Christopher A. Jones

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Engineer at National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Decision analysis processes outlined in systems engineering references, such as the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge or the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook, recommend following a series of steps to support decision-making for engineering applications. These steps are consistent across the literature and typically involve defining objectives,...

The Aerosols, Clouds, Convection, and Precipitation Value Framework is used to introduce structure, transparency, and traceability into the decision-making process for a study formulating and assessing potential observing system concepts to respond to the 2017-2027 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications. Within the Value Framework, visua...

As NASA looks to the moon as a proving ground for the technologies required to conduct the first human exploration campaign of Mars, this study assesses the potential propellant demands that a sustained human lunar presence would require. In particular, this study evaluates how the allocation and distribution of vehicle functions to a different num...

NASA is preparing to return humans to the lunar surface as a first step to a human exploration campaign of Mars. Both a sustained lunar campaign and a campaign of missions to Mars will require tens to hundreds of tonnes of propellant. Although this propellant could be delivered from Earth, an alternative approach is to use the potentially vast quan...

Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) architecture selection has profound implications for mission cost and mass extending far beyond the ECLSS itself. Similarly, other mission architecture decisions – particularly involving transportation systems – can influence optimal ECLSS architectures. Loop closure influences requirements for...

The 2017 Earth Science Decadal Survey recommends the implementation of a novel Earth Observing mission to study Aerosols, Clouds, Convection, and Precipitation. The assessment of the candidate architectures under consideration requires the use of Expert Judgment Elicitation. Some of the assessment scores are obtained through consensus among the Sci...

The formulation of science-driven space mission concepts is challenging-possibly even more so than the development and production of the space systems themselves. The formulation of these missions involves defining science objectives, surveying the state of the art of instrument capabilities, documenting the Program of Record and forecasting satell...

The return of humans to the lunar surface encompasses a range of possible architectures from brief Apollo-like sorties to long-term sustainment of human presence. Any architecture in this span requires propellant for the crew's ascent from the lunar surface, as well as consumables to support their presence on the Moon. Oxygen and hydrogen are candi...

ID: 1377 Abstract Application of systems analysis in the pre-formulation phase of a space mission concept provides important insights that inform the subsequent steps of the systems engineering process [1]; this reduces the time spent on iteration and refinement throughout the design cycle. Systems analysis allows for the tradeoff of fidelity of an...

Defining design alternatives constitutes one of the critical initial steps of the systems engineering process [1]. Once these design alternatives have been identified, assessing which alternatives best satisfy the project's objectives can prove to be challenging when dealing with complex decision frameworks. Complex systems often involve the partic...

Human exploration missions to Mars or other destinations in the solar system require large quantities of propellant to enable the transportation of required elements from Earth's sphere of influence to Mars. Current and proposed launch vehicles are incapable of launching all of the requisite mass on a single vehicle; hence, multiple launches and in...

The atmosphere of Venus is an exciting destination for both further scientific study and future human exploration. A recent internal NASA study of a High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) led to the development of an evolutionary program for the exploration of Venus, with focus on the mission architecture and vehicle concept for a 30-day c...

The path from Earth to Mars requires exploration missions to be increasingly Earth-independent as the foundation is laid for a sustained human presence in the following decades. NASA pioneering of Mars will expand the boundaries of human exploration, as a sustainable presence on the surface requires humans to successfully reproduce in a partial gra...

HE Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) is developing the plans and systems needed for a robust, evolutionary strategy to explore cis-lunar space, the Mars sphere of influence (including the moons of Mars), and the surface of Mars. Recently, the emphasis of NASA's plans has changed to focus on the prolonged pioneering of space, rather than focusing on a s...

NASA’s Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) team is developing a reusable hybrid transportation architecture in which both chemical and electric propulsion systems are used to send crew and cargo to Mars destinations such as Phobos, Deimos, the surface of Mars, and other orbits around Mars. By combining chemical and electrical propulsions into a single sp...

Several asteroids are the targets of international robotic space missions currently manifested or in the planning stage. This global interest reflects a need to study these celestial bodies for the scientific information they provide about our solar system, and to better understand how to mitigate the collision threats some of them pose to Earth. A...

This paper presents mission performance analysis methods and results for the Asteroid Robotic Redirect Mission (ARRM) option to capture a free standing boulder on the surface of a 100 m or larger NEA. It details the optimization and design of heliocentric low-thrust trajectories to asteroid targets for the ARRM solar electric propulsion spacecraft....

NASA has created a plan to implement the Flexible Path strategy, which utilizes a heavy lift launch vehicle to deliver crew and cargo to orbit. In this plan, NASA would develop much of the transportation architecture (launch vehicle, crew capsule, and in-space propulsion), leaving the other in-space elements open to commercial and international par...

In the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, NASA began to formulate post-shuttle human space exploration plans. A decade later, NASA is no closer to sending humans beyond low Earth orbit. During that time, NASA had adopted two major visions for the future of human space exploration: the 2004 Vision for Space Exploration, and the 2010 Nation...

A crewed mission to a near earth asteroid would yield both scientific and engineering advancements. Visiting one or several of these objects would not only validate technologies that could later be used to visit the Moon or Mars, but would also develop our scientific understanding of asteroids and the solar system. This study proposes an architectu...

Rocket vehicles today are limited by the chemical potential of their propellants, regardless of advancements in combustion technology or engine and nozzle material properties. Increasing specific impulse for high thrust levels would widen the spectrum of technically feasible space mission architectures. Current LH2-fueled nuclear thermal engine des...

Recent studies indicate a significant need for increased remediation efforts of the low Earth orbit (LEO) debris environment. Without active debris removal (ADR), the LEO debris population will grow at an ever-increasing rate, eventually preventing any form of sustainable space operations. Based on evolutionary debris field simulations from the lit...