Exploring the Solar System: Examples of NASA Missions

No abstract availabl

HEEET: Innovative New TPS for Extreme Entry

This presentation is an overview of Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) providing the motivation, implementation (2014-2019), documentation, final assessment, and mission infusion

Thermal Properties - Do We Trust Them? Yes'ish

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Post-Flight Evaluation of Stardust PICA Forebody Heatshield Material

This presentation was part of the session : Sample Return ChallengesSixth International Planetary Probe WorkshopPhenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) was developed at NASA Ames Research Center under the lightweight ceramic ablator development program in the '80s. PICA has the advantages of low density (~ 0.27g/cc) coupled with efficient ablative capability at high heat fluxes making PICA an enabling technology for the Stardust mission. Three cores at key locations were extracted from the forebody heatshield of the Stardust Sample Return Capsule (SRC) post flight and evaluated. Core locations include a near stagnation core, a flank core and a segment taken from the shoulder of the heatshield. Evaluation included density profiles, recession determination, thermal analysis profile, PICA bondline examination, strength of remaining virgin PICA, emissivity profile, chemical analysis profile and microstructural analysis. Comparisons between experimental density profiles and profiles derived from FIAT, a tool used to predict ablative performance, are in good agreement. Recession comparisons from measured values and FIAT predictions are currently being obtained. In addition a laser scanning tool developed at ARC is being used to evaluate recession measurements and compare to experimental and predicted values. In general, the PICA material examined in the cores is in good condition and intact. Impact damage is not evident and the main degradation observed was that caused by heating on entry. A substantial amount of "virgin" PICA was present in all cores examined. It is noted that the post-flight analysis of the Stardust heat shield is especially important since PICA is baselined for both the Orion (CEV) and Mars Science Laboratory vehicles.NASA; NESC; Orion Thermal Protection System Advanced Development Projec

Different Classes of TPS Architectures and the Influence of Material and Architecture on Failure Mode Evolution and Mars Sample Return: Grand Challenge for EDL

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Challenges and Opportunities For Ensuring Entry System Technology Readiness For Ice Giants Probe Missions

The Ice Giants represent a distinct class of planets within our solar system, and appear to be similar to most exoplanets that have been detected thus far. Exploring Ice Giants in our Solar System would allow us to better understand their formation and evolution processes, and thus help establish scientific links to exoplanets. In situ exploration using probes similar to Galileo, along with an orbiter or a relay spacecraft, will require entry followed by deployment of the descent probe containing science instruments into Uranus or Neptune atmosphere. The challenge is not in the deployment of the probe, but in the atmospheric entry prior to deployment. The entry system has to have a capable, robust and efficient ablative thermal protection system (TPS) designed to protect the descent probe from the thermal and mechanical entry loads. Although entries into Ice Giants may not be as demanding as the Galileo entry at Jupiter, the entry environments will be more severe than environments for Mars, Sample Return missions, and Venus, and will therefore require robust TPS. While Galileo Probes success, nearly 25 years ago, should give us confidence, the recession data from the Galileo entry informs us that the entry environment was under predicted and the design thickness was barely adequate. The lesson learned from Galileo probe for future Ice Giant missions will require us to be cautious and demand a more robust design. The TPS technology used on Galileo entry system no longer exists due to atrophy of manufacturing processes. Instead of attempting to revive Galileo-legacy TPS technology, NASA invested in a new and innovative TPS called HEEET (Heat-shield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology). HEEET has been matured, and is now ready to support future missions not only to the Ice Giants but also for Venus, high-speed sample return, and Saturn probe missions. This lead talk, intended for the technology section of the workshop, will cover entry, descent, and deployment (EDD), with an emphasis on entry. A brief history of the TPS challenges for extreme entry missions will be given along with a quick overview of the concept of operations for EDD. The development and maturation of HEEET system capability will be described. Data gathered in ground-test facilities in the US will be highlighted to show that the technology is mature and ready for Ice Giant missions. All thermal protection systems carry some risk as a result of ground test limitations and Ice Giant missions present some unique challenges. These challenges are not only technical, but also due to limitations in the currently established manufacturing and integration. In addition, the concerns that arise due to potential for atrophy for future Ice Giant mission a decade or more from now will be analyzed. Plausible avenues for mitigation will be presented. There are two companion planned presentations by Dr. Prabhu and Dr. Hwang will dive deeper in the challenges and opportunities. This intended talk will set the stage for their presentations

Progress Towards providing Heat-Shield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) for Venus and other New Frontiers Missions

Heat-shield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) has been in development since 2014 with the goal of enabling missions to Venus, Saturn and other high-speed sample return missions. It is offered as a new technology and incentivized for mission use in the New Frontiers 4 AO by NASA. The current plans are to mature the technology to TRL 6 by FY18. The HEEET Team has been working closely with multiple NF-4 proposals to Venus, Saturn and has been supporting recent Ice-Giants mission studies. This presentation will provide progress made to date and the plans for development in FY18

Challenges in Qualification of Thermal Protection Systems for Extreme Entry Environments

Planetary entry vehicles employ ablative TPS materials to shield the aeroshell from entry aeroheating environments. To ensure mission success, it must be demonstrated that the heatshield system, including local features such as seams, does not fail at conditions that are suitably margined beyond those expected in flight. Furthermore, its thermal response must be predictable, with acceptable fidelity, by computational tools used in heatshield design. Mission assurance is accomplished through a combination of ground testing and material response modelling. A material's robustness to failure is verified through arcjet testing while its thermal response is predicted by analytical tools that are verified against experimental data. Due to limitations in flight-like ground testing capability and lack of validated high-fidelity computational models, qualification of heatshield materials is often achieved by piecing together evidence from multiple ground tests and analytical simulations, none of which fully bound the flight conditions and vehicle configuration. Extreme heating environments (>2000 W/cm2 heat flux and >2 atm pressure), experienced during entries at Venus, Saturn and Ice Giants, further stretch the current testing and modelling capabilities for applicable TPS materials. Fully-dense Carbon Phenolic was the material of choice for these applications; however, since heritage raw materials are no longer available, future uses of re-created Carbon Phenolic will require re-qualification. To address this sustainability challenge, NASA is developing a new dual-layer material based on 3D weaving technology called Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environments (HEEET) [1]. Regardless of TPS material, extreme environments pose additional certification challenges beyond what has been typical in recent NASA missions.Scope of this presentation: This presentation will give an overview of challenges faced in verifying TPS performance at extreme heating conditions

Venus Entry Challenges and Solutions for Aerial Platform Deployment

Venus presents unique challenges for entry and deployment of aerial platforms. This invited presentation addresses the challenges and the solution including rigid and deployable systems

Progress in Manufacturing & Characterizing Domestic Lyocell PICA (PICA-D) and Comparison to Heritage PICA

NASA ARC (Ames Research Center) is working with SMD-PSD (NASA Science Mission Directorate- Planetary Science Directorate) to address PICA ( Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator) rayon sustainability concerns. In FY16/17, Lyocell Based PICA (PICA-D (Domestic)) was manufactured and limited testing performed showing it to be a good candidate as a potential replacement for heritage rayon. Establishing PICA-D as a "drop in replacement" will allow missions to depend on and design missions with PICA without any risk typical of a replacement.Establishing the extended capability of PICA-D will allow Sample Return Missions with higher entry speed that were not considered before