Design of a Long Endurance Titan VTOL Vehicle

Prakash, Ravi; Braun, Robert D.; Colby, Luke S.; Francis, Scott R.; Gunduz, M.E.; Flaherty, Kevin W.; Lafleur, Jarret M.; Wright, H. Stephen

doi:10.1109/aero.2006.1655732

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Generally, landing systems for space probes are designed to be used only once [21][22][23]26]; an interesting example is that of Saeki, who proposed a landing gear based on a spring that, when fully compressed, is released, thus dissipating the landing energy [33]. On the other hand, the need for reusable landing systems can be found in some proposals, e.g., vertical take-off and landing systems (VTOL) vehicles [34], suspension system for rovers [24], and several others [25,35]. Reusability is especially important for the concept of hoppers [36][37][38], vehicles able to repeatedly land and takeoff from the surface of a planet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Mechanism for Soft Landing in Robotic Space Exploration

Seriani

2019

Robotics

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Landing safely is the key to successful exploration of the solar system; the mitigation of the connected effects of collision in mechanical systems relies on the conversion of kinetic energy into heat or potential energy. An effective landing-system design should minimize the acceleration acting on the payload. In this paper, we focus on the application of a special class of nonlinear preloaded mechanisms, which take advantage of a variable radius drum (VRD) to produce a constant reactive force during deceleration. Static and dynamic models of the mechanism are presented. Numerical results show that the system allows for very efficient kinetic energy accumulation during impact, approaching the theoretical limit.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Mechanism for Soft Landing in Robotic Space Exploration

Seriani

2019

Robotics

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“…As mentioned above, the helicopter was not carried past the initial power comparison to the design stage as part of the authors' work, but was completed as a separate part of the study 14 . Continuing with the airship and airplane, designs were developed using basic equations, as well as mass estimates based on assumed subsystem values (such as for the telecommunications subsystem) where available or, if specific values were unavailable, historically-based applicable values.…”

Section: B Preliminary Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Design Comparison of Atmospheric Flight Vehicles for the Exploration of Titan

Gasbarre

Wright

Lewis

2005

AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit

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Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is one of the most scientifically interesting locations in the Solar System. With a very cold atmosphere that is five times as dense as Earth's, and one and a half times the surface pressure, it also provides one of the most aeronautically fascinating environments known to humankind. While this may seem the ideal place to attempt atmospheric flight, many challenges await any vehicle attempting to navigate through it. In addition to these physical challenges, any scientific exploration mission to Titan will most likely have several operational constraints. One difficult constraint is the desire for a global survey of the planet and thus, a long duration flight within the atmosphere. Since many of the scientific measurements that would be unique to a vehicle flying through the atmosphere (as opposed to an orbiting spacecraft) desire near-surface positioning of their associated instruments, the vehicle must also be able to fly within the first scale height of the atmosphere. Another difficult constraint is that interaction with the surface, whether by landing or dropped probe, is also highly desirable from a scientific perspective. Two common atmospheric flight platforms that might be used for this mission are the airplane and airship. Under the assumption of a mission architecture that would involve an orbiting relay spacecraft delivered via aerocapture and an atmospheric flight vehicle delivered via direct entry, designs were developed for both platforms that are unique to Titan. Consequently, after a viable design was achieved for each platform, their advantages and disadvantages were compared. This comparison included such factors as deployment risk, surface interaction capability, mass, and design heritage. When considering all factors, the preferred candidate platform for a global survey of Titan is an airship.= flight velocity or volume (airship) n = propulsive efficiency parameter η = efficiency factor P = power cg = center of gravity L = lift CBE = current best estimate ME = max expected

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Concept options for the aerial survey of Titan

Dorrington

2011

Advances in Space Research

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Design of a Long Endurance Titan VTOL Vehicle

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

A New Mechanism for Soft Landing in Robotic Space Exploration

A New Mechanism for Soft Landing in Robotic Space Exploration

A Design Comparison of Atmospheric Flight Vehicles for the Exploration of Titan

Concept options for the aerial survey of Titan

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