Design of In-Situ Flywheel Generator and Energy Storage System for Enhanced Power Production on Mars

Abstract

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-3342.vid Power production beyond the extremity of earth orbit remains a significant challenge for both robotic and human exploratory missions where spacecraft rely on solar power as their primary power resource. This power production challenge tends to increase as we move apart from Helios' proximity. Especially on a crewed mission to Mars, the systems and instruments experience greater challenge in generating adequate power for their effective operation due to the unavailability of sufficient solar irradiance which decreases from orbit to the surface. In addition to this, a crewed base at the initial stage of human settlement on Mars may require thousands of watts of energy for a day, and affording this power is limited. Therefore, concerning these challenges, we have proposed an in-situ flywheel energy storage system for inverting the available energy resources for optimal output. In this paper, we have discussed the significance of flywheel energy storage system, the design concept, and the technique of fabricating in-situ flywheel from the native resources like Martian regolith and rocks which is easily available at exploration sites. We then discuss the modelling and fabrication technique along with its working mechanism and interpreted results from the prototype demonstration.