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SAILING THE PLANETS 1
SAILING THE PLANETS:
PLANETARY EXPLORATION FROM GUIDED BALLOONS
7th Annual Meeting of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts
DR. ALEXEY PANKINEGLOBAL AEROSPACE CORPORATION
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MARS ROVERS ARE A GREAT SUCCESS…
Spirit view from Husband Hill summit (NASA/JPL)
… but their range is very limited
Columbia Hills surroundings (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
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DARE – NEW PLATFROM FOR PLANETRAY EXPLORATION
An airplane will last for just a few hours
Airships propulsion systems make them prohibitively heavy
Ordinary balloons are at the mercy of the winds
Directed Aerial Robot Explorers (DARE) -guided long-duration balloon platforms Mars Express/ESA-GAC
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NEW ARCHITECTURE FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION
KEY ELEMENTS:
Long-Duration Planetary Balloon Platforms
Balloon Flight Path Guidance
Autonomous Navigation & Control
Lightweight Power Generation & Energy Storage
Miniaturized Science Sensors
Small Deployable Science Packages
Communication Relay Orbiter (MTO)
Synergy Between Platforms Comprising Architecture
MARS DARE PLATFORM SCHEMATICSSuperpressure balloon (Al top, white paint bottom, D=20-70 m)Gondola:
Science payload (~100 kg)Power generation & energy storageCommunicationsMicroprobesBGS deployment system (a winch)
Tether (5-11 km)Balloon Guidance System (BGS)
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DARE ARCHITECTURE APPLICATIONS AND EXPLORATION CAPABILITIES
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EXPLORATION CAPABILITIESGlobal planetary coverage
Heavy, power-intensive payloads (90 kg and 200 W in 3 to 10 years, 170 kg and 400 W >10 years)
Long flight duration: 700 days (1 Mars year)
Targeted overflight of surface sites and precise delivery of science probes
Proximity to surface enables high-resolution imaging, elemental, magnetic and gravity surveys not possible or challenging from orbit
In situ atmospheric chemistry and circulation
Landing sites reconnaissance, navigation beacon emplacement
Olivine outcrop and DS-2 landing ellipse (NASA/JPL/ASU)
Water ice lake inside a crater on Mars (ESA)
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FRACTIONATION OF METHANE ISOTOPES IN THE ATMOSPHERE
Methane-making organisms discriminate between isotopes as they feed on a global reservoir of CO2
Measure the C12/C13 ratio in the methane.
If it is different from the isotope ratio in the CO2, it would offer strong evidence for a biological source.
DARE enables planetary-wide search for surface biological sources
Tunable Laser Spectrometer for Atmospheric and Sub-surface gas measurements on Mars (NASA JPL)
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SURFACE TARGETS FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING
Origins of the outflow channels
10 km
10 cm
Layers in canyon/crater walls
Very small craters
Dichotomy boundary
Boulders
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NetLander Surface Module (ESA)
Mars Microprobe (NASA) as an example of a mini-lab
Surface labs locations
EMPLACEMENT OF SURFACE NETWORKS ON MARS
Single DARE platform can carry tens of mini-labs
Meteorological & seismological networks
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MARS SAMPLE RETURN ASSIST
Multiple rovers collect samples at different sites Samples and transferred to Sample Return Vehicle by DARE platformScience results: several samples from distinct sites
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SAILING ACROSS MARTIAN EQUATORDARE trajectory over MOLA topography (NASA)Simulated DARE trajectory over elevation contour map
90-day late Southern spring, 1 m/s control velocityObjective: navigate from Southern to Northern midlatitudes
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DARE AT VENUS, TITAN, JUPITER
VENUS- Targeted overflight of surface sites and precise
delivery of geophysical probes
- Wind profiles and atmospheric composition at multiple locations
TITAN- Global measurements of winds, gas abundances,
surface chemistry with probes
JUPITER- Solar-Infrared Montgolfier balloons- Sample with probes distinct regions of the
atmosphere (Great Red Spot, belt/zone)
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KEY TECHNOLOGIES
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KEY TECHNOLOGIES
Three technological time horizons: Current (0-3 years, TRL 8-9), Near (3-10 years, TRL 3-6), Far (beyond 10, TRL 1-3)
Advanced Balloon MaterialsBalloon Guidance System (BGS)Entry, Descent and Inflation (EDI)Navigation & Guidance in Mars windsMars Balloon performance modeling
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MARS DARE BALLOON
Low-mass high-strength envelope material
composite material1-µm Mylar/38-Denier PBO thread/3- µm PE filmareal density of 0.012 kg/m2
Nano-tubes fabric in future?
Superpressure sphereAl top, white bottom to prevent CO2 condensation
Mars balloon concept
Composite Mars balloon material
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BALLOON GUIDANCE SYSTEM (BGS)BGS is an aerodynamic surface suspended on a tether several km below the balloon
Tether could be Zylon fiber, 5 to 20 times stronger than steel, by weight. 10 km long tether weighs 0.5 kg
Variation in atmospheric wind and density with altitude result in a sideways lifting force
1 m2 BGS creates sideways control velocity of 1-2 m/s in typical Martian winds and 8 km tether
BGS wing operates at low Reynolds numbers at Mars (~1000), lift coefficients of 0.6-1.4
Single-wing and Dual-wing BGS designs are being studied
Single-wing BGS
Dual-wing BGS
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ENTRY, DESCENT & INFLATION (EDI)
Parachute deploysInflation commencesParachute cut-offInflation equipment jettisoned
Platform ascends to floating altitude
The BGS is deployed
Altitude profile
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SYSTEM TRADES AND EXAMPLE DESIGN
PAYLOAD VS. ALTITUDEHeight of atmospheric density levels lower by 4 km in dusty atmosphere
DARE to float 2-3 km above southern highlands in dust storm
6 km at τ=3
M=87 kg, R=17.2 m
Altitude of 10 km at normal conditions
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ALTITUDE CHANGE AFTER PROBE RELEASE
Releasing 30 kg of probes raises altitude by 3 kmIncrease in super-pressure can be relieved by venting 1 kg of gas (out of 8 kg)
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ENTRY VEHICLE
Delta 7326 launch rocket, 616 kg Mars injection capability340 kg Pathfinder-type entry vehicleEDI hardware 200 kg, balloon flight system 140 kg
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BALLOON FLIGHT SYSTEM
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GONDOLA DESIGN
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SUMMARY
DARE enables revolutionary planetary exploration capabilities at Mars and other planets
DARE addresses NASA's Mars Exploration Program (MEP) goals by returning unique measurements in critical science themes