Project 2: Reliability Analysis for Martian Life Support Systems
Adviser(s): Luis Rodríguez (Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering)
Project description:
When considering long-term missions to Mars (Fig. 1), the design paradigm for life support systems needs to be adjusted from that of existing systems such as those for the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The primary differences would include increasing amounts of resource recycling. In the near term, the focus is within the air and water subsystems; farther in the future solid wastes will also be recycled. The major driving force causing this paradigm shift is the lack of an abort to Earth options and massive mission costs. This study focuses on the comparison of relative merits of various design architectures, contingency plans, preventive and corrective maintenance plans, and operational protocols. A series of case studies in several Earth-bound transportation scenarios with long-term space mission analogies have been designed and shall be analyzed here. For example, one case study considers whether a more complex design, offering more flexible options, is beneficial. This would be compared to a design with more commonality among components, offering relatively tractable development and deployment, but fewer options. Having a fundamental understanding of the effect of various design, contingency, maintenance, and operations decisions will assist NASA in determining the most advantageous technology development strategies going forward towards Lunar and Martian missions. As part of the REU project, the student will investigate crew time models and their application to various life support systems configurations, and address the following questions: Can we predict the reliability of life support systems utilizing simulation results and reliability assessment tools? Can we compare simulation based reliability prediction results with those obtained from classical reliability prediction methods? Can we quantify the difference and provide meaningful suggestions for future long-term missions?
Student background and expected research activities:
Advanced Life Support System Reliability Analyses
Design and analysis of human rated life support systems for the purpose of missions to Mars; the determination of system reliability early in the life cycle is of primary concern
Expected research activities include:
- Implement computer based simulations for Martian missions;
- Test the impact of various design architectures, contingency plans, preventive and corrective maintenance plans, and operational protocols on life support system resiliency;
- Reliability life testing data analysis;
- Life support system optimization for balancing cost and reliability.
Requested Background:
An undergraduate student majoring in aerospace, agricultural, biological, industrial engineering or computer science, or closely related fields with the ability and interest to participate in the research activities explained above.
Fig. 1. Artist rendition of Mars colony.
