The obvious advantages of small spacecraft - their lower cost structure and the rapid development schedule - have enabled a large number of missions in the past. However, most of these missions have been focused on Earth observation from low Earth orbits. In 2006, the Small Spacecraft Division at the NASA Ames Research Center began the development of the Modular Common Bus, a spacecraft capable of delivering scientifically and technically useful payloads to a variety of destinations within 0.1 AU around the Earth. The core technologies used in the Common Bus design are a composite structure with body-mounted solar cells, an integrated avionics unit, and a high performance bipropellant propulsion system. Due to its modular approach, the Common Bus can be adapted to fit specific mission needs while still using a standardized and qualified set of components. Additionally a number of low cost launch vehicles are supported, resulting in overall mission costs of around $150M including the launch vehicle but excluding the science payloads. This significant reduction in cost and the shorter development time would enable NASA to conduct more frequent exploration missions within its budget and timeframe constraints, compared to the status quo. In this paper the suitability of the Common Spacecraft Bus for four different exploration scenarios is analyzed. These scenarios include a lunar orbiter, a lunar lander, a mission to a Sun-Earth Libration Point, and a rendezvous mission to a Near Earth Object. For each scenario, a preliminary design reference mission is developed and key design parameters for the spacecraft are determined.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Multi-Mission Suitability of the NASA Ames Modular Common Bus


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    AIAA and Utah State University 23rd Annual Conference ; 2009 ; Logan, UT, United States


    Publication date :

    2009-10-09


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    Multi-Mission Suitability of the NASA Ames Modular Common Bus

    Tietz, S. / Bell, J. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2009



    Space Mission Design at NASA Ames

    Mauro, David | NTRS | 2019


    Ames Modular Common Spacecraft Bus

    Hine, Butler Preston | NTRS | 2015


    Ames Modular Common Spacecraft Bus

    B. P. Hine | NTIS | 2015