Bobby Braun on Why NASA Needs a Strong Technology Program

These slides are part of a presentation recently given by NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun. The top slide shows what it would take for human Mars exploration if we make no fundamental technology breakthroughs, save for a Saturn V class heavy-lift vehicle.  (This is roughly what NASA is eventually aiming for with its Space Launch System).  Braun assumes as a baseline that NASA would need to land 40 to 100 metric tons of payload on Mars per human mission.

This second slide shows how we can reduce the mass required through a series of technology developments. The launch requirement are reduced down from the mass of 12 International Space Stations to two. By this calculation, the number of Saturn V-class launches could be reduced from 37 to just over six.

It’s interesting to see how much of the reduction is linked to propulsion and power. We could cut the mass in half just by improving cryogenic boil-off. The next two largest savings could be achieved with advanced propulsion and cargo aerocapture at Mars, the latter of which is a fuel-saving technique. In-situ propellants would also save a smaller amount of launch mass, as would nuclear surface power.

The presentation doesn’t include any figures on what these new technologies would cost to develop and operate. However, it is clear that we need them. Launching 37 Saturn V-class rockets to support human Mars exploration on the scale that Braun envisions is not remotely feasible.

The intriguing aspect of this is that propulsion technology development could have commercial payoffs down the road. Improving cryogenic boil-off could have broad applications for space vehicles, while ISRU propellants and nuclear surface power could be useful for commercial lunar mining operations.  This could be a good approach for selling technology development to an often-reluctant Congress.

Braun’s full presentation is here.