(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-01-05)
Ali, Hisham K.
Proposed missions such as a Mars sample return mission and a human mission to Mars
require landed payload masses in excess of any previous Mars mission. Whether human or
robotic, these missions present numerous engineering challenges due to their increased mass
and complexity. To overcome these challenges, new technologies must be developed, and
existing technologies advanced. Mass reducing technologies are particularly critical in this
effort. The proposed work aims to study the suitability of various entry trajectories for
reclaiming vehicle kinetic energy through magnetohydrodynamic energy generation from
the high temperature entry plasma. Potential mission and power storage configurations are
explored, with results including recommended trajectories, amount of kinetic energy
reclaimed, and additional system mass for various energy storage technologies.