Abort options for potential Mars missions | Zendy

Paul V. Tartabini | Zendy; Scott A. Striepe | Zendy; Richard W. Powell | Zendy

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Abort options for potential Mars missions

Author(s) -

Paul V. Tartabini,

Scott A. Striepe,

Richard W. Powell

Publication year - 1994

Publication title -

journal of spacecraft and rockets

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.758

H-Index - 79

eISSN - 1533-6794

pISSN - 0022-4650

DOI - 10.2514/3.26476

Subject(s) - mars exploration program , spacecraft , aerospace engineering , spacecraft design , abort , space exploration , systems engineering , missile , in space propulsion technologies , space (punctuation) , space station freedom , space suit , deep space exploration , aeronautics , exploration of mars , space technology , space research , computer science , engineering , astrobiology , nasa deep space network , propulsion , spacecraft propulsion , physics , operating system

Mars trajectory design options were examined that would accommodate a premature termination of a nominal manned opposition class mission for opportunities between 2010 and 2025. A successful abort must provide a safe return to Earth in the shortest possible time consistent with mission constraints. In this study, aborts that provided a minimum increase in the initial vehicle mass in low Earth orbit (IMLEO) were identified by locating direct transfer nominal missions and nominal missions including an outbound or inbound Venus swing-by that minimized IMLEO. The ease with which these missions could be aborted while meeting propulsion and time constraints was investigated by examining free return (unpowered) and powered aborts. Further reductions in trip time were made to some aborts by the addition or removal of an inbound Venus swing-by. The results show that, although few free return aborts met the specified constraints, 85% of each nominal mission could be aborted as a powered abort without an increase in propellant. Also, in many cases, the addition or removal of a Venus swing-by increased the number of abort opportunities or decreased the total trip time during an abort.

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