Phillip M. Cunio

Options in the solar system for planetary surface exploration via hopping

This paper provides an initial overview of the capabilities of hopping vehicles, and examines planetary bodies in the solar system which might be amenable to exploration via hopping. A hopping vehicle is one which uses ballistic propulsive action, rather than ground contact or action on a surrounding fluid, to propel itself1 2. The paper examines how gravity levels, atmospheric densities, and surface characteristics affect the attractiveness of a planetary body to hopping missions. An initial catalogue of planetary bodies where hopping missions could take place is provided.

Small Lunar Exploration and Delivery System Concept

This paper describes an architectural concept for a Small Lunar Exploration and Delivery System to operate as a platform for emplacing payloads into lunar orbit and onto the lunar surface, while providing mobility for surface exploration, science, and infrastructure. The concept leverages emerging services that are capable of delivering payloads to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), while utilizing new and old technologies to build a platform for transfer to Low Lunar Orbit (LLO). Advances and miniaturization in avionics, navigation, power, and propulsion systems enable a unique opportunity to develop a system that is both capable of landing on the lunar surface and providing surface mobility with the same system.

Further Development and Flight Testing of a Prototype Lunar and Planetary Surface Exploration Hopper: Update on the TALARIS Project

This paper presents an update on the Earth-based hopper prototype for autonomous planetary exploration that MIT and Draper Laboratory are developing as part of the Next Giant Leap teams efforts in the Google Lunar X-Prize. New developments and upgrades, culminating in the second-generation vehicle, are described in this paper, as well as the ongoing test program and experimental results. Recent developments include a redesign of the vehicle structure, an upgrade to the avionics system, the use of an upgraded version of the gravity-offsetting propulsion system (which uses electrically-powered ducted fans) and the incorporation of the secondary spacecraft-emulator propulsion system (which uses compressed nitrogen propellant and cold gas thrusters).

Development of a Cold Gas Spacecraft Emulator System for the TALARIS Hopper

The TALARIS (Terrestrial Artificial Lunar And Reduced gravIty Simulator) hopper is a small prototype vehicle currently being developed as an Earth-based testbed for guidance, navigation, and control algorithms that will be used to explore lunar and other planetary surfaces remotely. It has two propulsion systems: (1) a system of four electric ducted fans to offset 5/6 of Earth’s gravity, and (2) a cold gas propulsion system which uses compressed nitrogen propellant in an impulsive emulation of the lunar propulsion system, flying in an environment dynamically similar to that of the Moon. This paper focuses on the second of these propulsion systems. It details the practical development of the cold gas spacecraft emulator (CGSE) system, including initial conception and design, methods of analysis, and test results. Details of the system’s integration into the broader TALARIS project are also presented. Finally, a path ahead for additional testing of the CGSE is discussed.

Near-Term Mars Sample Return Using In-Situ Oxygen Generation

A Mars sample return mission was designed to transport a 0.5-kg sample from the Martian surface to Earth using oxygen manufactured from in-situ resources to burn fuel brought from Earth. The use of locally-generated oxygen (In-Situ Resource Utilization, or ISRU) can reduce the mass of ascent-related systems required to be landed on Mars for a fixed payload size, or can increase the payload returned from Mars for a fixed mass of ascent systems. For the baseline case of a 0.5-kg sample, a 32% savings occurs in the landed mass of the ascent systems, which transport samples from the surface to orbit. Additionally, the benefits of locally-generated oxygen increase considerably as the sample size increases.

Verification and Validation of a Cold Gas Propulsion System for the TALARIS Hopper Testbed

The TALARIS (Terrestrial Artificial Lunar And Reduced gravIty Simulator) hopper is a small prototype vehicle currently being flight tested as an Earth-based testbed for guidance, navigation, and control algorithms that will be used to explore lunar and other planetary surfaces remotely. It has two propulsion systems: (1) a system of four electric ducted fans to offset 5/6 of the Earth’s gravitational force, and (2) a cold gas propulsion system which uses compressed nitrogen propellant to impulsively emulate the lunar propulsion system and flies in an environment dynamically similar to that of the Moon. This paper is a follow-up to the SPACE 2010 paper entitled “Development of a Cold Gas Spacecraft Emulator [CGSE] System for the TALARIS Hopper.” It focuses on the second of the aforementioned propulsion systems. This paper reviews the history and design of the CGSE, describes the testing characterization process, compares actual and predicted results, and discusses the CGSE performance in the context of closed-loop vehicle control. Special focus is given to emergent behaviors.

Initial Development of an Earth-Based Prototype for a Lunar Hopper Exploration System

MIT is developing an Earth-based hopper prototype for autonomous planetary exploration. This paper describes the initial development of the hopper prototype and its application as a testbed for lunar hopper technologies. The prototype hopper consists of a gravity-canceling system, composed of battery-powered electric ducted fans, and an integrated lunar hopper system, which operates using cold gas propulsion. The gravitycanceling system is designed to allow the lunar hopper system to operate in an environment which is dynamically similar to the surface of the Moon, although it also allows for recovery and safe touchdown if the cold gas system experiences a failure. The environment provided by the electric ducted fans applies the fan thrust against Earth’s gravity to obtain a desired upward acceleration, allowing the cold gas jets to operate as if they were in a fractionalgravity environment. The key design features of the integrated gravity-canceling and lunar hopping systems are presented in this paper.

LIMIT: Lunar Infrared Modular Interferometric Telescope

The goal to return humans to the Moon by 2020 raises the possibility of leveraging both the transportation architecture currently under development by the Constellation program and the physical presence of humans on the Moon. This paper presents the design of an interferometric telescope array at the lunar south pole that takes advantage of these transportation and deployment capabilities. A permanently shadowed lunar crater provides a stable site for very low temperature observations, ideal for observing extrasolar planets, star formation and active galactic nuclei.

Polynesian Colonization as a Model for Human Expansion into the Solar System

The expansion of Polynesian settlers across the major island groups of the Pacific Ocean represents a substantial human achievement, in that significant distances of open ocean were regularly crossed by hundreds or thousands of people, most likely in small groups. The environment of the Pacific Ocean is a series of habitable or marginally-habitable patches of land scattered amid large expanses of ocean; this is similar to the solar system, which consists of a widespread number of planetary bodies with solid surfaces that offer various potential resources for human habitation including oxygen, water, metals, and even the ingredients for carbon-based fuel and edible material. The process of expansion into the Pacific Ocean by humans likely included multiple episodes of long-distance colonization by small groups; repeated instances of reliable, long-range voyaging between habitable locations were likely enabled by technological advances in navigation and transportation, and sustained by in-situ resource utilization. This is analogous to a possible paradigm for present-day human colonization of space that might include scouting, setup, and scientific missions by professional astronauts, as well as follow-up missions of permanent colonists. Details from historical and archaeological work examining Polynesian expansion may prove to be a source of insight into ways in which the path of permanent human expansion from the Earth might develop. This paper proposes to identify several means of leveraging these details into insights, including a concentrated analysis of the relative land areas available to exploring groups, technology required to enable distant settlements, and the investment required to support such endeavors. This paper also compares historically-attested constructs for far-flung settlement in the Pacific Ocean, including distant trade networks, with possible future analogues in the solar system (e. g., multi-asteroid mining colonies). The relative impetus of technological, societal, and other factors in both ancient Polynesian and modern society is introduced as a primary topic for future work.

Conceptual Design and Testing of a Landing Gear System for the TALARIS Lunar and Planetary Surface Exploration Hopper Prototype

The TALARIS (Terrestrial Artificial Lunar And Reduced gravIty Simulator) lunar hopper prototype vehicle, which conducts test flights in Earth gravity, may undergo significant impacts upon landing. Accordingly, a concept was developed for landing gear to mitigate the effects of these impacts. This concept was then developed and prototyped, and initial tests for actuation capability and deceleration capability were conducted on the prototype. Initial results indicate that the selected concept, a foam-compressing piston design, performs well. Further testing to measure peak acceleration of the payload atop the landing gear and to develop the concept with lightweight materials is also recommended.