The Modular, Reconfigurable High-Energy (MRHE) Technology Demonstrator project was to have been a series of ground-based demonstrations to mature critical technologies needed for in-space assembly of a high-power high-voltage modular spacecraft in low Earth orbit, enabling the development of future modular solar-powered exploration cargo-transport vehicles and infrastructure. MRHE was a project in the High Energy Space Systems (HESS) Program, within NASA's Exploration Systems Research and Technology (ESR&T) Program. NASA participants included Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Glenn Research Center (GRC). Contractor participants were the Boeing Phantom Works in Huntsville, AL, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, CA, ENTECH, Inc. in Keller, TX, and the University of AL Huntsville (UAH). MRHE's technical objectives were to mature: (a) lightweight, efficient, high-voltage, radiation-resistant solar power generation (SPG) technologies; (b) innovative, lightweight, efficient thermal management systems; (c) efficient, 100kW-class, high-voltage power delivery systems from an SPG to an electric thruster system; (d) autonomous rendezvous and docking technology for inspace assembly of modular, reconfigurable spacecraft; (e) robotic assembly of modular space systems; and (f) modular, reconfigurable distributed avionics technologies.
Modular, Reconfigurable, High-Energy Technology Development
2007-03-01
1257015 byte
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English