NASA is actively working on a technology that could significantly speed up the preparation and implementation of missions to Mars: robotic assembly of nuclear electric propulsion (NEPP) components in space. This innovation could shorten the duration of interplanetary travel and make it more efficient.
The YAEDU is considered a promising engine for delivering spacecraft to Mars and other planets in the solar system. Its design requires a large-scale cooling system, the area of which when deployed reaches the size of a football field. Previous designs required placing the entire system under the rocket’s fairing, which created serious technical difficulties. The MARVL project solves this problem by breaking the heat removal system into modular parts that can be assembled by autonomous robots directly in space.
According to Amanda Stark, head of the MARVL project, this approach allows for a simpler design, optimized delivery, and avoided launch difficulties. In space, the robots will connect cooling system panels through which a cooling agent — a liquid metal, such as sodium-potassium — will circulate.
This technology is revolutionary, as spacecraft assembly in space has never been done before. NASA has given MARVL two years to create a first prototype, the results of which could become the basis for a nuclear engine that would reduce the duration of flights to Mars from two to three years to more realistic terms.
Despite significant achievements, the US is losing the Mars race to China. NASA has admitted that returning soil samples from Mars is not possible before 2035, while the PRC has a chance to do it five years earlier. However, projects such as MARVL could restore the US leadership in the study of the red planet.
The MARVL innovation is a step towards a new era of space travel, where autonomous robots and advanced engines will greatly expand the possibilities of exploring the Solar System.