Venus Rover Design Study

The surface of Venus is a hostile environment, with a surface temperature averaging 452°C, and atmospheric pressure of 92 bars of carbon dioxide. Nevertheless, exploration of the surface of Venus is of scientific interest. Technologies currently being developed at NASA bring the operation of robots on Venus into the range of feasibility. These include high-temperature electronics; radioisotope power systems that operate at Venus temperatures; Stirling-based power and cooling systems to keep mission components within temperature constraints; high-temperature, corrosion-resistant materials; and hightemperature sensors, motors, actuators, and bearings. This paper presents the results of a design study for a Venus rover, with the goal of surface exploration capability that is comparable to that of Mars rover missions. The most critical portion of the design is the power and cooling system required for operation at Venus, and this analysis will comprise most of the work presented. The thermal design requires operation at an external temperature as high as 500°C. To minimize external heat flow into the electronics enclosure (and also to provide maximum structural strength against external pressure) the electronics enclosure is assumed to be spherical shell. A radioisotope Stirling Duplex engine provides electrical power and 2-stage cooling. In order to minimize heat leaks, the number of penetrations to the thermal enclosure was minimized. Optical instruments were assumed to operate through sapphire windows, and all the components that could be operated in the high-temperature Venus environment were located outside the enclosure. Total rover design mass (including cruise and EDL system) is 872 kg without growth, and 1059 kg with mass growth allowance included; this is easily within the launch capability of an expendable launch vehicle. There are no apparent showstoppers to the design of a rover capable of operation on the Venus surface, although some of the technologies will still need development to bring them to flight readiness.

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