Vehicle design requirements of a reusable system for manned Mars missions which employ aerocapturing techniques to obtain desired orbital velocities are defined. Requirements for vehicle L/D and ballistic coefficient are determined for expected aerocapture velocities. Conclusions are presented concerning g-loads environment and TPS requirements for a vehicle that aerocaptures at Mars and Earth. Although the goal of a reusable system (based on current state-of-art technologies) was not obtained, the viability of aerocapture at Mars and Earth was established.
Manned MARS Mission Vehicle Design Requirements for Aerocapture
1986
15 pages
Report
No indication
English
Earth return aerocapture for manned Mars missions
NTRS | 1991
|Parametric study of manned aerocapture. II - Mars entry
NTRS | 1992
|