NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (NRA) ENTITLED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN AERONAUTICS (ROA) 2007, SOLICITED FOUND…

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NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (NRA) ENTITLED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN AERONAUTICS (ROA) 2007, SOLICITED FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THE AERONAUTICS RESEARCH MISSION DIRECTORATE (ARMD), NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA). A MAJOR FOCUS OF THIS NRA IS TO ENCOURAGE COLLABORATION BETWEEN OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND NASA TO HELP ACHIEVE SPECIFIC GOALS IN A VARIETY OF FOUNDATIONAL AERONAUTICS RESEARCH PROGRAMS. THE FUNDAMENTAL AERONAUTICS PROGRAM HAS THE GOAL OF DEVELOPING AND MATURING THE TECHNOLOGIES REQUIRED TO BUILD FUTURE HIGH MASS MARS ENTRY SYSTEMS (HMMES) THAT WILL ENABLE LARGE MISSIONS (2-100 MT) FOR THE EXPLORATION OF MARS AND OTHER PLANETS. THESE MISSIONS WILL REQUIRE DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN ENTRY, DESCENT, AND LANDING (EDL) CAPABILITIES TO SAFELY DELIVER LARGE PAYLOADS TO THE SURFACE OF MARS. ADDRESSING THIS PROBLEM REQUIRES ADVANCEMENTS IN COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS AND CAPABILITIES, ADVANCEMENTS IN EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES, AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW EDL ARCHITECTURES AND TECHNOLOGIES. PRIOR STUDIES HAVE PROPOSED ARCHITECTURES THAT RELIED ON TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS LOW BALLISTIC COEFFICIENT AEROSHELLS, MID- TO HIGH-LIFT ENTRY VEHICLES, AND HIGH-MACH SUPERSONIC DECELERATORS. A COMBINED SOLICITATION OF THE HYPERSONICS AND SUPERSONICS PROJECTS WAS INTENDED TO ENABLE HMMES BY INVESTING IN A COMPREHENSIVE PORTFOLIO OF R&D ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND TRADE STUDIES. CURRENTLY, THE TECHNOLOGY DOES NOT EXIST TO LAND LARGE MASSES ON THE MARTIAN SURFACE. TO DATE, THERE HAVE BEEN A TOTAL OF FIVE SUCCESSFUL LANDINGS ON MARS: VIKINGS I AND II (1976), MARS PATHFINDER (1997), AND MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS SPIRIT AND OPPORTUNITY (2004). ALL FIVE OF THESE SUCCESSFUL SYSTEMS HAD THE FOLLOWING SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS: LANDED MASSES OF LESS THAN 0.6 MT, LANDED AT LOW ELEVATION SITES, AND LARGE UNCERTAINTY IN LANDING LOCATION (UNCERTAINTY OF 100S OF KM IN TARGETING THE PREDETERMINED LANDING SITE). ALL OF THESE MISSIONS HAVE RELIED ON LARGE TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS MADE IN THE LATE 1960S AND EARLY 1970S AS PART OF THE VIKING PROGRAM, NAMELY: AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERIZATION OF 70-DEG SPHERE-CONE FOREBODY HEATSHIELDS, SLA-561V TPS, SUPERSONIC DISK-GAP-BAND PARACHUTES, AND AUTONOMOUS TERMINAL DESCENT PROPULSION. THE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY (MSL) IS AT THE UPPER MASS LIMIT OF WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH TODAY S TECHNOLOGY (VIKING-BASED). THE SUBJECT PROJECT INVESTIGATES A BROAD RANGE OF EDL-RELATED CONCEPTS AND ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR BENEFITS AS DEFINED BY SYSTEMS ANALYSES FOR LARGE (2-100 MT) MISSIONS TO MARS. SCOPE THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL EXPLORE THE TRADE SPACE FOR NOVEL AND INNOVATIVE EDL ARCHITECTURES AND CONCEPTS TO ENABLE LARGE-MASS (2-100 MT) MISSIONS TO MARS. EXAMPLES INCLUDE DEPLOYABLE AERODYNAMIC DECELERATORS, HIGH-PERFORMANCE MID-TO-HIGH L/D ENTRY AEROSHELL OPTIONS, ADVANCED OR DUAL-USE TPS, CONTROL EFFECTORS, AND PROPULSIVE DECELERATORS. SYSTEM-LEVEL TRADE STUDIES THAT IDENTIFY AND QUANTIFY PROMISING EDL ELEMENTS AND COMPLETE ARCHITECTURES WILL BE PERFORMED. PREVIOUS EDL DESIGNS WILL BE RESEARCHED, CATEGORIZED, DEFINED/DEVELOPED AS REQUIRED, AND EVALUATED. RESEARCH WILL CAPTURE THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE FOR EXISTING DESIGNS TO REDUCE REDUNDANT EFFORTS. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS TASK 1: EDL SYSTEMS TRADE STUDIES A) THE CONTRACTOR SHALL USE PREVIOUS RESULTS FROM THE NASA SPONSORED CONCEPT EVALUATION AND REFINEMENT (CE&R) STUDIES AND RECENT MARS EXPLORATION ARCHITECTURE UPDATES AS PROVIDED BY NASA AS A POINT OF DEPARTURE TO IDENTIFY FUTURE MARS PAYLOAD REQUIREMENTS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL WORK WITH NASA TO DEFINE A SET OF MUTUALLY AGREED UPON ENTRY INITIAL STATES AND INTERFACES, TO INCLUDE: ENTRY CONDITIONS (VELOCITY AND DECLINATION), PAYLOAD MASSES, PAYLOAD VOLUMES, AND LANDING LOCATIONS. B) THE CONTRACTOR SHALL FORMULATE A FIGURE OF MERIT MATRIX, CALCULATE SENSITIVITIES, AND HOLD AN ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP) EXERCISE WITH NASA TO DETERMINE THE DRIVING FIGURES OF MERIT (FOMS) FOR T