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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