Falcon 9 retropropulsion data informs atmospheric entry and landing designs for Mars
the verdict
INSUFFICIENT LEANING
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
2 sources for · 0 against
The retrieved evidence mentions SpaceX launch vehicles and Mars landing mission concepts separately, but contains no sources establishing that Falcon 9 retropropulsion data informs Mars atmospheric entry and landing designs.
The development of new decelerator technologies will be required as the payload mass for future Mars landing missions increases beyond the current state-of-the-art capability. This study examines the potential for supersonic retropropulsion applied on entry, descent, and landing vehicles to increase the landed payload mass. This study describes the development of a model characterizing the drag augmentation capabilities of peripheral-nozzle supersonic retropropulsion flow interactions. The model captures the dominant flow physics of pressure conservation through shock cascade structures and predicts an increase in the drag coefficient over the nominal drag coefficient of a 70 deg sphere-cone aeroshell by 14% at high Mach numbers. This study also describes drag-augmented supersonic retropropulsion operation concepts for use in Mars entry, descent, and landing. Drag-augmented supersonic retropropulsion is found to be most effective when used in the region of maximum freestream dynamic pressure. The vehicle dry mass is increased by 47% over the reference ballistic trajectory. The region of influence for aerodynamic–propulsive interactions is identified for a set of constant-thrust supersonic retropropulsion trajectories. A hybrid concept combining supersonic retropropulsion and an inflatable aerodynamic decelerator is found to be capable of providing vehicle dry masses that are 707% larger than the baseline vehicle studied.
Mars Sample Return is the highest priority science mission for the next decade as recommended by the 2011 Decadal Survey of Planetary Science [1]. This article presents the results of a feasibility study for a Mars Sample Return mission that efficiently uses emerging commercial capabilities expected to be available in the near future. The motivation of our study was the recognition that emerging commercial capabilities might be used to perform Mars Sample Return with an Earth-direct architecture, and that this may offer a desirable simpler and lower cost approach. The objective of the study was to determine whether these capabilities can be used to optimize the number of mission systems and launches required to return the samples, with the goal of achieving the desired simplicity. All of the major element required for the Mars Sample Return mission are described. Mission system elements were analyzed with either direct techniques or by using parametric mass estimating relationships. The analysis shows the feasibility of a complete and closed Mars Sample Return mission design based on the following scenario: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle places a modified version of a SpaceX Dragon capsule, referred to as "Red Dragon", onto a Trans Mars Injection trajectory. The capsule carries all the hardware needed to return to Earth Orbit samples collected by a prior mission, such as the planned NASA Mars 2020 sample collection rover. The payload includes a fully fueled Mars Ascent Vehicle; a fueled Earth Return Vehicle, support equipment, and a mechanism to transfer samples from the sample cache system onboard the rover to the Earth Return Vehicle. The Red Dragon descends to land on the surface of Mars using Supersonic Retropropulsion. After collected samples are transferred to the Earth Return Vehicle, the single-stage Mars Ascent Vehicle launches the Earth Return Vehicle from the surface of Mars to a Mars phasing orbit. After a brief phasing period, the Earth Return Vehicle performs a Trans Earth Injection burn. Once near Earth, the Earth Return Vehicle performs Earth and lunar swing-bys and is placed into a Lunar Trailing Orbit - an Earth orbit, at lunar distance. A retrieval mission then performs a rendezvous with the Earth Return Vehicle, retrieves the sample container, and breaks the chain of contact with Mars by transferring the sample into a sterile and secure container. With the sample contained, the retrieving spacecraft makes a controlled Earth re-entry preventing any unintended release of Martian materials into the Earth's biosphere. The mission can start in any one of three Earth to Mars launch opportunities, beginning in 2022.
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