National Aeronautics and Administration

Aerocapture Systems Analysis for a Titan Mission National Aeronautics and Administration

Publisher Marketing: Performance projections for aerocapture show a vehicle mass savings of between 40 and 80%, dependent on destination, for an aerocapture vehicle compared to an all-propulsive chemical vehicle. In addition aerocapture is applicable to multiple planetary exploration destinations of interest to the NASA Office of Space Science. These results led to the identification of aerocapture as one of the top three propulsion technologies for solar system exploration missions during the 2001 NASA In- Space Propulsion Program (ISP) technology prioritization effort, led by Marshall Space Flight Center, to rank current ISP propulsion technologies. An additional finding was that aerocapture needed a better system definition and that supporting technology gaps needed to be identified. An aerocapture systems analysis effort was kicked off in late February and completed in September 2002. The focus of the effort was on aerocapture at Titan with a rigid aeroshell system. Titan was selected as the initial destination for the study due to potential interest in a follow-on mission to Cassini/Huygens. The systems analysis is being completed by a multi-center NASA team including scientists and engineers from Ames Research Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center, led by Langley Research Center. Continued aerocapture systems analysis work is in progress with a Neptune aerocapture systems analysis study. Neptune is representative of the gas giant planets. Additional destinations and further work will be defined based on NASA Office of Space Science roadmap updates and ISP technology development. Plans in FY04 include Mars and Venus.