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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
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NASA NTRS1962

Empire. a study of early manned interplanetary missions final report, may 26 - nov. 25, 1962

This report summarizes the investigations and results of the EMPIRE Study Program undertaken by Aeronutronic Division of Ford Motor Company for the Future Projects Office, Marshall Space Flight Center, under Contract NAS8-5025. The dual planet flyby missions of the Crocco and Symmetric trajectory classes are discussed. The Crocco mission with an August 1971 launch window requires an interplanetary injection velocity increment of i0.i km/sec, has a return velocity of 13.5 km/sec, and takes approximately 400 days. The Symmetric mission with a July 1970 launch window has an injection velocity increment of 5.3 km/sec, a return velocity of 15.8 km/sec, and takes approximately 630 days. Additional results of the trajectory studies and abort trajectories are reported. The guidance and navigation subsystem, midcourse corrections, and planetary approach corrections are discussed. A detailed analysis of the reentry phase of EMPIRE includes consideration of an Apollo-type, a Drag Brake, and a lifting-type reentry vehicle to return the six-man crew at mission completion or in an aborted condition. The High L/D reentry vehicle is used in the missions considered. The various technological areas required for design criteria are developed and several spacecraft designs are considered. The all chemical propulsion Crocco system is discarded due to weight, complexity, and cost. The nuclear injected Crocco is treated in a similar manner. The lower energy injection for the Symmetric Mission leads to the feasibility of a nuclear injected vehicle with an Earth orbit weight of about 180,000 kilograms (400,000 pounds) before interplanetary transit. In addition, two chemical symmetric vehicles are treated. Conservative radiation exposures are derived, for the 630 day mission, of less than 200 REM and a polyethelene radiation shelter is designed. Scientific aspects of the missions are discussed. Mission Success Probabilities are presented for the various missions considered and for Saturn C-5, Nova, and Super-Nova Earth launch vehicles in light of possible development. The need for acceleration of nuclear rocket engine developments and auxiliary power developments is indicated. Definition of a larger nuclear engine of the order of 200,000 pounds thrust and about 800 seconds burning time or 50,000 pound thrust and 3600 seconds burning time is indicated for the Symmetric Mission in 1970 (energy requirements are higher in 1972 and for later launch due to the less favorable position of Mars)_ Immediate development of this advanced nuclear propulsion capability is recommended. A Development Plan and Funding Schedule is given for the 1970 launch window pinpointing the critical development areas and indicating a total program cost of $12.6 billion independent of other programmed R&D costs. In conclusion, technological feasibility for an early manned dual planet Mars-Venus flyby is believed to be demonstrated in this study. Several areas of accelerated development and experimental confirmation of theory are pinpointed. The necessary funding and development of Nova or orbital operations capability with Saturn C-5's is required. The 1970 launch window appears to offer the least expensive Symmetric Mission for several years into the 1980's.

F. P. Dixon↗
NASA NTRS1984

A comparison of aerobraking and aerocapture vehicles for interplanetary missions

Several design features for employing aerobraking and aerocapture techniques on interplanetary spacecraft are described. Recent studies have identified silica fabrics mounted on carbon composite ribs as suitable aerobraking spacecraft shield materials. Aerocapture is best achieved with a biconic aeroshell design, with the aeroshell supported by Al honeycomb panels and allowing primitive aerodynamic maneuverability. The aeroshell would be covered with thermal protection materials capable of elevated temperatures of magnitudes that are a function of the expected atmospheric density, the surface area, the entry speed, spacecraft mass and maneuverability. Both technologies are concluded ready for implementation and development costs are estimated for various missions, showing that aerocapture will provide for greater payload masses, except for a Jupiter mission.

Hoffman, S.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Planetary Probe Entry Models for Concurrent and Integrated Interplanetary Mission Design

There are many prospective mission opportunities involving atmospheric entry probes. The Planetary Science Deep Space SmallSat Studies (PSDS3) re-cently selected probe missions to Venus, Mars, and the outer planets as part of the 10 selected studies. Two of the six themes in the most recent New Fron-tiers call were a Saturn probe and a Venus in situ explorer. The 2013-2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey includes probe missions at Venus, Mars, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, and Neptune. Across mission destinations and mission classes there is growing interest in planetary probes. While interplanetary trajectory specialists may like to use a broad sweep of low-fidelity solutions to find a wide array of trajectory options, probe specialists typically start off with mid- to high-fidelity point designs for the entry probe since the equations of motion for atmospheric probes require numerical integration and are so directly linked with some of the probe's subsystem design. Cur-rently, there are no alternatives to this design ap-proach as there are no tools capable of automatical-ly and concurrently designing interplanetary and atmospheric trajectories. Unfortunately, this makes us reliant on point designs in the early stages of the mission design process. The reliance on point de-signs for atmospheric probes hinders the flexibility of the design, making the design process cumber-some and restricting decision-making down the road. The research presented here addresses this problem by providing low-fidelity models for the automated, rapid design of atmospheric trajectories and probe's models which may be solved concur-rently with the interplanetary trajectory.

atmospheric probes↗
NASA NTRS2016

MarCO: Interplanetary Mission Development on a CubeSat Scale

Mars Cube One (MarCO) is a twin CubeSat mission developed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to accompany the InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Mars mission lander. MarCO's primary mission objective is to launch with InSight and independently fly to Mars to serve as a communications relay during InSight's entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase. MarCO represents a new type of deep space mission: CubeSats at Mars. Building on the development of JPL's first interplanetary CubeSat project, the Interplanetary Nano-Spacecraft Pathfinder in Relevant Environment (INSPIRE), MarCO further refined the approach to hardware, software, and ground architecture development to solve the challenges of quickly building low-budget spacecraft to fly to Mars. The greatest constraint, beyond others typical of CubeSat missions, was time. The duration between MarCO's conception to completion of spacecraft assembly was less than two years - an unprecedented schedule for any planetary mission to date. Through necessity, MarCO has built on previous experience, procedures, systems, and development methodologies, defining a new niche for supporting larger primary missions. The MarCO spacecraft are poised to write a new chapter in deep space exploration.

Schoolcraft, Josh↗
NASA NTRS2016

MarCO: Interplanetary Mission Development on a CubeSat Scale

Mars Cube One (MarCO) is a twin CubeSat mission developed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to accompany the InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Mars mission lander. MarCO's primary mission objective is to launch with InSight and independently fly to Mars to serve as a communications relay during InSight's entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase. MarCO represents a new type of deep space mission: CubeSats at Mars. Building on the development of JPL's first interplanetary CubeSat project, the Interplanetary Nano-Spacecraft Pathfinder in Relevant Environment (INSPIRE), MarCO further refined the approach to hardware, software, and ground architecture development to solve the challenges of quickly building low-budget spacecraft to fly to Mars. The greatest constraint, beyond others typical of CubeSat missions, was time. The duration between MarCO's conception to completion of spacecraft assembly was less than two years - an unprecedented schedule for any planetary mission to date. Through necessity, MarCO has built on previous experience, procedures, systems, and development methodologies, defining a new niche for supporting larger primary missions. The MarCO spacecraft are poised to write a new chapter in deep space exploration.

Schoolcraft, Josh↗
NASA NTRS1972

Probable solar flare doses encountered on an interplanetary mission as calculated by the MCFLARE code

The computer program, MCFLARE, uses Monte Carlo methods to simulate solar flare occurrences during an interplanetary space voyage. The total biological dose inside a shielded crew compartment due to the flares encountered during the voyage is determined. The computer program evaluates the doses obtained on a large number of trips having identical trajectories. From these results, a dose D sub p having a probability p of not being exceeded during the voyage can be determined as a function of p for any shield material configuration. To illustrate the use of the code, a trip to Mars and return is calculated, and estimated doses behind several thicknesses of aluminum shield and water shield are presented.

Lahti, G. P.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A deployable high temperature superconducting coil (DHTSC) - A novel concept for producing magnetic shields against both solar flare and Galactic radiation during manned interplanetary missions

The discovery of materials which are superconducting above 100 K makes possible the use of superconducting coils deployed beyong the hull of an interplanetary spacecraft to produce a magnetic shield capable of giving protection not only against solar flare radiation, but also even against Galactic radiation. Such deployed coils can be of very large size and can thus achieve the great magnetic moments required using only relatively low currents. Deployable high-temperature-superconducting coil magnetic shields appear to offer very substantial reductions in mass and energy compared to other concepts and could readily provide the radiation protection needed for a Mars mission or space colonies.

Cocks, F. Hadley↗
NASA NTRS1997

Comparison Between Predictions & Observations of Induced Radioactive Background in Interplanetary Missions

Radioactivity induced in detector materials and their immediate surroundings is the major source of discrete-line, gamma-ray background and an important source of continuum background in the performance of remote-sensing, gamma-ray spectroscopy of planetary bodies. In interplanetary space the dominant sources of particles are cosmic rays and their secondaries arising from interactions with the spacecraft and the surface of the target body. In addition, certain future gamma-ray astronomy missions, such as INTEGRAL, are to be located so as to perform their observations in interplanetary space rather than in the traditional low earth orbits. Such location removes contributions from the earth's atmosphere and inner radiation belt at the expense of increased exposure to cosmic rays and solar particle events. Accurate prediction of the activation of key materials by cosmic rays is of the utmost importance for detector design and data interpretation.

Dyer, Clivea↗