A Three-body Spacecraft As A Testbed For Artificially-induced Gravity Research in Low Earth Orbit

This paper presents research and design of a three-body rotating system to be used as a precursor / testbed for research of systems functionality and human physiology under different gravity variables including simulations of lunar and Martian gravitational conditions. The testbed will be a necessary step to collect data on effects of artificial gravity on spacecraft systems and human physiology helping to optimize design solutions for lunar and Martian surface habitats and artificial gravity spacecraft. It will be the first stage of the development of a Variable Gravity Research Platform in Low Earth Orbit for long-term investigations of effects of variable gravity gradients and rotationally-induced gravity simulations.Ensuring astronauts’ safety during a long Mars mission and their recovery upon return is a critical requirement for mission success. Therefore, acquiring a good understanding of long-term effects of partial gravity on physiological and psychological capabilities must be fulfilled prior to the mission and a research platform to investigate partial gravity effects on humans and technical systems is needed. A Variable Gravity Research Platform that orbits the Earth in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) can address this knowledge-gap. LEO is a good location for such a facility due to proximity to Earth’s surface and access to existing infrastructure and commercial activities there. The development of such a platform will require a phased approach. The first stage of it is presented in this paper. It is a testbed for the research platform which comprises two customized crew Dragons docked to a Central Hub, which in turn will dock to the Zvezda module of the International Space Station. The intent of the proposal is to utilize off-theshelf elements to reduce development costs and time which will enable us to perform testing “tomorrow” with today’s technology. To execute operations, the testbed will undock, retreat 2000m aft of the ISS and initiate rotation by firing its augmented thrusters. Then, the crewed-Dragons will tether out to the desired radius of rotation to begin test operations. Upon completion, the testbed will de-spin, retract its tethers and re-dock to the ISS. The sequence will repeat as needed. The paper also presents the test objectives of the testbed, an analysis of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats, design development and selection criteria of the constituent elements of the testbed, Concept of Operations and possible risks associated with the testbed and their respective mitigations.