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

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Planetary Exploration Using Biomimetics An Entomopter for Flight on Mars The unique potential of the terrestrial Entomopter with its high lift mechanisms were recognized to have use in slow speed controlled flight through the lower Mars atmosphere, and the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts subsequently funded both a Phase I and Phase II study to explore the Mars application further. The Entomopter will extend the rover's eyes and will allow the rover to choose its path ahead more intelligently. The rover will be able to move more rapidly with less risk. The result will be a greater science return per unit time. With Entomopter augmentation, the field of regard for the rover will be swaths of hundreds of meters for close inspection/sampling, and to the horizon for high perspective line-of-sight remote inspections. In addition, the Entomopters will be able to perform scientific investigations that otherwise could not be attempted by a rover (e.g., cliff side inspections or magnetic profiling), or which would be too time consuming (e.g., wide area geologic characterization such as the mapping fault lines or strata). 1.3 Mission Figure 1-9: Stereolithographic Kinematicallycorrect Model of the Terrestrial Entomopter 1.3.1 Mission Introduction Mars has been a target of scientific exploration for more than 25 years. Most of this exploration has taken place using orbiting spacecraft or landers. Orbiters offer the ability to image large areas over an extended period of time but are limited in their resolution. Landers can handle surface and atmospheric sampling but are limited to the immediate landing site. Mobility is the key to expanding the scientific knowledge of Mars. The Pathfinder/Sojourner mission offered a new opportunity to scientists; it was the first time an autonomous mobile platform could be used for exploration. This allowed scientists the freedom to explore the surrounding terrain, maneuver to scientifically interesting sites, and perform an analysis of soil and rock composition over a broader area. In short, it offered many more options to the scientific community. However, the terrain it is traversing limits the rover: Large rocks and canyons are difficult obstacles for a surface rover to overcome. [245, 246] Airborne platforms can achieve science objectives difficult to reach from orbit or from surface rovers. Platforms can cover much larger distances in a single mission than a rover and are not limited by the terrain; much more easily providing images of very rocky or steep terrain. Air- 12 Phase II Final Report
Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.3 Mission borne platforms can return images of more than a magnitude higher resolution than state-of-theart orbiting spacecraft. Near infrared spectrometry, crucial to detecting mineralogy on the planet, and high spatial resolution magnetometry, which may provide clues as to the origin of high crustal magnetism seen from orbit, require moving platforms. Being close to the surface also increases the resolution and sensitivity of these instruments. Finally, atmospheric sampling can reveal variations over a much greater area. [182,49,175] The Entomopter concept provides a unique means of achieving flight on Mars without the constraints imposed by the environment on conventional aircraft. The Entomopter can fly slowly near the surface, land, and take off. This capability enables the Entomopter to accomplish missions that are not possible with fixed wing aircraft. The ability to land on the rocky surface of Mars enables the Entomopter to refuel, which greatly extends mission duration over that of conventional aircraft. The slow flight of an Entomopter with ground locomotion affords the possibility of landing on the surface of Mars to inspect objects and take samples, to rest during periods of communication blackout and adverse weather, and to harvest energy from the environment. Because of these unique flight capabilities a number of mission scenarios can be conceived for an Entomopter vehicle system. Utilizing these capabilities with a variety of instruments, scientists can collect significant science data that would be impossible to acquire with any type of present-day exploration vehicle. 1.3.2 Mission Architecture Based on the analysis done under the Phase I portion of the program, it was determined that utilizing the Entomopter in conjunction with a rover would return the most science date and provide the greatest flexibility. Therefore, this architecture was established as the baseline mission profile. In this scenario, a rover containing two or more Entomopters lands on the surface. The rover and Entomopters leave the aeroshell-lander and begin to explore. The aeroshell-lander is a transport capsule and has no additional capabilities. The Entomopters communicate with the rover, which in turn relays the data to an orbiting communication system. The Entomopters can assist the rover in terrain navigation as the group slowly moves across the surface. The Entomopters would be able to dock with the rover for recharging; their range would be limited to the round trip distance to and back from the rover. This mission sequence is shown in Figure 1-10. The main advantage of this type of system is that new territory can be explored each day by the Entomopters as their home base, the rover, slowly moves along the surface. The rover would carry fuel to refuel the Entomopters after each flight. The mission would continue until the fuel within the rover is exhausted. A diagram of a potential mission scenario is shown in Figure 1-11. This figure represents four Entomopter flight vehicles flying to and from a rover. The flight-duration profile represents the flight and ground time for the Entomopter throughout the return trip to and from the rover. This is one example of the flight profile. The combination of ground and flight segments can be 13
Page 1 and 2: Planetary Exploration Using Biomime
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Table of Contents
Page 5 and 6: List of Tables List of Tables Table
Page 7 and 8: List of Figures List of Figures Fig
Page 9 and 10: List of Figures Figure 3-54: Pressu
Page 11 and 12: List of Figures Figure 3-138: Stere
Page 13 and 14: List of Figures Figure 4-24: Averag
Page 15 and 16: List of Contributors List of Contri
Page 17 and 18: Executive Summary Executive Summary
Page 19 and 20: Chapter 1.0 Introduction Chapter 1.
Page 21 and 22: Chapter 1.0 Introduction Figure 1-2
Page 23 and 24: Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Histor
Page 25 and 26: Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.2 Origin
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Page 29: Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.2 Origin
Page 33 and 34: Chapter 1.0 Introduction 1.3 Missio
Page 35 and 36: 1.3.3.1 Surface Imaging The Entomop
Page 43 and 44: Chapter 2.0 Entomopter Configuratio
Page 59 and 60: Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design 3.1 Wing
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Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design 3.2 Wing
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3. Density: 1.40E-2 kg/m 3 4. Press
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Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design 3.4 Reci
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Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design 3.5 Fuel
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Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design 3.6 Powe
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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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