Advancing Torpor Inducing Transfer Habitats for Human Stasis to Mars

SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. (SEI) has conducted an evaluation of an advanced habitat system designed to transport crews between the Earth and Mars. This new and innovative habitat concept is capable of placing crew members in inactive, torpor states during transit phases of a deep space mission. This substantially reduces the mass and size of the habitat, which ultimately leads to significant reductions in the overall architecture size. Our approach for achieving this is based on extending the current and evolving medical practice of Therapeutic Hypothermia (TH) - a proven and effective treatment for various traumatic injuries. TH is a medical treatment that lowers a patient's body temperature by just 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit causing human metabolic rate to decrease significantly and the body to enter an unconscious state. This method avoids the intractable challenges often associated with cell metabolic cessation through cryogenic freezing and other highly speculative approaches. The initial results obtained from the research and analysis conducted in the Phase I effort warranted further study of this concept and technology. The specific objectives of the continued work include: 1. Addressing critical medical aspects and risks for inducing torpor via Therapeutic Hypothermia and the approach for providing nutrition and hydration for the crew during torpor 2. Focusing on mitigation aspects and technology potential for solving key human spaceflight challenges 3. Addressing critical engineering aspects of the design that may impact the initial performance and cost results obtained in Phase I 4. Examining the broader extensibility and enabling capabilities of this concept through applicability to additional exploration missions beyond Mars 5. Establishing a technology development roadmap, addressing both medical and engineering aspects, that indicate a logical and scientifically achievable path forward for maturation of this technology For this effort, four (4) key task areas were identified. These were structured and developed based on prior work to address key challenges/issues and to achieve the research objectives. Each element was designed to further explore and advance our knowledge of the concept. As shown in Figure 1, the focus areas and study task activities are: (i) Medical Assessments and Evaluations (ii) Mars Mission Habitat Design (iii) Extensibility Beyond Mars (iv) Technology Roadmap Development