Related papers: Propelling Interplanetary Spacecraft Utilizing Wat…
Exploring new perspectives for green technologies is one of the challenges of the third millennium, in which the need for non-polluting and renewable powering has become primary. In this context, the use of hydrogen as a fuel is promising,…
Atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) is a promising technology for long-term orbit maintenance in very-low-Earth orbit. The intake device plays a crucial role in capturing and supplying propellant, and its capture efficiency is a…
This study proposes a schematic plan for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) in Martian volcanic terrains. The work investigated the complexity of volcanic terrains and Martian environmental hazards and suggested comprehensive engineering…
Future interplanetary missions will carry more and more sensitive equipment critical for setting up bases for crewed missions. The ability to manoeuvre around hazardous terrain thus becomes a critical mission aspect. However, large diverts…
Solid material in a protoplanetary nebula is subject to vigorous redistribution processes relative to the nebula gas. Meter-sized particles drift rapidly inwards near the nebula midplane, and material evaporates when the particles cross a…
Interest in the exploration of, and the establishment of a human settlement, on Mars is rapidly growing. To achieve this, rapid transit will be required to bring crucial cargo. Current missions to Mars take 150 days, which would be too long…
It remains to be ascertained whether sub-Neptune exoplanets primarily possess hydrogen-rich atmospheres or whether a population of H$_2$O-rich "water worlds" lurks in their midst. Addressing this question requires improved modeling of…
Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe, nearly massless, travel at speeds near the speed of light and are electrically neutral. Neutrinos can be generated through man-made sources like particle accelerators or by…
As part of a national scientific network 'Pathways to Habitability' the formation of planets and the delivery of water onto these planets is a key question as water is essential for the development of life. In the first part of the paper we…
Water is an important component of exoplanets, with its distribution, i.e., whether at the surface or deep inside, fundamentally influencing the planetary properties. The distribution of water in most exoplanets is determined by yet-unknown…
A charged tether or wire experiences Coulomb drag when inserted into flowing plasma. In the solar wind the Coulomb drag can be utilised as efficient propellantless interplanetary propulsion as the electric solar wind sail (electric sail,…
Water is abundantly present in the Universe. It is the main component of interstellar ice mantles and a key ingredient for life. Water in space is mainly formed through surface reactions. Three formation routes have been proposed in the…
An exotic spacecraft propulsion technology is described which exploits parity violation in weak interactions. Anisotropic neutrino emission from a polarized assembly of weakly interacting particles converts rest mass directly to spacecraft…
This thesis work aims to study the possibility of energy production on Martian soil and, in particular, to establish what might be an optimal configuration for an energy system. This goal has been contextualized in the will to feed a…
An important evolutionary pathway for planetary atmospheres is escape to space, which has been studied on Earth and Mars for several decades and more recently in exoplanets. A particularly important regime is the hydrodynamic escape,…
In our solar system, the densely cloud-covered atmosphere of Venus stands out as an example of how polarimetry can be used to gain information on cloud composition and particle mean radius. With current interest running high on discovering…
The planetary building blocks that formed in the terrestrial planet region were likely very dry, yet water is comparatively abundant on Earth. We review the various mechanisms proposed for the origin of water on the terrestrial planets.…
Water and land surfaces on a planet interact with gases in the atmosphere and with radiation from the star. These interactions define the environments that prevail on the planet, some of which may be more amenable to prebiotic chemistry,…
Exomoons around free-floating planets (FFPs) can survive their host planet's ejection. Such ejections can increase their orbital eccentricity, providing significant tidal heating in the absence of any stellar energy source. Previous studies…
Leveraging background fluid flows for propulsion has the potential to enhance the range and speed of autonomous aerial and underwater vehicles. In this work, we demonstrate experimentally a fully autonomous strategy for exploiting vortex…