Novel Architecture for a Long-Life, Lightweight Venus Lander

Details Novel Architecture for a Long-Life, Lightweight Venus Lander Novel Architecture for a Long-Life, Lightweight Venus Lander

Mar 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aipc.1103...39b&link_type=abstract

SPACE, PROPULSION & ENERGY SCIENCES INTERNATIONAL FORUM: SPESIF-2009. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1103, pp. 39-50 (2009)

Computer Science

Performance

Heat Conduction, Thermal Analysis, Differential Thermal Analysis, Differential Thermogravimetric Analysis, Insulators

Scientific paper

This paper describes a novel concept for an extended lifetime, lightweight Venus lander. Historically, to operate in the 480° C, 90 atm, corrosive, mostly CO2 Venus surface environment, previous landers have relied on thick Ti spherical outer shells and thick layers of internal insulation. But even the most resilient of these landers operated for only about 2 hours before succumbing to the environment. The goal on this project is to develop an architecture that extends lander lifetime to 20-25 hours and also reduces mass compared to the Pioneer Venus mission architecture. The idea for reducing mass is to: (a) contain the science instruments within a spherical high strength lightweight polymer matrix composite (PMC) tank; (b) surround the PMC tank with an annular shell of high performance insulation pre-pressurized to a level that (after landing) will exceed the external Venus surface pressure; and (c) surround the insulation with a thin Ti outer shell that contains only a net internal pressure, eliminating buckling overdesign mass. The combination of the PMC inner tank and thin Ti outer shell is lighter than a single thick Ti outer shell. The idea for extending lifetime is to add the following three features: (i) an expendable water supply that is placed within the insulation or is contained in an additional vessel within the PMC tank; (ii) a thin spherical evaporator shell placed within the insulation a short radial distance from the outer shell; and (iii) a thin heat-intercepting liquid cooled shield placed inboard of the evaporator shell. These features lower the temperature of the insulation below what it would have been with the insulation alone, reducing the internal heat leak and lengthening lifetime. The use of phase change materials (PCMs) inside the PMC tank is also analyzed as a lifetime-extending design option. The paper describes: (1) analytical modeling to demonstrate reduced mass and extended life; (2) thermal conductivity testing of high performance insulation as a function of temperature and pressure; (3) a bench-top ambient pressure thermal test of the evaporation system; and (4) a higher fidelity test, to be conducted in a high pressure, high temperature inert gas test chamber, of a small-scale Venus lander prototype (made from two hemispherical interconnecting halves) that includes all of the aforesaid features.
22 CFR 125.4(b)(13) applicable

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