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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1979

Aerobraking for planetary missions

This paper is a description of recent work to establish the feasibility of aerobraking for planetary orbit missions. Primary emphasis is on a close (300 km) Venus orbiter in 1984. Performance advantages for close Mars orbiters and geosynchronous round trip missions are also shown. A description of the aerobraking operations scenario is given and encouraging preliminary results of an orbit determination analysis are cited. A spacecraft design is presented that features a forward aeroshield and a 9-meter aft aerobrake of 2 mil Inconel. It is shown that, with relatively minor modifications the current Venus Orbital Imaging Radar (VOIR) mission spacecraft design can be adapted to aerobraking and that the aerobraking concept enables the VOIR mission in the difficult 1986 and 1988 opportunities.

French, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Optical Communication Subsystem for the X200 Series of Planetary Missions

NASA has started a major new Advanced Deep Space System Development (a.k.a x2000) Program at JPL. The objective of this program is to develop and space-qualify (in a total system environment) advanced, cutting-edge technologies for the next generation of deep-space exploration missions.

Optical Communication Planetary Missions Fire and ↗
NASA NTRS2013

Products from NASA's In-Space Propulsion Program Applicable to Low-Cost Planetary Missions

NASAs In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) program has been developing technologies for lowering the cost of planetary science missions. The technology areas include electric propulsion technologies, spacecraft bus technologies, entry vehicle technologies, and design tools for systems analysis and mission trajectories. The electric propulsion technologies include critical components of both gridded and non-gridded ion propulsion systems. The spacecraft bus technologies under development include an ultra-lightweight tank (ULTT) and advanced xenon feed system (AXFS). The entry vehicle technologies include the development of a multi-mission entry vehicle, mission design tools and aerocapture. The design tools under development include system analysis tools and mission trajectory design tools.

Anderson, David↗
NASA NTRS1989

Trajectory optimization software for planetary mission design

The development history and characteristics of the interactive trajectory-optimization programs MOSES (D'Amario et al., 1981) and PLATO (D'Amario et al., 1982) are briefly reviewed, with an emphasis on their application to the Galileo mission. The requirements imposed by a mission involving flybys of several planetary satellites or planets are discussed; the formulation of the parameter-optimization problem is outlined; and particular attention is given to the use of multiconic methods to model the gravitational attraction of Jupiter in MOSES. Diagrams and tables of numerical data are included.

D'Amario, Louis A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Products from NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program Applicable to Low-Cost Planetary Missions

Since September 2001 NASA s In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) program has been developing technologies for lowering the cost of planetary science missions. Recently completed is the high-temperature Advanced Material Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine providing higher performance for lower cost. Two other cost saving technologies nearing completion are the NEXT ion thruster and the Aerocapture technology project. Also under development are several technologies for low cost sample return missions. These include a low cost Hall effect thruster (HIVHAC) which will be completed in 2011, light weight propellant tanks, and a Multi-Mission Earth Entry Vehicle (MMEEV). This paper will discuss the status of the technology development, the cost savings or performance benefits, and applicability of these in-space propulsion technologies to NASA s future Discovery, and New Frontiers missions, as well as their relevance for sample return missions.

Anderson, David J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Solar Sail Propulsion for Planetary Missions

Solar sails have the potential to provide high ΔV for many types of missions. Solar sails are large, mirror-like structures made of a lightweight material that reflects sunlight to propel the spacecraft. The continuous solar photon pressure provides thrust with no need for the heavy, expendable propellants used by conventional chemical and electric propulsion systems. NASA, with industry partners, are developing and flying solar sails applicable to a wide range of space science missions, including those of interest for planetary science. Currently funded technology development activities support two classes of missions: Deep space interplanetary CubeSats (12 – 24 kg) and smallsats (up to ~125 kg).

Solar Sail↗
NASA NTRS1998

Navigation Considerations for Low-Thrust Planetary Missions

The upcoming launch of the solar electric propulsion (SEP) mission New Millennium Deep Space 1 and proposed future SEP missions such as Pluto Express necessitates an analysis of the operational issues related to the navigation of low-thrust missions.

Planetary↗
NASA NTRS1972

A versatile silver oxide-zinc battery for synchronous orbit and planetary missions.

A new kind of silver-zinc cell has been developed and tested under NASA support which can withstand severe heat sterilization requirements. These cells could be used on planetary lander mission which require wet-stand periods of over a year, a modest number of cycles (400 to 500) and may require dry heat sterilization. The weight advantage of these cells over the traditional nickel-cadmium batteries also makes it an attractive alternative for synchronous orbit service where 400 to 500 cycles would be required over a 5 year period.

Schwartz, H. J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Low Cost Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) Instrumentation for Planetary Missions

Missions that involve traversing through a planetary atmosphere are unique opportunities that require elements of entry, descent, and landing (EDL). Many aspects of the EDL sequence are qualified using analysis and simulation due to the inability to conduct appropriate ground tests, however validating flight data are often lacking, especially for missions not involving Earth re-entry. NASA has made strategic decisions to collect EDL flight data in order to improve future mission designs. For example, MEDLI1 and EFT-1 gathered hypersonic pressure and in-depth temperature data in the thermal protection system (TPS). However, the ability to collect EDL flight data from the smaller competed missions, such as Discovery and New Frontiers, has been limited in part due to the Principal Investigator-managed cost-caps (PIMCC). The recent NASA decision to consider EDL instrumentation earlier in the mission design cycle led to the inclusion of a requirement in the Discovery 2014 Announcement of Opportunity which requires all missions that involve EDL to include an Engineering Science Investigation (ESI).2 The ESI would involve sensors for aerothermal environment and TPS; atmosphere, aerodynamics, and flight dynamics; atmospheric decelerator; and/or vehicle structure.3 The ESI activity would be funded outside of the PIMCC.

and Landing↗
NASA NTRS1974

The impact of robots on planetary mission operations

Unmanned roving vehicles sent to explore remote planetary surfaces must carry out some of their tasks without step-by-step human control. To realize the benefits that accrue from such semiautonomous machines, current planning (and carrying out) of mission profiles will be subject to some changes. Specifically, it is shown that mission profiles will have to be based on tasks or functions rather than sequences of timed events, while scientists will have to center their attention on instrument control. Present ideas concerning spacecraft safety, testing (and simulation) of vehicle performance, telemetry design, and ground station equipment must be reexamined.

Hooke, A. A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Adopting an Objectives-Driven Assurance Case Approach for Achieving Space Flight Mission Planetary Protection Objectives

Traditionally, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has utilized prescriptive technical and process requirements to ensure safety and mission assurance performance objectives for planetary protection are achieved during space flight missions. While prescriptive requirements may be easier to communicate and manage throughout the systems engineering process, the highly constrained nature of prescriptive requirements can limit the ability to take advantage of cost-saving opportunities and offer limited ability to explore other options or alternative designs, processes, and methods. It can also be difficult to develop prescriptive requirements for objectives that are probabilistic in nature or that cannot be satisfied by direct verification. In contrast, the development of an assurance case allows for a compelling, comprehensible, and valid argument to be developed with supporting evidence that shows safety and mission assurance objectives have been satisfied. Analogous to how patent applications are constructed for inventions, an assurance case has a high-level claim of meeting a safety and mission assurance objective, followed by a more specific set of sub-claims and technical evidence which supports the claims. The objectives-driven assurance case approach allows for a better understanding and exploration of the trade space, more flexibility to balance trades, and the ability to realize and implement technical and process innovations for resource, time, and cost savings. The assurance case is a living case that evolves over the entire program life cycle. Recently, NASA’s Office of Planetary Protection (OPP) has adopted the assurance case approach as an acceptable methodology for demonstrating avoidance of contamination of target solar system bodies explored by NASA space flight missions. This methodology has been incorporated into NASA’s new technical standard for planetary protection and is currently being utilized by the Mars Sample Return campaign for safe sample containment during sample return.

Assurance Case↗