Phase II Final Report - NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts

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Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics An Entomopter for Flight on Mars Table 3-14: Characteristics of Oxidizer Candidates (Continued) Oxidizer Nitrogen Tetroxide Chlorine Trifluoride Inhibited Red Fuming Nitric Acid (IRFNA) Oxygen Difluoride Characteristics Nitrogen tetroxide is a stable compound. It is not highly reactive and can be stored in mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, Teflon, and polyethylene. Its toxicity is comparable to that of chlorine. Various formulations of nitrogen tetroxide are available. These formulations vary the percent of nitric oxide in the formulation. This change in the nitric oxide content can affect the freezing point for the propellant. The mixtures of nitrogen tetroxide shown in the table above have varying amounts of nitric oxide. MON 25 (25% mixed NO) has a significantly decreased freezing point over MON 3 (3% mixed NO). This ability to lower the freezing point of nitrogen tetroxide makes it applicable to the mission environment and would eliminate the need for thermal control of the propellant. Chlorine trifluoride is a stable oxidizer that can be stored in 18-8 stainless steel, nickel and monel. However, most common metals can be used if they are free of contaminants. It is highly toxic with a toxicity comparable to fluorine. Its liquid-state temperature range is more than sufficient to meet the mission requirements. IRFNA is subject to decomposition at elevated temperatures, and its decomposition rate is directly related to temperature. It can be stored in 18-8 Stainless steel, polyethylene, and Teflon. It is toxic and corrosive to body tissue. The liquid-temperature range of IRFNA is sufficient to keep the oxidizer in a liquid state throughout the proposed mission duration. Oxygen difluoride is stable at normal room temperature but becomes increasingly unstable at elevated temperatures. It can be stored in 18-8 stainless steel, copper, aluminum, monel, and nickel. Nonmetallic materials are generally not compatible. It is highly toxic and corrosive to body tissue. The main issue is that it is a gas at mission temperatures. In order to be usable it would need to be stored cryogenically in order to be used in the mission. This would add significant risk and complexity to the overall mission. Table 3-15: Characteristics of Monopropellant Candidates Monopropellant Hydrogen Peroxide Characteristics Hydrogen peroxide has a flight heritage dating back to the 1930s, although until recently, the technology has been dormant. It is seeing a revival of sorts, primarily as an oxidizer in a bipropellant combination, but also as a monopropellant. The main advantage of hydrogen peroxide is that it is nontoxic. However, the freezing point is higher then what is necessary to perform the mission without thermal control. There are a few options for dealing with this freezing issue. A passive thermal system may be used to maintain the temperature above freezing. This may be possible since its freezing point is within 30° C of the expected environmental conditions. Another advantage of this propellant is that it is the fuel presently used by GTRI in their Entomopter designs. Therefore, there is significant experience and history with its use in this type of vehicle. Hydrogen peroxide decomposes in the presence of a catalyst, such as carbon, steel or copper. For storage it doesn't react with certain materials, such as aluminum, tin, glass, polyethylene or Teflon. 174 Phase II Final Report
Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design 3.5 Fuel Storage and Production Table 3-15: Characteristics of Monopropellant Candidates (Continued) Monopropellant Ethylene Oxide Nitromethane n-Propyl Nitrate Hydrazine Hydrazine Propellant Blend (HPB) HAN Characteristics Ethylene oxide remains liquid over a temperature range that is more than adequate to meet the mission requirements. It is generally stable, but the polymerization rate is increased in the presence of some materials. Storage materials it is compatible with include 18-8 stainless steel, aluminum, mild steels, copper, nylon, and Teflon. This material is relatively toxic and must be handled with caution. Nitromethane's temperature range is nearly within the range required by the mission. It would require some insulation or thermal control to assure it would not freeze. It doesn't react with 18-8 stainless steel, aluminum or polyethylene. These materials can be used for storage. The main issue with its use is that it may detonate under conditions of confinement, heating, and mechanical impact, any of which can possibly be experienced during this mission. Also, it is relatively toxic and must be handled with caution. n-propyl nitrate is capable of remaining liquid well within the temperature range of the mission. It is relatively stable and insensitive to mechanical or thermal shock. It can be stored in containers made of either 18-8 stainless steel, aluminum, polyethylene, Teflon, nylon, Orlon, Dacron or Mylar. This material has no serious toxicity problems, which allows for easy handling. Hydrazine monopropellant has been used in spacecraft for the last 30 years. These have been mainly for low thrust applications like satellite station keeping. Decomposition is achieved by a catalyzed reaction with a metal oxide. Materials that are compatible with hydrazine and will not react include Teflon, 18-8 stainless steel, polyethylene, and aluminum. The main issues with using hydrazine are that it is highly toxic and has a high freezing point (approximately 1.5° C). Because of this high freezing point, significant heating would be required throughout the mission in order to maintain the propellant in its liquid state. HPB represents a family of monopropellant formulations composed of hydrazine, hydrazinium nitrate (HN), and water. The addition of NH and water serves to depress the freezing point and increase the performance of plain hydrazine. Several HPBs were developed and tested in the 1960s and 1970s primarily for military applications. HPBs are receiving renewed attention as a low freezing point monopropellant. Presently NASA is sponsoring HPB development work at Primex Aerospace. HAN is a family of monopropellants composed of an oxidizer-rich salt, a fuel component and water. These types of propellants have been under development by NASA over the last decade. HAN-based monopropellants offer a high density, low freezing point, nontoxic alternative to hydrazine. 3.5.2.1 Propellant Candidates One of the main requirements in propellant selection is that it must be in liquid form during storage. If possible, this would mean that the propellant be maintained in this state throughout the mission with a minimum amount of thermal control. This minimizes the complexity of storing, transporting, and manufacturing the propellant and greatly simplifies the Entomopter and support-vehicle design. Therefore, based on this requirement, most of the propellants listed and described in the previous section are not applicable to the Entomopter mission. 175
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Planetary Exploration Using Biomime
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Table of Contents Table of Contents
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List of Tables List of Tables Table
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List of Figures List of Figures Fig
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List of Figures Figure 3-54: Pressu
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List of Figures Figure 3-138: Stere
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List of Figures Figure 4-24: Averag
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List of Contributors List of Contri
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Executive Summary Executive Summary
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Chapter 1.0 Introduction Chapter 1.
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Chapter 1.0 Introduction Figure 1-2
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Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Histor
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Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.2 Origin
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Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.3 Missio
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1.3.3.1 Surface Imaging The Entomop
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Chapter 2.0 Entomopter Configuratio
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Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design 3.1 Wing
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3. Density: 1.40E-2 kg/m 3 4. Press
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Chapter 4.0 Entomopter Flight Opera
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Chapter 5.0 Potential Payload Funct
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Chapter 6.0 Media Exposure 6.1 Intr
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Chapter 6.0 Media Exposure 6.3 Onli
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Chapter 6.0 Media Exposure 6.6 Spec
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Chapter 7.0 Conclusion Chapter 7.0
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Appendix A: Mars Atmosphere Data JP
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Appendix A: Mars Atmosphere Data Ge
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Appendix A: Mars Atmosphere Data Ge
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Appendix A: Mars Atmosphere Data Ma
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Appendix B: Sizing Results Appendix
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Appendix B: Sizing Results 30 Wing
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Appendix B: Sizing Results 16 Wing
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Appendix B: Sizing Results Length 0
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Appendix B: Sizing Results Lenght 0
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Appendix C: List of References Appe
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Appendix C: List of References 41.
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Phase II Final Report - NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts

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