A propellant-saving hopper mobility system was studied that could help facilitate the exploration of small bodies such as Phobos for long-duration human missions. The NASA Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) has proposed a mission to the moons of Mars as a transitional step for eventual Mars surface exploration. While a Mars transit habitat would be parked in High-Mars Orbit (HMO), crew members would visit the surface of Phobos multiple times for up to 14 days duration (up to 50 days at a time with logistics support). This paper describes a small body surface mobility concept that is capable of transporting a small, two-person Pressurized Exploration Vehicle (PEV) cabin to various sites of interest in the low-gravity environment. Using stored kinetic energy between bounces, a propellant-saving hopper mobility system can release the energy to vector the vehicle away from the surface in a specified direction. Alternatively, the stored energy can be retained for later use while the vehicle is stationary in respect to the surface. The hopper actuation was modeled using a variety of launch velocities, and the hopper mobility was evaluated using NASA Exploration Systems Simulations (NExSyS) for transit between surface sites of interest. A hopper system with linear electromagnetic motors and mechanical spring actuators coupled with Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) for attitude control will use renewable electrical power, resulting in a significant propellant savings.
Small Body Hopper Mobility Concepts
AIAA Space Conference and Exhibition ; 2015 ; Pasadena, CA, United States
2015-08-31
Conference paper
No indication
English
Small Body Hopper Mobility Concepts
AIAA | 2015
|Small Body Hopper Mobility Concepts (AIAA 2015-4566)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2015
|Hopper concepts for small body landers
Elsevier | 2010
|Hopper concepts for small body landers
Online Contents | 2011
|