The human exploration of Mars will require vast amounts of fuel and oxygen, both of which will be very difficult and expensive to bring entirely from Earth. A much better approach is to “life off the land”, producing these supplies from in-situ resources. But what resources are available on Mars? What are the scientific and technical challenges that must be overcome to build and operate systems to generate these valuable commodities? In this short course, the science and technology of producing supplies necessary for human missions from Mars feedstocks will be discussed, with emphasis on an emerging technology that uses sunlight to directly convert atmospheric carbon dioxide to fuel and oxygen.
Speakers
- Dr. Jerry Sanders (NASA JSC) – “ISRU: State of the Art and System-Level Considerations”
- Dr. David Kass (JPL) – “Overview of the Surface and Atmosphere of Mars: Challenges and Opportunities”
- Dr. Mike Hecht (MIT) – “ISRU on Mars: Challenges, Current Status, and Prospects”
- Dr. CX Xiang (Caltech) – “Overview of Photoelectrochemical Devices for Conversion of CO2 and Water to Oxygen and Fuels”
Short Course Presentations
| Speaker | Affiliation | Presentation |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Hecht | MIT | ISRU on Mars: Challenges, Current Status, and Prospects (here) |
| David Kass | JPL | Overview of the Surface and Atmosphere of Mars: Challenges and Opportunities (31.8 MB .pdf) |
| G. B. Sanders | NASA Johnson Space Center | Mars ISRU: State-of-the-Art and System Level Considerations (3.3 MB .pdf) |
| CX Xiang | Caltech | Overview of Photoelectrochemical Devices for Conversion of CO2 and Water to Oxygen and Fuels (23.3 MB .pdf) |
