SAILING THE PLANETS 1

SAILING THE PLANETS:

PLANETARY EXPLORATION FROM GUIDED
BALLOONS
7
th
Annual Meeting of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts
DR. ALEXEY PANKINE
GLOBAL 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 SCHEMATICS
Superpressure balloon (Al top, white paint
bottom, D=20-70 m)
Gondola:
Science payload (~100 kg)
Power generation & energy storage
Communications
Microprobes
BGS 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 CAPABILITIES
Global 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 C
12
/C
13
ratio in
the methane.
If it is different from the
isotope ratio in the CO
2
, 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
platform
Science results: several samples from distinct sites
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SAILING ACROSS MARTIAN EQUATOR
DARE trajectory over MOLA topography
(NASA)
Simulated DARE trajectory over elevation contour map
90-day late Southern spring, 1 m/s control velocity
Objective: 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 Materials
Balloon Guidance System (BGS)
Entry, Descent and Inflation (EDI)
Navigation & Guidance in Mars winds
Mars Balloon performance modeling
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MARS DARE BALLOON
Low-mass high-strength
envelope material
composite material
1-m Mylar/38-Denier PBO
thread/3- m PE film
areal density of 0.012
kg/m
2
Nano-tubes fabric in
future?
Superpressure sphere
Al top, white bottom to
prevent CO
2
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 m
2
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 deploys
Inflation commences
Parachute cut-off
Inflation equipment jettisoned
Platform ascends to floating altitude
The BGS is deployed
Altitude profile
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SYSTEM TRADES AND EXAMPLE
DESIGN
PAYLOAD VS. ALTITUDE
Height 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 =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 km
Increase 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 capability
340 kg Pathfinder-type entry vehicle
EDI 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