Short Course: Destination Venus: Science, Technology and Mission Architectures

Short Course:

Destination Venus: Science, Technology and Mission Architectures

James Cutts, JPL

International Planetary Probe Workshop2016

June 11-12, 2016

TopicsIntroductionAgenda – tentative

Presentation OutlinesScienceEntry and DescentLanding and FlightInstrumentationMission ArchitecturesIPPW-13 Short Course-16/11/16 and 6/12/16

IntroductionThe purpose of the course is to engage students and experienced scientists, technologists and engineers in the next phase of exploration of

Venus.The course consists of a series of lectures presented by experts in the relevant science, mission design and technology disciplines and culminates in a series of class projects. The lecturers include experts in past missions and missions that are currently in formulation. However, the perspective of this course is to look further out on what will be possible with emerging technologies in the next 20 years of Venus exploration.IPPW-13 Short Course-26/11/16 and 6/12/16

Schedule (Saturday, June 11)IPPW-13 Short Course-3

6/11/16 and 6/12/16

Schedule (Sunday, June 12)IPPW-13 Short Course-4

6/11/16 and 6/12/16

Purpose of Workshop (Jim Cutts)

TopicsStatement of PurposeBrief History of Venus ExplorationEarly U.S. and Russian efforts prior to 1990sVenus Express and AkatsukiDiscovery and New Frontiers plansWhy is Venus important today?Structure of AgendaIPPW-13 Short Course-56/11/16 and 6/12/16

Science Presentations (1 of 3)There are three science presentations

Lori Glaze -------overview and probe scienceLarry Esposito---landed scienceKevin Baines ----science from airborne platformsLori’s presentation would include both an overview of major Venus science questions as well the specific science that could be addressed with a descent probe IPPW-13 Short Course-66/11/16 and 6/12/16

Science Presentations (2 of 3)Venus – Major Science

Questions (Lori Glaze)Slow retrograde rotationVenus greenhouse effectAtmospheric super-rotationWhy no moon?Age of Venus – Tesserae vs. plainsNature of Venus interiorVenus Probe Science (Lori Glaze)Pioneer Venus – Venera legacyKey science questions remainingRare gas isotopes and what they tell usDescent imaging of the tesseraeTemperature pressure and wind velocityIPPW-13 Short Course-76/11/16 and 6/12/16

Science Presentations (3 of 3)Venus Landed

Science (Larry Esposito)What did we learn from Venera/VEGA landers?Importance of improved measurements on the surface rocksWhat we can learn from improved imaging?Geophysical measurements- heat flow seismologyBenefits of longer surface timesBenefits of surface mobilityVenus Science from Airborne Platforms (Kevin Baines)What was learned from VeGa balloons?Extended operations – benefitsKey remaining science questionsAtmospheric circulation – super-rotationCloud composition and processesVenus GreenhouseGeophysics – magnetic fields and infrasoundDesired altitude range and vehicle controlScience from probes and sondesIPPW-13 Short Course-86/11/16 and 6/12/16

Entry and DescentEntry (Raj Venkatapathy)

Historical perspectiveClassical Venus entryLow G Venus entry Thermal protection system (TPS) Deployable entry systems and their applicationsVenus entry designSummaryDescent (Anita Sengupta)Unique challenges of Descent in a dense atmosphereInitial parachute descentAeroshell separationLander and balloon deploymentDrag and stabilization devices for the last few kilometerPrecision landing with guided descent on VenusIPPW-13 Short Course-96/11/16 and 6/12/16

Surface and Aerial Vehicles (1 of 3)There are three presentations

Venus Surface Vehicles (Andrew Ball)Venus Aerial Vehicles (Mike Pauken)Technologies for Severe Environments (Jim Cutts)The third presentation would deal with advanced technologies that are common to both vehicles. It would also have relevance to the later instrument presentations.IPPW-13 Short Course-106/11/16 and 6/12/16

Surface and Aerial Vehicles (2 of 3)Venus Surface Vehicles

(Andrew Ball)Venera lander designPioneer probe designVenera lander experienceLanding system design - rationalePressure vessel considerations eg. entryFuture lander concepts e.g. Venus Flagship Mission (2008)Precision landing and hazard avoidance (see also Descent section)Surface mobility on VenusVenus Aerial Vehicles (Mike Pauken)LTA vs. HTA vs. hybrid vehiclesBuoyant vehicles – design principlesSoviet VeGa balloons of 1985Altitude control balloonsFlying high and lowNear surface balloons – Venus Mobile Explorer IPPW-13 Short Course-116/11/16 and 6/12/16

Surface and Aerial Vehicles (3 of 3)Technologies for severe environments

( Jim Cutts)Power – solar vs. radioisotope vs. stored energyPassive and active thermal controlMechanical systems for high temperatures Electronics for high temperaturesGuidance and navigation on VenusMaterials for the clouds and on the surfaceIPPW-13 Short Course-126/11/16 and 6/12/16

Science Instrumentation (1 of 2)

There are two presentations by Lorenz and LambertThe first focuses on measurements made in the atmosphere; the second focuses on measurements on the surface of VenusIn each case the focus is more on the challenges and opportunities presented by the environments as opposed to the details of instrumentation. Probes and airborne platforms (Ralph Lorenz)Venus atmospheric optics: surface visibility vs altitudeBridging the scale gap between orbiters and landers: aerial platformsChallenges of correlating radar and optical data: the Cassini-Huygens ExperienceIPPW-13 Short Course-136/11/16 and 6/12/16Note for now----Maybe (depending on overlap)

Surface-Atmosphere interactions; integrating the global and local viewInstrumentation/Environment challenges

Science Instrumentation (1 of 2)

Landed Systems (Lambert)Physics and chemistry of the surface environmentHistorical Soviet Venera-era instrumental approaches Contrast contemporary Curiosity and Mars 2020 payloadExperimental work in Venus environment - challengesExperimental facilities – JPL, Glenn Extreme Environments Chamber (GEER) at GRC, GSFC Different approaches to characterizing elements, minerals and petrologySample acquisition – Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) and XRDFOptical analysis – Raman LIBS Xray etcRemote sensing – active and passive gamma ray, EM and seismic soundingIPPW-13 Short Course-146/11/16 and 6/12/16

Mission ArchitecturesTypical Mars mission architectureOrbiters, landers, rovers with proximity communications

Venus unique mission constraintsNo stable synchronous orbits (low rotation rate)No frozen sun synchronous orbits (low J2)No close LaGrange points (no large Venus satellite)Delivering landed and aerial missionsHyperbolic approach vs. orbital entryDeploying probes and sondes Trades in the selection of orbits for science and communicationsUtility of eccentric orbitsProximity communication systems and direct to Earth (Kamal Oudhiri)Communications trades Mars program heritage systemsUnique Venus challenges – environmentsDoppler tracking of probesIPPW-13 Short Course-15Presenter :Tom Spilker with Kamal Oudhiri covering the communications issues 6/11/16 and 6/12/16

Student Projects (Saikia/Mimoun)

Still being workedIPPW-13 Short Course-166/11/16 and 6/12/16

6/11/16 and 6/12/16

IPPW-13 Short Course17