Photovoltaic rotorcraft for Mars missions

Savu, G.; Trifu, O.

doi:10.2514/6.1995-2644

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…For approximately two decades afterwards only Mars airplane concepts were studied. One of the first papers to consider the design implications of Mars rotorcraft was by Savu and Trifu [1]; this work, however, was not carried forward beyond its initial study.…”

Section: Previous Work On Mars Helicopter Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Guidance and Control for a Mars Helicopter

Grip

Scharf

Malpica

et al. 2018

2018 AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference

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As part of a future mission to Mars, NASA is considering including a small helicopter capable of operating independently in the Martian environment. The Martian atmosphere is extremely thin, with a density of only 1-2% of Earth's atmospheric density at sea level; this significantly alters the flight dynamics of the vehicle and has implications for vehicle design and control. In this paper we focus on guidance and control for a Mars Helicopter, and in particular on the challenges that are unique to operating in the Mars environment. In 2016, the first-ever controlled flight of a helicopter in Martian atmospheric conditions was performed in the 25-ft Space Simulator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We provide details of the effort leading to this flight demonstration, including

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Section: Previous Work On Mars Helicopter Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Guidance and Control for a Mars Helicopter

Grip

Scharf

Malpica

et al. 2018

2018 AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference

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“…In [2,4], the advantages and disadvantages of using a helicopter for the Mars surface exploration were analyzed, for different types of power production: combustion engine with hydrazine, electro-motor supplied by photovoltaics in real time and electro-pneumatic system for energy stocking (Fig. 5).…”

Section: Earth-mars Similarity Criteria For a Rotorcraft Vehicle (Helmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Martian missions with autonomous robots of rovers, airship, airplane, helicopter or Mars Jumper type, propelled by the solar energy have been analyzed [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The solar energy is converted into electricity by the photovoltaic cells and is used in real time or, in order to obtain more power, is stocked.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth–Mars similarity criteria for exploring martian vehicles

Savu

2006

Acta Astronautica

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“…In the past, airplanes/gliders (e.g., [19]) and even rotorcraft (e.g., [20,21]) have been proposed. Some of the major deficiencies with these types of aerial vehicles are: (1) the complexity of the vehicles themselves (especially a rotorcraft); (2) the complexity of their deployment; (3) no station-keeping in the case of the airplane/glider and only temporary station-keeping in the case of a rotorcraft; (4) need for propellant (either electric by means of solar power or radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG), or chemical) for airplanes (except gliders) and rotorcraft; (5) (active) flight control system necessary; and (6) limited mission duration and termination of mission once vehicle lands/crashes on the surface (no repeated surface/subsurface probing possible, with the exception of the rotorcraft).…”

Section: Tier-scalable Reconnaissance -Operational Control and Techmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tier-Scalable Reconnaissance Missions For The Autonomous Exploration Of Planetary Bodies

Fink

Dohm

Tarbell

et al. 2007

2007 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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Abstract-A fundamentally new (scientific) reconnaissance mission concept, termed tier-scalable reconnaissance, for remote planetary (including Earth) atmospheric, surface and subsurface exploration recently has been devised [1][2][3][4][5] that soon will replace the engineering and safety constrained mission designs of the past, allowing for optimal acquisition of geologic, paleohydrologic, paleoclimatic, and possible astrobiologic information of Venus, Mars, Europa, Ganymede, Titan, Enceladus, Triton, and other extraterrestrial targets [6,7]. This paradigm is equally applicable to potentially hazardous or inaccessible operational areas on Earth such as those related to military or terrorist activities, or areas that have been exposed to biochemical agents, radiation, or natural disasters. Traditional missions have performed local, ground-level reconnaissance through rovers and immobile landers, or global mapping performed by an orbiter. The former is safety and engineering constrained, affording limited detailed reconnaissance of a single site at the expense of a regional understanding, while the latter returns immense datasets, often overlooking detailed information of local and regional significance.

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Photovoltaic rotorcraft for Mars missions

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Guidance and Control for a Mars Helicopter

Guidance and Control for a Mars Helicopter

Earth–Mars similarity criteria for exploring martian vehicles

Tier-Scalable Reconnaissance Missions For The Autonomous Exploration Of Planetary Bodies

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