Date of Defense

4-20-2021

Date of Graduation

5-2021

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Kristina Lemmer

Second Advisor

Bade Shrestha

Abstract

Venus continues to be a target of interest for the scientific community, as the similarities and differences to Earth pose intriguing questions about planetary evolution. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is looking to gain a better understanding of Earth’s sister planet and has presented a challenge to interested undergraduate student teams to develop a in-situ robotic explorer and accompanying relay. The student team representing Western Michigan University has designed a long-term Venusian lander to both survive the harsh environment for an extended period and gather scientific data on the planet’s atmosphere and surface to be communicated back to Earth through the accompanying orbital relay. Subsystems for the lander and orbital relay such as power generation and temperature management were considered. Verification of the systems was obtained through hand calculations and computer software provided by Western Michigan University, such as MATLAB and Simscape. A Concept of Operations was created to reflect the general timeline of the mission and its various tasks being conducted. It was determined that until further technological advancements are made, the 90-day goal set forth by NASA cannot be met. With different approaches taken by the student teams, NASA can potentially use the designs from the competitions to inform the design of their own long-term Venusian lander.

*Disclaimer: This project was written by students at Western Michigan University to fulfill an engineering curriculum requirement. Western Michigan University makes no representation that the material contained in this report is error-free or complete in all respects. Persons or organizations who choose to use this material do so at their own risk.

Comments

Co-authored with Aidan Wales and Ethan Reid.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

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