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

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
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