A Wind-powered Rover for a Low-Cost Venus Mission | Zendy

Geoffrey A. Landis | Zendy; Kathleen Hoza | Zendy; Gina Benigno | Zendy; Samira A. Motiwala | Zendy; Anthony J. Colozza | Zendy

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A Wind-powered Rover for a Low-Cost Venus Mission

Author(s) -

Geoffrey A. Landis,

Kathleen Hoza,

Gina Benigno,

Samira A. Motiwala,

Anthony J. Colozza

Publication year - 2013

Publication title -

51st aiaa aerospace sciences meeting including the new horizons forum and aerospace exposition

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Conference proceedings

DOI - 10.2514/6.2013-586

Subject(s) - venus , turbine , scope (computer science) , aerospace engineering , environmental science , computer science , marine engineering , astrobiology , engineering , systems engineering , physics , programming language

Venus, with a surface temperature of 450 C and an atmospheric pressure 90 times higher than that of the Earth, is a difficult target for exploration. However, high-temperature electronics and power systems now being developed make it possible that future missions may be able to operate in the Venus environment. Powering such a rover within the scope of a Discovery class mission will be difficult, but harnessing Venus' surface winds provides a possible way to keep a powered rover small and light. This project scopes out the feasibility of a wind-powered rover for Venus surface missions. Two rover concepts, a land-sailing rover and a wind-turbine-powered rover, were considered. The turbine-powered rover design is selected as being a low-risk and low-cost strategy. Turbine detailed analysis and design shows that the turbine can meet mission requirements across the desired range of wind speeds by utilizing three constant voltage generators at fixed gear ratios.

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