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Comparative Study of Aerial Platforms for Mars Exploration

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Comparative Study of Aerial Platforms for Mars Exploration Thesis by Nasreen Dhanji Department of Mechanical Engineering McGill University Montreal, Canada October 2007 A Thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering © Nasreen Dhanji, 2007 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-51455-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-51455-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract The primary objective of this thesis is to develop a framework to compare the performance of fixed-wing aircraft, airships, and the rotary-wing aircraft in the Martian environment and through that framework, determine which of these platforms is best suited to conduct a series of scientific investigations on Mars. Three Mars mission scenarios provide the context within which the performance of the platforms is evaluated. The mission scenarios are used to derive the performance requirements including the range and flight path to be covered, the altitude at which the platforms fly, and the scientific investigations to be performed along with the associated scientific instrumentation to be carried as payload. Existing platform designs are used for the purpose of this comparative study and are modified depending on specific mission requirements. A set of weighted performance metrics, including the gross takeoff mass, power required, manoeuvrability, and complexity, serves as a common basis for comparing the performance of the three aerial platforms. The results of this comparative study indicate that the airship is best suited for all mission scenarios considered due to its simplicity and high degree of manoeuvrability. However, it is important to note that a series of subjective design choices with respect to platform speed and available power were made that significantly impact the overall performance of the platforms. Altering these design choices as well as the mission requirements could result in a different platform being best suited for each Mars mission. For instance, increasing the cruising velocity of the fixed-wing aircraft may allow its dimensions to be scaled down thereby reducing the complexity and making it a more competitive platform for long-range missions. In addition, for short-range missions that do not require a high degree of manoeuvrability but where the gross takeoff mass and complexity are more important factors, the rotary-wing aircraft becomes the best option. 1 Resume La presente these a pour objectif principal de concevoir un cadre de comparaison portant sur la performance de l'aeronef a voilure fixe, le dirigeable et de l'aeronef a voilure tournante dans Penvironnement martien, grace auquel il sera possible de determiner laquelle de ces plateformes aeriennes convient le mieux pour effectuer une serie de recherches scientifiques sur Mars. Trois scenarios de mission fournissent le contexte dans lequel la performance des plateformes est evaluee. Les scenarios servent a determiner les criteres de performance y compris la distance franchissable et la trajectoire de vol a parcourir, 1'altitude de vol des plateformes et les etudes scientifiques a mener ainsi que le materiel scientifique a transporter comme charge utile. Des modeles existants de plateforme sont utilises aux fins de la presente etude comparative et sont modifies selon les exigences specifiques de chaque mission. Une serie de parametres ponderes, comprenant la masse au decollage, la puissance necessaire, la manoeuvrabilite et le niveau de complexite, sert de commune mesure pour la comparaison de la performance des trois plateformes aeriennes. Les resultats de la presente etude comparative demontrent que, compte tenu de sa simplicity et de sa grande manoeuvrabilite, le dirigeable convient le mieux a tous les scenarios de mission considered. Toutefois, il est important de noter que des choix subjectifs de modeles, ayant une incidence considerable sur la performance globale des plateformes, ont ete effectues relativement a la vitesse des plateformes et a la puissance disponible. Le fait de modifier ces choix de modeles ainsi que les exigences de mission reviendrait a opter pour une plateforme differente convenant le mieux a chaque mission sur Mars. Par exemple, l'augmentation de la vitesse de croisiere de l'aeronef a voilure fixe permettrait la diminution de ses dimensions, reduisant ainsi le niveau de complexite et rendant la plateforme plus appropriee pour les missions lointaines. En outre, en ce qui concerne les missions a courte distance n'exigeant pas une grande manoeuvrabilite, mais pour lesquelles la masse au decollage et le niveau de complexite sont des facteurs plus importants, l'aeronef a voilure tournante devient la meilleure option. u Acknowledgements I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor, Professor Meyer Nahon, for his support and guidance. He always provided good direction when required and was a great source of information. In addition, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my thesis co-advisor, Dr. Erick Dupuis of the Canadian Space Agency. Erick played an instrumental role in determining the scientific investigations that could be performed on Mars using aerial platforms. He also provided helpful referrals to experts in the field of Mars exploration at the Canadian Space Agency. I would like to thank Alain Berinstain of the Canadian Space Agency for his help in identifying regions on Mars that are of scientific interest with respect to the Mars missions developed in this study. I would also like to thank Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency for her help in identifying the type of scientific instruments that can be used to perform the specific scientific investigations on Mars. Finally I would like to thank Yuwen Li, a fellow Master's student at McGill University, for his help in determining the yaw rate associated with the airship as well as the stable airship configuration. in Table of Contents Abstract i Resume ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Figures viii List of Tables x Nomenclature xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1 1.1 Scientific Investigations on Mars 1 1.2 Case for Aerial Missions on Mars 2 1.3 Scientific Objectives Achievable Using Aerial Platforms 3 1.4 Literature Review 5 1.5 Obj ectives of Thesis 17 CHAPTER 2: MISSION CONCEPTS FOR MARS EXPLORATION 19 2.1 Determining if Life Ever Arose on Mars 21 2.2 Understanding the Processes and History of Climate on Mars 26 2.3 Determining the Evolution of the Surface and Interior of Mars 31 iv CHAPTER 3: AERIAL PLATFORMS FOR MARS EXPLORATION 36 3.1 Lighter-Than-Air Vehicles 36 3.2 Heavier-Than-Air Vehicles 39 3.3 Aerial Platforms Considered in this Study 40 3.3.1 Fixed-Wing Aircraft Configuration 41 3.3.2 Airship Configuration 46 3.3.3 Rotary-Wing Aircraft Configuration 49 CHAPTER 4: AERIAL PLATFORM PERFORMANCE ON MARS 52 4.1 Performance Metrics 53 4.2 Fixed-Wing Aircraft 55 4.2.1 Aircraft Characteristics 55 4.2.2 Method of Evaluation of Performance Metrics for Fixed- Wing Aircraft 57 4.2.2.1 Gross Takeoff Mass 57 4.2.2.2 Power 61 4.2.2.3 Manoeuvrability 62 4.2.2.4 Complexity 65 4.2.3 Scaling of the Fixed-Wing Aircraft 66 4.3 Airship 67 4.3.1 Method of Evaluation of Performance Metrics for the Airship 68 4.3.1.1 Gross Takeoff Mass 68 4.3.1.2 Power 72 v 4.3.1.3 Manoeuvrability 73 4.3.1.4 Complexity 75 4.3.2 Scaling of the Airship 75 4.4 Rotary-Wing Aircraft 76 4.4.1 Method of Evaluation of Performance Metrics for the Rotary- Wing Aircraft 76 4.4.1.1 Gross Takeoff Mass 76 4.4.1.2 Power 80 4.4.1.3 Manoeuvrability 85 4.4.1.4 Complexity 87 4.4.2 Scaling of the Rotary-Wing Aircraft 88 4.5 Method for Evaluating a Single Performance Rating for each Aerial Platform 89 4.5.1 Performance
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