Project NASA Venus Mission Concepts

[Mattyv]

Well, I decided to get into addon making. A few days ago I came across a series of NASA concept studies for lots of different missions.

This is the simplest of them (in total, its got only two moving parts), so I thought that this would be the best to start out on.

Basically this is a very simple landing mission on Venus. The probe is supposed to land in the Tessera terrain in the Odva region. It then would determine the composition of the soil and take photo's of the surrounding terrain. As for the spacecraft, it's very similar to the Soviet Verena landers: instruments in a spherical container, a ring to land on, and a drag plate.

Here's what I've got so far:

This is just the pressure vessel with all the scientific instruments; the thing on the top is the panoramic camera.

Quite honestly, I'm going to need a lot of help on this one, as:

I'll ask for help on specific things when I need them.

:tiphat:

Edit: i can't get the photo any bigger by clicking on it. help?

 

[TMac3000]

Sounds very cool

To bad there's no way to bring any samples back

 

[Felipi1205]

I'm creating some default terrains, Venus is the next target. Do you want a place to land? I can create it!

 

[Mattyv]

I'm creating some default terrains, Venus is the next target. Do you want a place to land? I can create it!

That would be spectacular! NASA does have synthetic-aperture radar data on the landing ellipse(although it only shows the slopes of the area); it'd be cool if something could be done with it:

 

[Felipi1205]

OK, I'll find a colored picture of the area and create a model soon...

---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

I couldn't find a nice colored (or B/W) picture of the area, doy ou have a radar image of the Tessera terrain?

 

[Mattyv]

OK, I'll find a colored picture of the area and create a model soon...

---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

I couldn't find a nice colored (or B/W) picture of the area, doy ou have a radar image of the Tessera terrain?

Unfortunately, all I have is the map showing the slope of the terrain, the one in the above picture.

 

[4throck]

To get planetary maps you can go to http://www.mapaplanet.org/

The radar map for that area is this:

Here's a link to high resolution version: http://www.mapaplanet.org/explorer/maps/1328522862152022052.213557.jpg

I do recommend using Map-a-planet to get the scale right and integration with the existing Venus global terrain right.

 

[Felipi1205]

I couldn't see the picture: HTTP 404, can you put the hi-res picture in a .zip file and post here?

 

[Mattyv]

Here is the next major component: the landing ring and support structure. It lands on a ring in the same manner as a Venera Lander. (in fact large parts of this mission are the same as Venera, probably because it worked fine for the Soviets.:lol

The ring in the center is new however; its purpose is to protect the pressure vessel in the case that the probe lands directly on top of a rock, which could damage the instruments.

Also posted is the bottom of the aeroshell.
I have to say this is going a lot better than i thought it might.

 

[4throck]

I couldn't see the picture: HTTP 404, can you put the hi-res picture in a .zip file and post here?

My wrong, the server only keeps the requested images for a certain amount of time.

You can just go to http://www.mapaplanet.org/ , select Venus, left look, and then the desired area on the map. Choose coverage and resolution as you see fit.

 

[Felipi1205]

hey Mattyv, what's the exact location in latitude and longitude of the landing area?

 

[Mattyv]

Based on what I see, its an ellipse with the long axis from 4 to 5 degrees south, and the short axis from ~83.3 degrees to 84 degrees east. It's in the landing ellipse picture above.

Edit-
~83.3 degrees to 84 degrees east

The lander is now finished (minus textures of course)
I modified the drag ring a bit, but over all its still similar to the diagrams I saw.

 

[4throck]

Looks nice!

 

[Felipi1205]

And the launch vehicle? If you have no idea, you can use my Cygnus Space Shuttle, it's being developed for interplanetary launches using a kick-stage...

 

[Mattyv]

Atlas 5 is the real launcher, and I think I'll use that. But it might actually be a nice idea to have multiple scenarios with different launchers. As long as Cygnus is able to work with spacecraft/multistage, I don't think there will be a problem with that.

 

[Felipi1205]

Yes, the Atlas V will be perfect! And the Cygnus will feature a multistage Kick-stage, so you can use it!

---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------

And I finished the works in the texture of the landing area, now the hardest part: the modeling of this strange terrain...

 

[4throck]

Here's a link to geological map of the Ovda regio that might help to imagine a plausible terrain.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2808/

And here is a magellan 3D view (not realistic at all due to the large area covered and 22x vertical exaggeration).

http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/magellan/image13.html

 

[Mattyv]

Yes, the Atlas V will be perfect! And the Cygnus will feature a multistage Kick-stage, so you can use it!

---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------

And I finished the works in the texture of the landing area, now the hardest part: the modeling of this strange terrain...

I just remembered that you have the Atlas V you created for the Juno mission with the 5.2 meter fairing, and thats exactly what I need! I'm pretty sure that's what i'll use.

 

[Felipi1205]

Ok! That's amazing!

---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

And don't forget my update of the fairing, the fairing becomes smoother, so it's very good for a realistic launch...

 

[Mattyv]

Work is going to slow considerable this week and next: midterms. Also its my first time UV mapping and I don't really know how to do it.