Mars, Venus, and Beyond: Enabling Technologies for Cruise, Entry, Descent and Landing

Astronautical Engineering SeminarSpeaker:
Anita Sengupta,
NASA-JPL,
EDL and Advanced TechnologiesAbstract:
Technologies for near term NASA missions in the areas of cruise, entry, descent and landing will be discussed. The NSTAR ion thruster, first flown on Deep Space 1, was the subject of extensive research to improve its plasma production efficiency and understand wear and degradation processes. The result of our research enabled the 2007 Dawn Mission which is currently flying a suite of three ion thrusters on a journey to the Main Asteroid Belt. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will deliver a 950 kg rover, requiring the use of a supersonic aerodynamic decelerator and a novel propulsive-tethered landing approach. Our research into supersonic fluid structure interaction enabled the
qualification of a 21.5 meter parachute system, the largest ever built for an off-Earth application. The MSL terminal descent engines create a plume impingement induced landing site alteration. Our research into underexpanded supersonic jet interaction with
Martian media has yielded new experimental measurements of bearing capacity failure, entrainment, and saltation. Finally, we are developing an entry system for a Venus lander
that will see heat flux and peak deceleration levels ten times above Mars entry and experience surface pressure and temperature up to 100 times that of Earth. We are developing an ablative thermal protection system that must accommodate high levels of convective
and radiative heating during atmospheric entry. The research in each of these areas will be discussed including new findings, flight implementation, and future work.

Location: Robert Glen Rapp Engineering Research Building (RRB) - 227

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Dan Erwin