Abstract. Investigations of global and related local phenomena on Mars such as atmospheric circulation patterns, boundary layer phenomena, water, dust and climatological cycles and investigations of the planetary interior would benefit from simultaneous, distributed in situ measurements. Practically, such an observation network would require low-mass landers, with a high packing density, so a large number of landers could be delivered to Mars with the minimum number of launchers.The Mars Network Lander (MetNet Lander; MNL), a small semi-hard lander/penetrator design with a payload mass fraction of approximately 17 %, has been developed, tested and prototyped. The MNL features an innovative Entry, Descent and Landing System (EDLS) that is based on inflatable structures. The EDLS is capable of decelerating the lander from interplanetary transfer trajectories down to a surface impact speed of 50-70 m s −1 with a deceleration of < 500 g for < 20 ms. The total mass of the prototype design is ≈ 24 kg, with ≈ 4 kg of mass available for the payload.The EDLS is designed to orient the penetrator for a vertical impact. As the payload bay will be embedded in the surface materials, the bay's temperature excursions will be much less than if it were fully exposed on the Martian surface, allowing a reduction in the amount of thermal insulation and savings on mass.The MNL is well suited for delivering meteorological and atmospheric instruments to the Martian surface. The payload concept also enables the use of other environmental instruments. The small size and low mass of a MNL makes it ideally suited for piggy-backing on larger spacecraft. MNLs are designed primarily for use as surface networks but could also be used as pathfinders for high-value landed missions.
The current issue of expanding the scheme of the experiment for the contact research of Venus by including a multirotor aircraft as an additional technical means of research in a prospective expedition is considered. The concept is developed by the authors considers the possibility of creating and launching a multi-rotor aircraft (as a complex technical system) into the atmosphere of Venus in order to collect data on the composition and properties of the planet's atmosphere, as well as taking photos and videos of its surface. Such devices will operate for a certain time in the specified altitude levels (zones). The authors suggest mounting them in the descent vehicle. The article describes the goals of creating this technical system and the tasks that it should perform on the Venus. The paper illustrates the possible utilization options and schemes for putting a multirotor aircraft into operation in the atmosphere of the planet, the nature of its movement. As a module of the energy storage system, batteries are selected that will significantly improve the functioning of a multirotor aircraft and increase the duration of its motion in the atmosphere. The options for placing multirotor vehicles in the developed model of the base descent vehicle are shown, mass-dimensional parameters are estimated.
The paper considers problematic issues that could arise in the process of studying design situations when creating a multirotor aircraft, which was first proposed as the technical means in studying the planet Venus as part of the promising Venusian spacecraft. The course of work identified a number of critical situations that should be analyzed already at the early stages of designing and developing the multirotor aircraft being a complex technical system in Venus exploration and taken into account when developing a program for its direct operation on the planet. The summary matrix of problems was compiled for visual presentation of the study results. This matrix reflects the probable problem situations in implementing the experiment scheme in the Venus atmosphere and surface contact study. For this purpose, the multirotor aircraft was decomposed into subsystems, and main stages of its operation were considered in the Venus atmosphere.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.