Most spacecraft thermal analysis tools assume that the spacecraft is in orbit around a planet and are designed to calculate solar and planetary fluxes, as well as radiation to space. On NASA Constellation projects, thermal analysts are also building models of vehicles in their pre-launch condition on the surface of a planet. This process entails making some modifications in the building and execution of a thermal model such that the radiation from the planet, both reflected albedo and infrared, is calculated correctly. Also important in the calculation of pre-launch vehicle temperatures are the natural environments at the vehicle site, including air and ground temperatures, sky radiative background temperature, solar flux, and optical properties of the ground around the vehicle. A group of Constellation projects have collaborated on developing a cohesive, integrated set of natural environments that accurately capture worst-case thermal scenarios for the pre-launch and launch phases of these vehicles. The paper will discuss the standardization of methods for local planet modeling across Constellation projects, as well as the collection and consolidation of natural environments for launch sites. Methods for Earth as well as lunar sites will be discussed.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Ground Plane and Near-Surface Thermal Analysis for NASA's Constellation Program


    Contributors:
    J. F. Gasbarre (author) / R. M. Amundsen (author) / S. Scola (author) / F. F. Leahy (author) / J. R. Sharp (author)

    Publication date :

    2008


    Size :

    13 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    Ground Plane and Near-Surface Thermal Analysis for NASA's Constellation Program

    Gasbarre, Joseph F. / Amundsen, Ruth M. / Scola, Salvatore et al. | NTRS | 2008


    NASA's Constellation Program

    Baumeister, Joseph | NTRS | 2009


    Formulation of NASA's Constellation Program

    J. L. Rhatigan / J. M. Hanley / M. S. Geyer | NTIS | 2007