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Walter Kiefer

Publications and source records attributed to Walter Kiefer.

4 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Revealing the Mysteries of Venus: The DAVINCI Mission

The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission described herein has been selected for flight to Venus as part of the NASA Discovery Program. DAVINCI will be the first mission to Venus to incorporate science driven flybys and an instrumented descent sphere into a unified architecture. The anticipated scientific outcome will be a new understanding of the atmosphere, surface, and evolutionary path of Venus as a possibly once-habitable planet and analog to hot terrestrial exoplanets. The primary mission design for DAVINCI as selected features a preferred launch in summer/fall 2029, two flybys in 2030, and descent sphere atmospheric entry by the end of 2031. The in situ atmospheric descent phase subsequently delivers definitive chemical and isotopic composition of the Venus atmosphere during an atmospheric transect above Alpha Regio. These in situ investigations of the atmosphere and near infrared descent imaging of the surface will complement remote flyby observations of the dynamic atmosphere, cloud deck, and surface near infrared emissivity. The overall mission yield will be at least 60 Gbits (compressed) new data about the atmosphere and near surface, as well as the first unique characterization of the deep atmosphere environment and chemistry, including trace gases, key stable isotopes, oxygen fugacity, constraints on local rock compositions, and topography of a tessera.

James B Garvin↗
NASA NTRS2020

Venus Surface Platforms

Significant new science at Venus, particularly related to surface, interior, and surface/atmosphere interactions can be realized with surface platforms performing in-situ measurements. This white paper presents summary results of a Venus Surface Platforms Study performed with VEXAG support. The results suggest long-lived platforms, platforms at several locations taking simultaneous or coordinated measurements. platforms with greater sophistication than currently possible with Venus surface assets, and surface mobility will enable the new science needed per guiding documents such as the Planetary Decadal Survey Report. This white paper summary of the study reports on key relationships between the capabilities noted, the underlying technologies that will enable those capabilities, and the science to be expected with the new capabilities.

Venus↗
NASA NTRS2020

Long-duration Venus lander for seismic and atmospheric science

An exciting and novel science mission concept called Seismic and Atmospheric Exploration of Venus (SAEVe) has been developed which uses high-temperature electronics to enable a three-order magnitude increase in expected surface life (120 Earth days) over what has been achieved to date. This enables study of long-term, variable phenomena such as the seismicity of Venus and near surface weather, near surface energy balance and atmospheric chemical composition. SAEVe also serves as a critical pathfinder for more sophisticated landers in the future. For example, first order seismic measurements by SAEVe will allow future missions to deliver better seismometers and systems to support the yet unknown frequency and magnitude of Venus events. SAEVe is focused on science that can be realized with low data volume instruments and will most benefit for temporal operations. The entire mission architecture and operations maximize science while minimizing energy usage and physical size and mass. The entire SAEVe system including its protective entry system is estimated to be around 45 kg and approximately 0.6 m diameter. These features allow SAEVe to be relatively cost effective and be easily integrated onto a Venus orbiter mission. The technologies needed to implement SAEVe are currently in development by several funded activities. Component and system level work is ongoing under NASA’s HOTTech program and by the Long Lived Insitu Solar System Explorer (LLISSE) project. The SAEVe long duration Venus lander promises groundbreaking science and is an ideal complimentary element to many future Venus orbiter missions being proposed or planned today.

Venus↗