NASA picks AE team’s design for next step in BIG Idea Challenge

A team of Aerospace Engineering at Illinois undergraduates has designed a cable system to control a transport vehicle that could carry large payloads to the surface of Mars in the future.

The team’s concept was selected to progress to the second stage of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea challenge. The Illinois team competed with undergraduate and graduate teams from across the country for one of 10 slots.

The contest supports NASA’s Game Changing Development Program (GCDP) efforts to quickly cultivate capabilities and technologies that can be included in a broad array of future NASA missions. This competition’s particular purpose, according to AE team member Austin Scott, has been to deliver payloads such as rover vehicles or manned vehicles to a 20-meter diameter area on Mars’ surface.

“NASA wants ideas on how to get the payload there and do it as efficiently and with as little cost and weight as possible,” Scott said. Weighing up to 25 tons, the transport system needs to be capable of carrying up to 50 tons of payload.

The team has worked to determine the best way to control future transport vehicles as they decelerate at hypersonic speeds to enable safe landing on the planet. “When entering the Mars atmosphere the vehicle is coming in at 6 kilometers per second, and has to be slowed to less than 400 meters per second at 10 kilometers above the surface,” said team member Sam Wywrot.

The BIG Idea challenge requires teams to develop concepts for generating lift using Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology. “The main challenge is that we needed to find a good balance to have enough drag to slow (the vehicle) down, and enough lift-to-drag ratio to maintain control,” said team member Steven Kosvick. “We needed to maximize maneuverability while flying at high speeds,” Scott added.

The AE team’s concept utilizes a system of cables and motors at the top and bottom of a transport vehicle’s inflatable heat shield to adjust vehicle shape and control angle of attack and lift. The motors will adjust the tension in the cables to change the vehicle’s aerodynamic properties to ensure safe landing.

AE Assistant Prof. Zach Putnam, an expert in planetary entry, descent, and landing systems, has served as the team’s faculty advisor. “The student team developed a full concept in just 2 months, without prior knowledge of HIAD technology or planetary entry systems. I’ve been very impressed with their progress.”

Having started work on the concept in mid-October, the team must now develop a 10-15 page technical paper to submit to NASA by March 15. Team member Jose Tuason said the next few months will be spent validating the design to gather additional evidence to prove concept feasibility. The BIG Idea Challenge organizers will choose four teams to present their ideas at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in April. The top team will earn internships with NASA.

In addition to Scott, Wywrot, Kosvick and Tuason, the AE team also has included undergraduate Sashank Gummella.