NASA NRA

1
NASA NRA
2
Steps to NRA Start
Recommendation

• ScottCarpenter_at_eden-corp.com
• 29-Jun-00

3
Slide / Relevance

• 3-5 Objectives for years 1-3 (assumed)
• 6-11 5-Steps to prepare the NRA
• 12 Qualitative funding breakdown
• 13,14 Possible Program position by year-1 end
• 15,16 Questions that should have answers by the
  end of the 3rd year
• 17 Action Items (Pre-NRA)

4
Year-1 Strategic Objectives

• Establish a foundation for future decision
  making.
• Gather knowledge about issues related to the
  development and operation of a space fusion
  propulsion plant.
• Preliminarily assess the benefit of fusion over
  alternate propulsion systems for possible future
  space missions.
• Develop a relationship with fusion-energy
  players, such as the DOE, fusion community, et al.

5
Year-1 Key Tactical Objectives

• Upgrade systems integration for many propulsion
  concepts (paper studies).
• Develop tools that enable transparent, fair, and
  objective assessment of fusion and non-fusion
  propulsion to accomplish specific arduous space
  missions.

6
Year-2 3 Macro Objectives

• Continue upgrading paper studies where warranted,
  and building a knowledge base to support
  next-level funding decisions and program
  directions.
• For each concept, address industrial base
  readiness programmatic technology,
  infrastructure technology, and material resource
  needs gross cost estimate political and social
  commitment requirements environmental and safety
  considerations and other special features.
• Select key systems for proof of principle
  technology development, if warranted (risk
  mitigation mind set).

7
Steps to Initiate Year-1 NRA
1c. Describe Assessment Tool Needs
1b. Describe Reference Space Missions

• 1a.
• Describe Standards for Vehicle Definition

2a. Request Proposals for Propulsion Concept
Paper Studies
2b. Request Proposals for Assessment Tool
Development
8
1a. Describe Standards forVehicle Definition

• Rationale These standards describe whats needed
  for fair, transparent, and objective comparison
  of propulsion system performance (independent of
  space mission, payload, politics, cost, ...)

• Define
• terminology,
• units, and
• figures of merit

• Define minimum consideration in
• subsystem thoroughness and
• engine-absorbed waste heat.

Deadline living draft available online prior to
NRA release. Action place earlier draft
definitions online now (C. Williams et al.), and
solicit comments from the Working Group for
upgrades. Funded recipients need this
information by the time of NRA release.
9
1b. Describe ReferenceSpace Missions

• Rationale Reference space missions are needed to
  evaluate return-on-investment (ROI) for competing
  fusion, fission, chemical, and other devices over
  a variety of mission classes that may be needed
  in the future.

• Define reference missions and classes
• human mars and outer solar system,
• robotic mass-moving,
• multi-mission-engine classes, ...

• Define
• terminology,
• units, and
• figures of merit

Deadline living draft available online prior to
NRA release. Action solicit mission
definitions from the Working Group now, put them
online ASAP prior to NRA release, organize them
into a living draft of a broad range of classes
with key reference missions.
10
1c. Describe Assessment Tool Needs

• Rationale To facilitate transparent, fair, and
  objective comparisons requires user-friendly,
  easily-accessible trade-study tools.

• Define assessment tool needs
• common platform for model intercomparisons
  (EXCEL?),
• impulse and continuous thrust astrodynamic
  navigation,
• mission-window and payload tracking, ...

Deadline living draft available online prior to
NRA release. Action solicit trade-study tool
needs from the Working Group now, put them online
ASAP prior to NRA release, organize them into a
living draft of a broad range of tool needs.
11
2a. Request Proposals for Propulsion Concept
Paper Studies

• Rationale To provide nominal support to bring
  many fusion propulsion concepts up to minimum
  standards required for transparent, fair, and
  objective assessment.

• Define selection submission criteria
• NASA to describe programmatic needs submission
  reqmnts,
• Proposer to identify their concepts missing
  subsystems,
• Proposer to identify tentative technology status,
  ...

Deadline NASA part available online as part of
the NRA release. Action Solicit suggestions
from the Working Group for defining the Proposer
Request for Funding part of the NRA. Put
suggestions online now for comment by the Working
Group.
12
2b. Request Proposals for Assessment-Tool
Development

• Rationale To provide nominal support to develop
  user-friendly trade-study tools for eventual use
  by participants, management, and the public for
  assessing fusion-engine/space-mission benefit.

• Define selection submission criteria
• NASA to describe programmatic needs submission
  reqmnts,
• Proposer to describe the benefit of their
  assessment tool,
• Proposer to describe user-friendliness and
  portability, ...

Deadline NASA part available online as part of
the NRA release. Action Solicit suggestions
from the Working Group for defining the Proposer
Request for Funding part of the NRA. Put
suggestions online now for comment by the Working
Group.
13
Possible Year-1 Funding Breakdownassumption
2M/year

• Oversight,
• Working Group,
• outreach,
• education,
• contingency

3. Program Coordination
2a. Paper Studies
Fund upgrades of 10 fusion propulsion studies,
say 100K each ?

• Astro-navigation,
• mission window and payload tracking,
• infrastructure tracking,
• standardized modeling platform deployment,
• web-integration.

2b. Assessment-Tool Development
14
Possible Program Position by Year-1 End(detail
on next slide)
15
A Growing Number of Dynamic Transparent Modules
The Model Owner retains their specific platform,
but to keep it simple and transparent for the
Program, all models are translated to a Common
Platform (say EXCEL Spreadsheet Modules). - This
probably needs more explanation.
16
Questions that may be Answered during Years 1-3
NASA can facilitate a worldwide consortium of
government, university, industry, and public
partners to find answer's to the following
questions.
1. Can mission-capability per unit-cost be
improved through fusion propulsion? 2. What
space missions could benefit, or require, fusion
propulsion? 3. Which fusion power plant
concepts are adaptable for propulsion in
space? 4. What is the status of
fusion-technology on Earth? 5. What are the
special adaptations required for space-based
fusion systems? 6. How can existing candidate
space-based fusion concepts be brought up to
standards useful for a fair comparison? 7. What
are the categories of figure-of-merits (FOMs)
needed for comparison? 8. What subsystems must
be considered for a fair concept comparison? 9.
What tools are needed to perform
subsystem/space-mission trades? (continued on
next slide)
17
Questions that may be Answered during Years 1-3
(continued)
10. What tools are needed for comparison to
non-fusion propulsion concepts? 11. What tools
are needed to assess the space-mission capability
of specific fusion concepts, taking into account
mission window and planet alignment? 12. What
tools are needed to easily determine astrodynamic
flight path? 13. What tools are needed for
multi-mission payload tracking? 14. What are the
special operating concerns of fusion-propulsion
concepts? 15. What are the logical parking
orbits and construction orbits? 16. What
infrastructure is required to support launch,
construction, and operations? 17. What are the
knowledge-based tools needed to manage and to
keep the participants, the public, and government
informed of the issues and progress of the
project?

18
Action Items (Pre-NRA)

• Establish 6 new topical message boards dedicated
  to gathering information, by the Working Group,
  that is required for NRA release

1. Suggested Vehicle Definition
Standards 2. Suggested Reference Space
Missions 3. Suggested Software Tool Development
to Facilitate Transparent, Fair, and Objective
Engine/Mission-Capability Comparisons 4. NRA
selection submission criteria for Fusion Engine
Paper Studies 5. NRA selection submission
criteria for Assessment-Tool Development 6. Ask
questions that need answering during Phase-I of
the fusion program (Years 1-3?)

• Use the Planned October Workshop to abridge,
  articulate, and finalize the issues discovered in
  the Message Boards above.

19
(No Transcript)
20
Yellow brick roadmap.
Spectacular Event Roadmap.
Business Roadmap.
21
yellow brick Roadmap
Space Fusion Transportation System
Spectacular Event
Planned Rational
22
yellow brick Roadmap Quantum Mechanics
Here one instant, gone the next.
Scott A. Carpenter,19-Jan-02-Sat-2125
23
Fusion will track with the software technology
part of the WWW, the Semantic Web.
Real System
Virtual Prototypes
Automacy
Age of Semantic Web, Universal Taxonomies
Transparency
Time
yellow brick Roadmaps
Scott A. Carpenter,19-Jan-02-Sat-2025