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NASA NTRS2009

Ares V: Shifting the Payload Design Paradigm

NASA's Ares V heavy-lift cargo launch vehicle is being designed send more crew and cargo to more places on the lunar surface than the 1960s-era Apollo program and provide ongoing support to a permanent lunar outpost. In addition to that role, however, its unmatched mass and volume capability represent a global asset for exploration, science, and commerce. The Ares V also is an enabler of a large class of space missions not thought possible by scientists and engineers since the Saturn V program ended over 30 years ago. Compared to current systems, it will offer approximately 5 times the mass and volume to most orbits and locations. This should allow prospective mission planners to build robust payloads with margins that are 3 to 5 times the industry norm. The space inside the planned payload shroud has enough usable volume to launch the volumetric equivalent of approximately 10 Apollo Lunar Excursion Modules or approximately 5 equivalent Hubble Space Telescopes. This mass and volume capability to Low Earth Orbit enables a host of new scientific and observation platforms, such as telescopes, satellites, planetary and solar missions, as well as being able to provide the lift for future large in-space infrastructure missions, such as space based power and mining, Earth asteroid defense, propellant depots, etc. The Ares V team is engaging the potential payload community now, 2-3 years before System Requirements Review, in order to better understand the potential limitations and or additional requirements that could be added to the Ares V from the mission planning community. If a viable mission is determined and added to the Ares V as a design case, tradeoffs will be conducted to determine if other mission design requirements can be included in the system. Multiple shroud options for the Ares V have been analyzed to identify their impact on performance. Ares V is in a conceptual design stage prior to a formal design phase. The initial concept for the cargo launch vehicle (CaLV) that would later be dubbed "Ares V" was produced by the Exploration Systems Architecture Study in 2005. Since then, it has evolved through hundreds of concepts. The current point-of-departure (POD) concept was approved during the Lunar Capabilities Concept Review/Ares V Mission Concept Review in June 2008. This reference concept serves as a starting point for a renewed set of design trades and detailed analysis into its interaction with the other components of the Constellation architecture and existing launch infrastructure. This paper will discuss the Ares V design evolution, the most recent point-of-departure concept, and its capabilities to support future science missions.

Summrall, Phil↗

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↗

NASA NTRS2012

Space Weathering Investigations Enabled by NASA's Virtual Heliophysical Observatories

Structural and chemical impact of the heliospheric space environment on exposed planetary surfaces and interplanetary dust grains may be generally defined as space weathering . In the inner solar system, from the asteroid belt inwards towards the Sun, the surface regolith structures of airless bodies are primarily determined by cumulative meteoritic impacts over billions of years, but the molecular composition to meters in depth can be substantially modified by irradiation effects. Plasma ions at eV to keV energies may both erode uppermost surfaces by sputtering, and implant or locally produce exogenic material, e.g. He-3 and H2O, while more energetic ions drive molecular change through electronic ionization. Galactic cosmic ray ions and more energetic solar ions can impact chemistry to meters in depth. High energy cosmic ray interactions produce showers of secondary particles and energetic photons that present hazards for robotic and human exploration missions but also enable detection of potentially useable resources such as water ice, oxygen, and many other elements. Surface sputtering also makes ejected elemental and molecular species accessible for in-situ compositional analysis by spacecraft with ion and neutral mass spectrometers. Modeling of relative impacts for these various space weathering processes requires knowledge of the incident species-resolved ion flux spectra at plasma to cosmic ray energies and as integrated over varying time scales. Although the main drivers for investigations of these processes come from NASA's planetary science and human exploration programs, the NASA heliophysics program provides the requisite data measurement and modeling resources to enable specification of the field & plasma and energetic particle irradiation environments for application to space weather and surface weathering investigations. The Virtual Heliospheric Observatory (VHO), Virtual Energetic Particle Observatory (VEPO), Lunar Solar Origins Exploration (LunaSOX), and Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) services now provide a wide range of inner heliospheric spacecraft data that can be applied to space weathering of potential exploration destinations including the Moon, asteroids, and the moons of Mars, as well to radiation hazard assessment for the spacecraft and human explorers. For example, the new VEPO service for time-averaging of multi-source ion flux spectra enables the specification of composite flux spectra from a variety of ongoing and legacy missions for applications to surface interaction modeling. Apollo to Artemis data resources of LunaSOX enable specific space weathering investigations for the Moon, while VHO more generally covers the space field and plasma environments of the inner and outer solar system from the sunward-most perihelia of the twin Helios spacecraft to the ongoing heliosheath passages of the twin Voyagers. Composite multi-source spectra from VEPO can also be applied to the continuing compilation of accumulated 1-AU fluence spectra, mostly contributed by solar wind plasma and energetic particle events, for determination of time-averaged particle compositional and kinetic energy output from the Sun and for modeling of long-term irradiation impacts on planetary surfaces.

Cooper, John F.↗

NASA NTRS2011

HERRO: A Science-Oriented Strategy for Crewed Missions Beyond LEO

This paper presents an exploration strategy for human missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the Moon that combines the best features of human and robotic spaceflight. This "Human Exploration using Real-time Robotic Operations" (HERRO) strategy refrains from placing humans on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars in the near-term. Rather, it focuses on sending piloted spacecraft and crews into orbit around exploration targets of interest, such as Mars, and conducting astronaut exploration of the surfaces using telerobots and remotely controlled systems. By eliminating the significant communications delay with Earth due to the speed of light limit, teleoperation provides scientists real-time control of rovers and other sophisticated instruments, in effect giving them a "virtual presence" on planetary surfaces, and thus expanding the scientific return at these destinations. It also eliminates development of the numerous man-rated landers, ascent vehicles and surface systems that are required to land humans on planetary surfaces. The propulsive requirements to travel from LEO to many destinations with shallow gravity-wells in the inner solar system are quite similar. Thus, a single spacecraft design could perform a variety of missions, including orbit-based surface exploration of the Moon, Mars and Venus, and rendezvous with Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), as well as Phobos and Deimos. Although HERRO bypasses many of the initial steps that have been historically associated with human space exploration, it opens the door to many new destinations that are candidates for future resource utilization and settlement. HERRO is a first step that takes humans to exciting destinations beyond LEO, while expanding the ability to conduct science within the inner solar system.

Schmidt, George R.↗

NASA NTRS2018

The WFIRST Coronagraph Instrument: A Major Step in the Exploration of Sun-Like Planetary Systems Via Direct Imaging

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) will be the first high-performance stellar coronagraph using active wavefront control for deep starlight suppression in space, providing unprecedented levels of contrast and spatial resolution for astronomical observations in the optical. One science case enabled by the CGI will be taking visible images and (R~50) spectra of faint interplanetary dust structures present in the habitable zone of nearby sunlike stars (~10 pc) and within the snow-line of more distant ones (~20 pc), down to dust brightness levels commensurate with that of the solar system zodiacal cloud. Reaching contrast levels below 10-7 at sub-arcsecond angular scales for the first time, CGI will cross an important threshold in debris disks physics, accessing disks with low enough optical depths that their structure is dominated by transport mechanisms rather than collisions. Hence, CGI will help us understand how exozodiacal dust grains are produced and transported in low-density disks around mature stars. Additionally, CGI will be able to measure the brightness level and constrain the degree of asymmetry of exozodiacal clouds around individual nearby sunlike stars in the optical, at the ~3x solar zodiacal emission level. This information will be extremely valuable for optimizing the observational strategy of possible future exo-Earth direct imaging missions, especially those planning to operate at optical wavelengths as well, such as the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) and the Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR).

Demers, R.↗

NASA NTRS1981

A meeting with the universe: Science discoveries from the space program

A general history of space exploration is presented. The solar system is discussed. The Sun-Earth relationship is considered, including magnetic fields, solar wind, the magnetosphere, and the Sun-weather relationship. The universe beyond the solar system is discussed. Topics include stellar and galactic evolution, quasars and intergalactic space. The effects of weightlessness and ionizing radiation on human beings are considered. The possibility of extraterrestrial life is discussed. Lunar and planetary exploration, solar-terrestrial physics, astrophysics, biomedical research and exobiology are reviewed. Numerons color illustrations are included.

French, B. M.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Advanced Thin Film Solar Arrays for Space: The Terrestrial Legacy

As in the case for single crystal solar cells, the first serious thin film solar cells were developed for space applications with the promise of better power to weight ratios and lower cost. Future science, military, and commercial space missions are incredibly diverse. Military and commercial missions encompass both hundreds of kilowatt arrays to tens of watt arrays in various earth orbits. While science missions also have small to very large power needs there are additional unique requirements to provide power for near sun missions and planetary exploration including orbiters, landers, and rovers both to the inner planets and the outer planets with a major emphasis in the near term on Mars. High power missions are particularly attractive for thin film utilization. These missions are generally those involving solar electric propulsion, surface power systems to sustain an outpost or a permanent colony on the surface of the Moon or Mars, space based lasers or radar, or large Earth orbiting power stations which can serve as central utilities for other orbiting spacecraft, or potentially beaming power to the Earth itself. This paper will discuss the current state of the art of thin film solar cells and the synergy with terrestrial thin film photovoltaic evolution. It will also address some of the technology development issues required to make thin film photovoltaics a viable choice for future space power systems.

Bailey, Sheila↗

NASA NTRS2018

Life Beyond the Solar System: Remotely Detectable Biosignatures

For the first time in human history, we will soon be able to apply to the scientific method to the question "Are We Alone?" The rapid advance of exoplanet discovery, planetary systems science, and telescope technology will soon allow scientists to search for life beyond our Solar System through direct observation of extrasolar planets. This endeavor will occur alongside searches for habitable environments and signs of life within our Solar System. While these searches are thematically related and will inform each other, they will require separate observational techniques. The search for life on exoplanets holds potential through the great diversity of worlds to be explored beyond our Solar System. However, there are also unique challenges related to the relatively limited data this search will obtain on any individual world.

Domagal-Goldman, Shawn↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advances in Design Capabilities for Planetary Missions from the NASA Entry Systems Modeling and Instrumentation Portfolio

The Entry Systems Modeling project (ESM) is supported by both the NASA Space Technology and the Science Mission Directorates and focuses on developing simulation tools and validated models for characterizing the performance of entry systems tailored to planetary destinations across the Solar System. ESM is organized into six technical capability areas that together address all relevant factors related to spacecraft entry, as well as some aspects of descent: Thermal Protection System (TPS) Materials; Aerothermodynamics; Entry & Descent Vehicle Dynamics; Guidance, Navigation, and Control; Vehicle Systems Analysis; and Advanced Tools and Numerical Methods. Development within the capability areas is undertaken explicitly with a focus on transition and infusion to science missions, human exploration missions, and commercial space activities. The present talk details developments that specifically impact science missions, including simulation tool capabilities that aid in mission design and model development to understand entry system performance at a given destination. Examples of the successful infusion and transition of such project outcomes to science missions also are provided. Several simulation tool development efforts within ESM have resulted in new design capabilities for missions. One such outcome is improved toolsets for mission trajectory and concept of operations design. Specifically, an initiative to couple a leading tool for entry, ascent/descent, and orbital trajectory optimization (Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II or POST2) to those used within the Agency for interplanetary trajectory optimization (Copernicus and Monte) has made substantial progress, with the outcomes to date promising to allow efficient trajectory optimization across mission phases. Additionally, toolchains for the evaluation of vehicle performance during entry and descent have been developed that allow assessment of multi-dimensional aeroheating on detailed vehicle geometries, characterization of deployment and inflation of parachutes, and assessment of vehicle dynamic stability during descent. These capabilities are achieved by coupling diverse sets of physics together – material response, computational fluid dynamics, radiation, and vehicle dynamics – to suitably describe complex entry and descent phenomena. Several model development and validation efforts for specific destinations and entry regimes also are underway within the ESM project. For instance, new experimental capabilities to validate radiation models at low densities/high altitudes recently have been established with project support, specifically the Low-Density Shock Tube (LDST) at the NASA Ames Research Center Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) facility. The LDST is being leveraged to develop improved models of shock layer kinetics and radiation in Titan atmospheres, while future studies will be conducted in the LDST and the existing high velocity shock tube to provide validation data for radiation models of Venus, Ice Giants, and Mars atmospheres. Models describing the aerothermal and thermo-structural performance of Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials has been another focus, with multiscale modeling activities on-going for the two leading TPS materials applicable to a range of entry conditions and science missions: the Phenolic-Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) and woven materials like 3D Mid-Density Carbon Phenolic (3MDCP). A continual effort is made to infuse and transition outcomes from ESM simulation tool and model development activities into relevant science missions. Significant progress has been made on this front, with missions such as Dragonfly, DAVINCI, and Mars Missions benefitting from project outcomes. The groundwork also is being laid to provide insights into forward looking missions to Gas/Ice Giants as well as for potential sample returns.

Justin Haskins↗

NASA NTRS2004

Upcoming and Future Missions in the Area of Infrared Astronomy: Spacecraft and Ground-based Observations

The IRIS instrument on the Voyager spacecrafts made major discoveries with regard to the giant planets, their moons and rings and paved the way for future infrared observations for planetary missions within our solar system. The CIRS instrument of Cassini with much greater spectral-spatial resolution and sensitivity than that provided by IRIS is now rapidly approaching the Saturnian system with orbit insertion on July 1, 2004, for which CIRS is expected to provide an order of magnitude advance beyond that provided by IRIS. The Mars program is also presently dominated by infrared observations in the near to mid-infrared spectral bands for missions such as Mars Global Surveyor and its TES instrument and Odyssey with its THEMIS instrument. In the case of Earth science we have such missions as TIMED, which makes infrared observations of the thermosphere using the SABER instrument. With the newly formed New Frontiers Program we have the opportunity for $650M missions such as Kuiper Belt-Pluto Explorer and Jupiter Polar Orbiter with Probes. Under the Flagship line, once per decade, we have the opportunity for $1B missions for which Europa is presently being considered; for this mission infrared measurements could look for hot spots within the maze of cracks and faults on Europa s surface. On Kuiper Belt- Pluto there is an imaging near-IR spectrometer called LEISA. Another mission on the horizon is Titan Orbiter Aerorover Mission (TOAM) for which there is planned a state-of-art version of CIRS called TIRS on the orbiter that will map out the atmospheric composition with unprecedented wavelength coverage and spectral-spatial resolution. This instrument will also provide temperature maps of the surface of Titan to look for hot spots where life may form. On the same mission there will be a descent imager on the Aerorover (i.e., balloon) similar to that provided by LEISA on the Pluto mission to provide compositional-topographical maps of Titan s surface. Other future mission will also be discussed. Improved thermal detectors could have important applications in solar physics, specifically in the detection of far-IR synchrotron emission from energetic electrons in solar flares. For infrared astronomy we have missions like SIRTF and JWST, which will cover the spectral range from near-IR to far-IR in the search and probing of both new and old planetary systems in our galaxy and the measurement of the most distant galaxies of our universe. SIRTF is scheduled to be launched in August 2003, while JWST will be launched next decade. Another mission is TPF, which will use interferometer techniques at infrared wavelengths to search for planetary systems beyond 2010. With regard to ground based telescopes we have, for example, the twin 10 meter Keck telescopes and the IRTF telescope at Mauna Kea. The Keck telescopes are presently using interferometer techniques. Over the next several decades there are plans for 50 meter to 200 meter telescopes providing near-IR to far-IR measurements with the eventual plan to combine all telescopes using interferometer techniques to provide unprecedented spectral-spatial resolution and sensitivity.

Sittler, E. C., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Field Experiments using Telepresence and Virtual Reality to Control Remote Vehicles: Application to Mars Rover Missions

This paper will describe a series of field experiments to develop and demonstrate file use of Telepresence and Virtual Reality systems for controlling rover vehicles on planetary surfaces. In 1993, NASA Ames deployed a Telepresence-Controlled Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle (TROV) into an ice-covered sea environment in Antarctica. The goal of the mission was to perform scientific exploration of an unknown environment using a remote vehicle with telepresence and virtual reality as a user interface. The vehicle was operated both locally, from above a dive hole in the ice through which it was launched, and remotely over a satellite communications link from a control room at NASA's Ames Research center, for over two months. Remote control used a bidirectional Internet link to the vehicle control computer. The operator viewed live stereo video from the TROV along with a computer-gene rated graphic representation of the underwater terrain showing file vehicle state and other related information. Tile actual vehicle could be driven either from within the virtual environment or through a telepresence interface. In March 1994, a second field experiment was performed in which [lie remote control system developed for the Antarctic TROV mission was used to control the Russian Marsokhod Rover, an advanced planetary surface rover intended for launch in 1998. Marsokhod consists of a 6-wheel chassis and is capable of traversing several kilometers of terrain each day, The rover can be controlled remotely, but is also capable of performing autonomous traverses. The rover was outfitted with a manipulator arm capable of deploying a small instrument, collecting soil samples, etc. The Marsokhod rover was deployed at Amboy Crater in the Mojave desert, a Mars analog site, and controlled remotely from Los Angeles. in two operating modes: (1) a Mars rover mission simulation with long time delay and (2) a Lunar rover mission simulation with live action video. A team of planetary geologists participated in the mission simulation. The scientific goal of the science mission was to determine what could be learned about the geologic context of the site using the capabilities of imaging and mobility provided by the Marsokhod system in these two modes of operation. I will discuss the lessons learned from these experiments in terms of the strategy for performing Mars surface exploration using rovers. This research is supported by the Solar System Exploration Exobiology, Geology, and Advanced Technology programs.

Stoker, Carol↗

NASA NTRS2006

Asteroid Exploration and Exploitation

John S. Lewis is Professor of Planetary Sciences and Co-Director of the Space Engineering Research Center at the University of Arizona. He was previously a Professor of Planetary Sciences at MIT and Visiting Professor at the California Institute of Technology. Most recently, he was a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing for the 2005-2006 academic year. His research interests are related to the application of chemistry to astronomical problems, including the origin of the Solar System, the evolution of planetary atmospheres, the origin of organic matter in planetary environments, the chemical structure and history of icy satellites, the hazards of comet and asteroid bombardment of Earth, and the extraction, processing, and use of the energy and material resources of nearby space. He has served as member or Chairman of a wide variety of NASA and NAS advisory committees and review panels. He has written 17 books, including undergraduate and graduate level texts and popular science books, and has authored over 150 scientific publications.

Lewis, John S.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

What Can We Learn From The Skies Of Alien Planets? Astrophysicists Tell All.

This panel will explore the exciting and often speculative topic of what the skies of other worlds might look like. The discussion will delve into both the scientific research that informs our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres and the creative and imaginative ways that artists and writers have depicted alien skies in popular culture. The panel will bring together experts across stellar and planetary astronomy to discuss the latest scientific findings about exoplanet atmospheres and what they might reveal about the potential habitability of these worlds. They will explore questions such as: what gases might be present in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, and how might they affect the appearance of the sky? How might the presence of multiple stars in a planetary system impact the sky's appearance? And what implications might these findings have for the search for life beyond our solar system? The panel will also discuss the imaginative ways that artists and writers have depicted alien skies in popular culture, from the twin sunsets of Tatooine to the red, dusty sky of Mars in The Martian. They will explore how these depictions have influenced public perceptions of alien words, bridging the gap between science and the imagination.

Elisa Victoria Quintana↗

NASA NTRS1979

The NASA space program

Current and planned NASA space programs are outlined. The major current activity is the development and installation of the Space Transportation System consisting of the Space Shuttle, Spacelab and upper stages for payload launching from the Shuttle. NASA's space sciences program includes spaceborne astronomy by means of the future Space Telescope and Spacelab instruments as well as the current HEAO and IUE satellites. In the area of solar-terrestrial physics, the Solar Maximum Mission and the Solar Polar Mission are scheduled for 1980 and 1983, respectively. Planetary programs generally include ground-based and flyby observations to specify planetary environments, exploration missions to acquire knowledge of planetary processes, history and evolution, and study missions to investigate specific problems. Missions underway include the Voyager mission to Jupiter and Saturn and the Pioneer Venus mission. Research involving the inner planets, the outer planets and asteroids and comets is being planned.

Naugle, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS2017

The Open Gateway: Lunar Exploration in 2050

The Moon, with its fundamental science questions and abundant, potentially useful re-sources, is the most viable destination for near-term future human and robotic exploration. Given what we have learned since Apollo, the lunar frontier now presents an entirely new paradigm for planetary exploration. The Lunar Exploration Roadmap [1], which was jointly developed by engineers, planetary scientists, commercial entities, and policymakers, is the cohesive strategic plan for using the Moon and its resources to enable the exploration of all other destinations within the Solar system by leveraging incremental, affordable investments in cislunar infrastructure. Here, we summarize the Lunar Exploration Roadmap, and describe the immense benefits that will arise from its successful implementation.

Lawrence, S.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Miniaturized Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope for In Situ Planetary Studies

The exploration of remote planetary surfaces calls for the advancement of low power, highly-miniaturized instrumentation. Instruments of this nature that are capable of multiple types of analyses will prove to be particularly useful as we prepare for human return to the moon, and as we continue to explore increasingly remote locations in our Solar System. To this end, our group has been developing a miniaturized Environmental-Scanning Electron Microscope (mESEM) capable of remote investigations of mineralogical samples through in-situ topographical and chemical analysis on a fine scale. The functioning of an SEM is well known: an electron beam is focused to nanometer-scale onto a given sample where resulting emissions such as backscattered and secondary electrons, X-rays, and visible light are registered. Raster scanning the primary electron beam across the sample then gives a fine-scale image of the surface topography (texture), crystalline structure and orientation, with accompanying elemental composition. The flexibility in the types of measurements the mESEM is capable of, makes it ideally suited for a variety of applications. The mESEM is appropriate for use on multiple planetary surfaces, and for a variety of mission goals (from science to non-destructive analysis to ISRU). We will identify potential applications and range of potential uses related to planetary exploration. Over the past few of years we have initiated fabrication and testing of a proof-of-concept assembly, consisting of a cold-field-emission electron gun and custom high-voltage power supply, electrostatic electron-beam focusing column, and scanning-imaging electronics plus backscatter detector. Current project status will be discussed. This effort is funded through the NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences - Planetary Instrument Definition and Development Program.

Gaskin, Jessica↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Retrospective Observations of the Solar System Planets with Interstellar Probe

Retrospective Observations of the Solar System Planets with Interstellar Probe The Interstellar Probe (ISP) mission concept could simultaneously explore a number of long-standing solar system and exoplanetary science objectives. ISP’s long mission lifetime, in combination with the large separations from the solar system objects it could observe (Fig. 1), affords a truly unique dataset. This data could be leveraged to validate models of solar system and extrasolar planets and would be directly analogous to observations we can expect to make for exoplanets. Taken together, these opportunities suggest that ISP’s mission is a critical and necessary component for future planetary science endeavors. This abstract aims to address some of the clear synergies between ISP’s mission profile and the gaps in solar system science that are necessarily gaps in our ability to wholly bound our expectations for exoplanet observations (partly discussed in several white papers, including Zemcov et al., 2019; Harman et al., 2020). Notably, no single platform has yet returned near-complete phase curves for the majority of solar system planets. This is partly due to observational constraints (e.g., ground-based observatories can observe a maximum phase angle of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune of 12º, 6º, 3º, and 2º, respectively; Mallama and Hilton, 2018), but also because of the sparse nature of observations captured by spacecraft over the last 40 years (e.g., Pollack et al., 1986). Additionally, these observations come from disparate instruments that have their own biases and limitations, whereas observations by ISP’s instrumentation would provide almost uniform measurements of nearly every solar system object, removing much of the uncertainty when it comes to data intercomparisons. The biggest hurdles for making these measurements from ISP are likely to be the tight mass and energy limitations, as well as the technical challenge of looking as close as possible to the Sun without peering directly at it. This is potentially complicated by the nature of the larger astrophysical mission requirements, including whether the spacecraft is spinning, but integrating observations on board before returning them to Earth serves to both partly mitigate both the possibility of a spinning spacecraft and the downlink volumes for lookback data (although it may make data disaggregation more technically challenging). Ultimately, ISP could return truly innovative observational data of our solar system, in furtherance of a number of planetary and solar system science goals.

Sonny Harman↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Modeling Entry Systems to Explore Our Solar System

Exploration of our Solar System is a foundational element of NASA’s identity. Delivering a scientific payload through an atmosphere to the surface of a planetary body requires safely navigating the extreme temperatures and stresses generated by flying many times the speed of sound. An entry system is the outer shell of a vehicle designed to protect the payload and, as a single point of failure for a mission, reliability is paramount. Unfortunately, it is not possible to fully replicate the flight environment in ground test facilities – so how do we confidently design a vehicle that needs to work the first time, every time? Modeling and simulation are critical tools for filling gaps in ground test capability and providing traceability from ground to flight. Modeling an entry system is a truly interdisciplinary effort, requiring knowledge of fluid dynamics, high-temperature chemistry, radiation, materials science, structural dynamics, guidance and control – and, finally, the mathematical and computing capability to pull it all together. In this talk, Dr. Michael Barnhardt will discuss the latest research in modeling entry systems and how it is being used in NASA’s exploration missions.

Entry systems↗