Abstract
Solar sails have the potential to provide mass and cost savings for spacecraft traveling within the inner solar system. Companies like L’Garde have demonstrated sail manufacturability and various in-space deployment methods. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a current Mars sample return architecture and to determine how cost and mass would be reduced by incorporating a solar sail propulsion system. The team validated the design proposed by L’Garde, and scaled the design based on a trajectory analysis. Using the solar sail design reduced the required mass, eliminating one of the three launches required in the original architecture.
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Abbreviations
- ACO:
-
Advanced Concepts Office
- ACS:
-
Attitude Control System
- AR&C:
-
Arrival, Rendezvous & Capture
- C&DH:
-
Command & Data Handling
- CP1:
-
Colorless Polymer 1
- EEV:
-
Earth Entry Vehicle
- ERS:
-
Earth Return Stage
- GN&C:
-
Guidance Navigation and Control
- GR&A:
-
Ground Rules and Assumptions
- GSD:
-
Ground System Demonstration
- HGA:
-
High Gain Antenna
- IEM:
-
Integrated Electronics Module
- Isp:
-
Specific Impulse
- JPL:
-
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- LEO:
-
Low Earth Orbit
- LGA:
-
Low Gain Antenna
- MEL:
-
Master Equipment List
- MIDAS:
-
Mission Design and Analysis Software
- MLI:
-
Multi-Layer Insulation
- MOI:
-
Mars Orbit Insertion
- MPDM:
-
Multi-Purpose Data Module
- MPS:
-
Main Propulsion System
- MSFC:
-
Marshall Space Flight Center
- MSR:
-
Mars Exploration Sample Return
- NASA:
-
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- ORU:
-
Orbital Replacement Unit
- OS:
-
Orbiting Sample
- PDU:
-
Power Distribution Unit
- PMAD:
-
Power Management and Distribution
- SBC:
-
Single Board Computer
- SRO:
-
Sample Return Orbiter
- SSPA:
-
Solid State Power Amplifier
- TRL:
-
Technology Readiness Level
- UHF:
-
Ultra High Frequency
References
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Russell, T.E. et al. (2014). Reduction of Martian Sample Return Mission Launch Mass with Solar Sail Propulsion. In: Macdonald, M. (eds) Advances in Solar Sailing. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34907-2_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34907-2_21
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