KECK INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES

       



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"

Abstract:

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.


Short Course Presentations

Michael Hecht
MIT

ISRU on Mars: Challenges, Current Status, and Prospects
(slides included here, but were not shown during talk)

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)