Parametric study for increasing on-station duration via unconventional aircraft launch approach

Christopher A. Kuhl; Robert W. Moses; Mark A. Croom; Stephen P. Sandford

doi:10.1117/12.606676

22 December 2004 Parametric study for increasing on-station duration via unconventional aircraft launch approach

Christopher A. Kuhl, Robert W. Moses, Mark A. Croom, Stephen P. Sandford

Proceedings Volume 5661, Remote Sensing Applications of the Global Positioning System; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.606676
Event: Fourth International Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing Symposium 2004: Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment, and Space, 2004, Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

The need for better atmospheric predictions is causing the atmospheric science community to look for new ways to obtain longer, higher-resolution measurements over several diurnal cycles. The high resolution, in-situ measurements required to study many atmospheric phenomena can be achieved by an Autonomous Aerial Observation System (AAOS); however, meeting the long on-station time requirements with an aerial platform poses many challenges. Inspired by the half-scale drop test of the deployable Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES) Mars airplane, a study was conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center to examine the possibility of increasing on-station time by launching an airplane directly at the desired altitude. The ARES Mars airplane concept was used as a baseline for Earth atmospheric flight, and parametric analyses of fundamental configuration elements were performed to study their impact on achieving desired on-station time with this class of airplane. The concept involved lifting the aircraft from the ground to the target altitude by means of an air balloon, thereby unburdening the airplane of ascent requirements. The parameters varied in the study were aircraft wingspan, payload, fuel quantity, and propulsion system. The results show promising trends for further research into aircraft-payload design using this unconventional balloon-based launch approach.

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Christopher A. Kuhl, Robert W. Moses, Mark A. Croom, and Stephen P. Sandford "Parametric study for increasing on-station duration via unconventional aircraft launch approach", Proc. SPIE 5661, Remote Sensing Applications of the Global Positioning System, (22 December 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.606676

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KEYWORDS

Mars

Atmospheric sciences

Earth's atmosphere

Fourier transforms

Remote sensing

Analytical research

Atmospheric modeling

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