Feasibility and Mass-Benefit Analysis of Aerocapture for Missions to Venus

Girija, Athul Pradeepkumar; Lu, Ye; Saikia, Sarag J.

doi:10.2514/1.a34529

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…However, the demonstration of aerocapture at Mars or Venus will enhance its readiness for outer planet missions where its performance benefit is significantly greater [20,21]. Even though aerocapture is not currently considered for the Uranus Orbiter and Probe which is the top priority for the Flagship mission of the next decade [22,23], studies have shown aerocapture offers significant mission design advantages [24].…”

Section: Applications For Future Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rocket Lab has also made the commitment to fly a private mission to deliver a 20 kg probe for in-situ sampling of the Venusian clouds, also using the Photon high-performance spacecraft (shown in Figure 1) with an estimated budget under $10 million [3]. Orbit insertion, particularly to low-circular orbits requires significant propellant and can require about 20-40% of the Photon wet mass and present a significant challenge for small missions [4,5]. Aerocapture can be used to eliminate the substantial propellant need for orbit insertion [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Small Low-Cost Orbiters for Planetary Science using Photon and Aerocapture

Pradeepkumar Girija

2023

Preprint

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With advancements in low-cost launchers and small interplanetary spacecraft, NASA has recognized the potential of small missions to perform focused planetary science investigations at Mars and Venus. The EscaPADE, part of the NASA SIMPLEx program will deliver two small spacecraft to elliptical orbits around Mars using the Photon spacecraft. Orbit insertion, particularly to low-circular orbits requires significant propellant, taking up a substantial fraction of the Photon wet mass and present a significant challenge for small missions. The large ΔV requirements for low-circular orbit make it difficult to insert small satellites into these orbits even with the highly capable Photon, as the total ΔV for Earth escape and orbit insertion exceeds its capability. Drag modulation aerocapture offers a promising alternative, using the atmospheric drag to obtain the large ΔV.The study shows how the Photon when combined with drag modulation aerocapture can deliver small orbiters to low-circular orbits, enabling a wide range of small orbiter missions. Aerocapture eliminates the need for Photon to provide 2 to 3.5 km/s of ΔV for orbit insertion, which translate into mass and cost savings, and can enable frequent low-cost small orbiters and small satellite constellations at Mars and Venus in the near future.

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Section: Applications For Future Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small Low-Cost Orbiters for Planetary Science using Photon and Aerocapture

Pradeepkumar Girija

2023

Preprint

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“…Fortunately, cost reduction and increases in the capability and availability of launch vehicles (e.g., SLS) could significantly enhance the deliverable mass and thus scope of a New Frontiers-class Uranus orbiter mission, as well as potentially enabling contributed elements from other agencies, while also adding the capability to launch outside of windows with Jupiter gravity assists. Furthermore, the risk versus benefit of using aerocapture for orbit insertion should be analyzed, as it can strongly increase the mass of the delivered payload and shorten flight times (Hall et al 2005;Spilker et al 2016;Girija et al 2020;Dutta et al 2021).…”

Section: Required Mission Design Scope and Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Case for a New Frontiers–Class Uranus Orbiter: System Science at an Underexplored and Unique World with a Mid-scale Mission

et al. 2022

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Current knowledge of the Uranian system is limited to observations from the flyby of Voyager 2 and limited remote observations. However, Uranus remains a highly compelling scientific target due to the unique properties of many aspects of the planet itself and its system. Future exploration of Uranus must focus on cross-disciplinary science that spans the range of research areas from the planet’s interior, atmosphere, and magnetosphere to the its rings and satellites, as well as the interactions between them. Detailed study of Uranus by an orbiter is crucial not only for valuable insights into the formation and evolution of our solar system but also for providing ground truths for the understanding of exoplanets. As such, exploration of Uranus will not only enhance our understanding of the ice giant planets themselves but also extend to planetary dynamics throughout our solar system and beyond. The timeliness of exploring Uranus is great, as the community hopes to return in time to image unseen portions of the satellites and magnetospheric configurations. This urgency motivates evaluation of what science can be achieved with a lower-cost, potentially faster-turnaround mission, such as a New Frontiers–class orbiter mission. This paper outlines the scientific case for and the technological and design considerations that must be addressed by future studies to enable a New Frontiers–class Uranus orbiter with balanced cross-disciplinary science objectives. In particular, studies that trade scientific scope and instrumentation and operational capabilities against simpler and cheaper options must be fundamental to the mission formulation.

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“…Methods for comparing aerocapture with traditional propulsive options and aerobraking were also investigated for Venus in Ref. [27]. For human Mars missions, repeated Mars orbit insertion maneuvers warrant the use of aerocapture to save propellant in order to deliver assets to Mars orbit.…”

Section: Aerocapture At Marsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A framework for assessing aerocapture feasibility has been developed and discussed in detail in Ref. [10,27,28] and the results in this section follow the same analysis framework. The key design parameters for aerocapture missions are very similar to those for entry except theoretical corridor width.…”

Section: Aerocapture Feasibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerocapture, Aerobraking, and Entry for Robotic and Human Mars Missions

Lu¹

2020

Mars Exploration - A Step Forward

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This chapter provides an overview of the aeroassist technologies and performances for Mars missions. We review the current state-of-the-art aeroassist technologies for Mars explorations, including aerocapture, aerobraking, and entry. Then we present a parametric analysis considering key design parameters such as interplanetary trajectory and vehicle design parameters (lift-to-drag ratio, ballistic coefficient, peak g-load, peak heat rate, and total heat load) for aerocapture, aerobraking, and entry. A new perspective on a rapid aerobraking concept will be provided. The analysis will include first-order estimates for thermal loading, thermal protection systems material selection, and vehicle design. Results and discussion focus on both robotic missions and human missions as landed assets and orbiters.

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Feasibility and Mass-Benefit Analysis of Aerocapture for Missions to Venus

Cited by 13 publications

References 25 publications

Small Low-Cost Orbiters for Planetary Science using Photon and Aerocapture

Small Low-Cost Orbiters for Planetary Science using Photon and Aerocapture

The Case for a New Frontiers–Class Uranus Orbiter: System Science at an Underexplored and Unique World with a Mid-scale Mission

Aerocapture, Aerobraking, and Entry for Robotic and Human Mars Missions

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