2018.A.2.2. Analysis of Potential for Venus-Bound CubeSat Scientific Investigations

Author(s)

David Evinshteyn (1)
Michael Rinehart (1)
Benjamin Coons (1)
Colton Smith (1)
Sebastian Carta (1)
Michael Buoni (1)
Colin Driscoll (2)
Ajmal Yousuff (1)

Drexel Space Systems Laboratory, Drexel University, United States of America
a.i. solutions, Inc., United States of America

Session

A.2

Keywords

Venus, Super-rotation, Ionosphere, Low-thrust, Interplanetary

Abstract

In recent years, multiple scientific phenomena have been discovered at Venus which have led to the formation of new questions and theories and the requirement for further investigation. After the rejection of the VERITAS, DAVINCI, and VOX mission proposals, it has become clear that lower budget and lower resource solutions are necessary to compete with deep space mission launch schedules. This paper investigates the use of a CubeSat as an interplanetary spacecraft to conduct investigations in Venus lower atmosphere behavior and ionosphere structure. The instrument suite would be capable of testing prevalent theories and producing valuable scientific analyses. With a total mass of 24 kg, the proposed system could deploy as a secondary payload for any launch going as low as LEO and achieve Venus orbit independently. Analysis of potential is performed based off findings and parameters from the Drexel Space Systems Laboratory TUCAN interplanetary satellite design and FreeFlyer astrodynamics simulations with support from the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium.