPS) can offer a distinct advantage over other systems for higher power requirements and can offer new possibilities for more capable missions and access to the farthest reaches of the solar system and beyond. Read the entire page →
From page 558... ... 558 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE REFERENCES Abell, P.A., C Raymond, T Read the entire page →
From page 559... ... TECHNOLOGY 559 Matthies, L.H., P.G. Backes, J.L. Read the entire page →

From page 534...

... 21 Technology Technology is the foundation of scientific exploration. Two Voyager spacecraft were launched over four decades ago, now far beyond any human made object, and are still returning valuable scientific data about the interstellar medium.