NASA L'Space Mission Concept Academy

November 2020 - May 2021

Background

The NASA L'SPACE Academy is a free, online, interactive program open to undergraduate STEM students interested in pursuing a career with NASA or other space organizations. L'SPACE consists of two Academies - the Mission Concept Academy, and the NASA Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience Academy. Students may participate in one Academy per semester. Each 12-week Academy is designed to provide unique, hands-on learning and insight into the dynamic world of the space industry. Students can expect to learn NASA mission procedures and protocols from industry professionals as they collaborate with fellow team members to complete mission-related team-projects.

My team composed of nine individuals that come from a wide varitety of disciplines including Environmental Science, Biology, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Aerospace Engineering. Each participant apart of the project came from the following universities: University of Guam, California State University Chico, California state Polytechnic University Pomona, California State University Long Beach, San Jose State University, and University of California San Diego.

My role on the team as one of the mechanical engineers was to both CAD and provide drawings of our concept design using Siemens NX. As a team we decided on using the cube satellite platform using a mock 3U CubeSat for its structure size in due part to previous experience with the platform and ease of customization.

Labeled Image of CAD Model

Mission

The goal from this project was to develop a lunar mission that would orbit the planet Venus in order to further understand climate processes and characteristics from that of Earth. The overarching goals for this mission are to examine the physics and chemistry of Venus to identify its current state and phase of evolution including past habitability and to characterize the Venus surface-atmosphere interface and how it is shaped by physical and chemical processes. Long-term, spatiotemporally varied data will be collected for environmental conditions (temperature, barometric pressure, pH, wind vectors). Atmospheric chemical composition and relative abundance of isotopes of Noble Gases, Nitrogen, O2 , CO2 , and Deuterium/Hydrogen and imagery of the ground surface (high-resolution SAR topography) will also be collected. This data has high potential to address key questions and to improve scientific understanding of solar system beginnings, exoplanet habitability, and planetary processes over time.

Mission Plan

Concept of Operations

The objective of this mission to Venus is to capture atmospheric and surface data using a probe from the Venusian Cloud Tops 50-70 km above Venus’ surface. The probe will enter the atmosphere along with a secondary payload at 140 km above the surface at a downward velocity of 35 m/s. From here, the probe shall make any vertical or horizontal adjustments by using its pivoting thrusters. Then the probe shall deploy the parachute and slow the vehicle down to roughly 17 m/s. Once at this velocity, the parachute shall detach and one of the balloons on the top of the probe will rapidly inflate using the combustion method that is commonly seen in airbags, while the solar panels folded on the side simultaneously unfold. After the balloon has been inflated and balanced, it shall descend to the target altitude at an angle of roughly 40°, where a heating element within the balloon will ensure that the balloon does not fall below 50km.