Pluto Hop, Skip, and Jump

Goldman, Benjamin

关键词: AEROCAPTURE;    AEROTHERMODYNAMICS;    COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS;    DESIGN ANALYSIS;    LAUNCHING;    MISSION PLANNING;    PLUTO ATMOSPHERE;    SYSTEMS INTEGRATION;    ATMOSPHERIC MODELS;    CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER;    DYNAMIC PRESSURE;    INTERPLANETARY TRAJECTORIES;    ORBIT INSERTION;    SYSTEMS ENGINEERING;    THERMAL ANALYSIS;   

RP-ID  :  GAC Report: 510-AJ71G-001,HQ-E-DAA-TN61918

学科分类：天文学(综合)

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

This is the Final Report from Global Aerospace Corporation on this NIAC effort (Grant Nos.: NNX17AJ71G and 80NSSC18K0062) to develop the Pluto Hop, Skip, and Jump mission concept. We sought out to establish the feasibility of using a large inflatable drag device to decelerate and land on Pluto from interplanetary speed (~14 km/s) using only the Pluto atmosphere and just a few kilograms of propellant. The design and analysis efforts in Phase I indicated that this is feasible. Aerodynamic heating and loads were found to be orders of magnitude less than typical planetary entries due to the ultra-low ballistic coefficient craft and the low density and large scale height of the Pluto atmosphere. The deceleration system is capable of delivering a 200-kg lander-hopper to the surface or inserting an orbiter of a similar mass using aerocapture. Mission analysis work led to a reference mission with Earth launch in 2029, Jupiter assist in 2030, and Pluto arrival in 2040.