Can a trip to Mars be shorter and more energy efficient? Space engineers have been working on this for years. Thanks to the latest NASA research, we can be closer to this vision than ever before. The MARVL project, developed at the Langley Research Center, brings us closer to building electric nuclear drives intended to operate in space.
A journey to Mars requires traveling over 55 million kilometers in one direction, which in today’s technological realities means a mission lasting many months. This creates problems: the longer the mission lasts, the more things can go wrong. Cosmic radiation and the lack of Earth’s gravity simply degrade the human body. Let’s add to this the long-lasting impression of absolute isolation and the feeling of loneliness when any serious failure occurs. For years, it has been believed that the solution to this type of problems is an electric nuclear drive. In short: it would be a nuclear reactor designed to generate electricity that drives gases useful in the process (e.g. xenon) to create thrust. This is how we achieve higher efficiency than that offered by conventional chemical systems.
MARVL – a journey to Mars “in a new way”
MARVL (an acronym for: Modular Assembled Radiators for Nuclear Electric Propulsion Vehicles) focuses on one of the main problems of electric nuclear propulsion: thermal management. The radiator system responsible for removing heat from the reactor, in traditional designs, would have to be the size of… a football field. Such a massive structure is impossible to fit into any space vehicle that would be able to reach Mars.
MARVL solves this problem by dividing the heat sink system into smaller modules that can be autonomously assembled by robots directly in space. Firstly, it provides freedom in the drive design process, and secondly, it will save time and money – despite the seeming riskiness of the entire operation.
After lifting individual elements into space, robots connect heat sink modules through which coolant based on liquid metal flows. This solution will allow for truly effective heat removal from the reactor, while minimizing the weight and size of the structure. Only profits.
MARVL also redefines the process of designing space vehicles. Instead of adapting existing vehicles to technologies assembled in space, we have the opportunity to create a design from scratch, taking into account all the possibilities of autonomous assembly.
MARVL technology brings a number of advantages that can help us reach Mars faster. First of all, it offers greater design flexibility, eliminating the need to cram massive heat sink systems into a single rocket. Another advantage is the autonomous assembly of modules in space, which minimizes the risk of errors and reduces the need to involve the crew in complex assembly operations.
Effective heat management provided by advanced coolants will allow for better use of the nuclear reactor’s energy, which translates into system efficiency. Unfortunately, some problems are not solved. First of all, the development of autonomous assembly systems and such extensive cooling systems based on liquid metal means the need to invest huge amounts of time and money. These systems must be thoroughly tested in space-like conditions to ensure their reliability in the face of changing temperatures, cosmic radiation and other extreme environmental factors. All this means that although MARVL looks great “on paper”, it still functions mainly in the realm of dreams.
Read also: We’ll wait. The return of Martian samples is taking a long time
NASA wants to take advantage of the opportunity
A team of NASA scientists has been given two years to develop the technology and plans to conduct a small-scale ground-based demonstration. The success of the project may open the door to the use of MARVL not only in missions to Mars, but also in the context of exploration of the Moon, asteroids and other planets of the solar system. If everything goes well, a flight to the Moon will be like traveling between large cities in Poland by car, and reaching Mars will be a much less demanding task for astronauts. And I guess that’s the point.
Source: antyweb.pl
