A balloon for planetary exploration would carry a small gondola containing an
instrument payload, power, control, and communications subsystems. Owing to
weight and power supply constraints, the communications unit will generally be
small and low powered, with interplanetary communications relayed through an
orbiting spacecraft.
An infrared Montgolfiere will sink at night, with a “guide rope” trailing from
the bottom of the gondola that curls onto the ground to anchor the balloon during
the hours of darkness. This rope would be made of low-friction materials in order
to prevent it from catching or tangling on ground features. Alternatively, a balloon
might carry a somewhat thicker instrumented “snake” instead of the gondola and
guide rope, thereby combining the functions of the two. A snake is a convenient
scheme for performing direct surface measurements.
One of the trickier aspects of planetary ballooning is dropping the balloon into
a planet’s atmosphere and then setting it adrift. In typical scenarios an “aeroshell”
(a heat shield in the shape of a flattened cone) performs atmospheric entry, then a
parachute extracts the balloon assembly from the aeroshell, which falls away. The
balloon assembly then deploys and inflates. Once operational, the aerobot will be
largely on its own, and will have to conduct its mission autonomously, accepting
only general commands over its long communications link to Earth. The aerobot
will have to determine its position in three dimensions, possibly using an orbiting
satellite as a navigation reference as well as a communications relay; acquire and
store science data; perform flight control by varying its altitude; and perhaps land
at specific sites to perform close-up investigations.
At the time of this writing (2020) NASA has no proposal opportunities that
could fund actual balloon missions in planetary science. This obstacle is specific
to the Planetary Science Division among the four divisions within the Science
Mission Directorate. It doesn’t mean that scientists see no benefits from balloons;
on the contrary the recent GHAPS/SIDT report outlines many investigations in
which a balloon mission would yield low-hanging fruit.
Image Links
Fig. A.5.1 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Russian_%22Vega%22_balloon_mission_to_Venus_on_display_at_the_UdvarHazy_museum.jpg/330px- Russian_%22Vega%22_balloon_mission_to_Venus_on_display_at_the_Udvar- Hazy_museum.jpg
Fig. A.5.2 https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code820/images/supporting_images/technology_mars_concept.jpg
Fig. A.5.3 http://www.airvectors.net/avbloon_5_03.jpg
Appendix 5: Planetary Balloons 321
instrument payload, power, control, and communications subsystems. Owing to
weight and power supply constraints, the communications unit will generally be
small and low powered, with interplanetary communications relayed through an
orbiting spacecraft.
An infrared Montgolfiere will sink at night, with a “guide rope” trailing from
the bottom of the gondola that curls onto the ground to anchor the balloon during
the hours of darkness. This rope would be made of low-friction materials in order
to prevent it from catching or tangling on ground features. Alternatively, a balloon
might carry a somewhat thicker instrumented “snake” instead of the gondola and
guide rope, thereby combining the functions of the two. A snake is a convenient
scheme for performing direct surface measurements.
One of the trickier aspects of planetary ballooning is dropping the balloon into
a planet’s atmosphere and then setting it adrift. In typical scenarios an “aeroshell”
(a heat shield in the shape of a flattened cone) performs atmospheric entry, then a
parachute extracts the balloon assembly from the aeroshell, which falls away. The
balloon assembly then deploys and inflates. Once operational, the aerobot will be
largely on its own, and will have to conduct its mission autonomously, accepting
only general commands over its long communications link to Earth. The aerobot
will have to determine its position in three dimensions, possibly using an orbiting
satellite as a navigation reference as well as a communications relay; acquire and
store science data; perform flight control by varying its altitude; and perhaps land
at specific sites to perform close-up investigations.
At the time of this writing (2020) NASA has no proposal opportunities that
could fund actual balloon missions in planetary science. This obstacle is specific
to the Planetary Science Division among the four divisions within the Science
Mission Directorate. It doesn’t mean that scientists see no benefits from balloons;
on the contrary the recent GHAPS/SIDT report outlines many investigations in
which a balloon mission would yield low-hanging fruit.
Image Links
Fig. A.5.1 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Russian_%22Vega%22_balloon_mission_to_Venus_on_display_at_the_UdvarHazy_museum.jpg/330px- Russian_%22Vega%22_balloon_mission_to_Venus_on_display_at_the_Udvar- Hazy_museum.jpg
Fig. A.5.2 https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code820/images/supporting_images/technology_mars_concept.jpg
Fig. A.5.3 http://www.airvectors.net/avbloon_5_03.jpg
Appendix 5: Planetary Balloons 321