White Papers
Conceptual Design of a Titan Helicopter and Architecture
C. Russell Joyner and Patrick M. McGinnis
Abstract
Recent research has focused on the feasibility of developing vertical lift aerial vehicles that could aid in the exploration of various planetary bodies in our solar system – specifically, Mars, Venus, and Saturn’s moon Titan. Titan is of special interest because it is the only atmosphere besides Earth’s that is dominated by molecular nitrogen, and has an abundance of organic materials; additionally, the moon’s atmosphere may be similar to a young Earth at the advent of life.
This paper summarizes the conceptual design process of a “Titan space mission to deploy and fly a small autonomous, robotic helicopter on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn” as stated in the project’s request for proposal (RFP). The helicopter is to be capable of operating for a minimum period of 30 Earth days and fly several sorties from a base station. Communication between the base and Earth should be regular, but does not need to be continuous. Typical communications include low data rate scientific data and compressed video and still pictures. The spacecraft should be launched from Earth in the 2012-2015 timeframe.
In addition, there are two design reference missions (DRM’s). DRM1 is a sample collection mission: 1 km range, 1 kg retrieval system + 20 g sample, minimum of 5 minutes for hover, and a maximum mission time of 18 hours are required. DRM2 is a reconnaissance mission: 2 kg instrument payload, search area centered at 500 m away from lander, loiters over a 25,000 m2 circular search area at 25 m altitude and 1 m/s velocity are required. Also, the helicopter cannot land until it returns to the lander. The process shown in Figure 1 was used to design the helicopter and mission.
The team employed the Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) methodology to evaluate the critical engineering characteristics of the design project, generate a broad design space and down-select the design space to the one most promising conceptual design. Furthermore, the team developed an integrated frameworks model of the entire mission (from launch to planetary vehicle). The model was used for evaluation and optimization of mission scenarios and possible technologies versus mission metrics such as spacecraft gross mass and life cycle cost.
Download The Complete Paper
(A one-time registration will be requested)
