2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Double Capsule Low Altitude Venus Balloon
| Project/Area Number |
10450375
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Aerospace engineering
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| Research Institution | The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science |
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Principal Investigator |
YAJIMA Nobuyuki The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Research Division for Space Systems Engineering Professor, システム研究系, 教授 (30200489)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SATOH Eiichi The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,Research Division for Space Transportation,Associate Professor, 宇宙輸送研究系, 助教授 (40178710)
KAWAGUCHI Junichiro The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,Research Division for Space Systems Engineering Professor, システム研究系, 教授 (10169691)
HATTA Hiroshi The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,Research Division for Space Propulsion Professor, 宇宙推進研究系, 教授 (90095638)
IZUTSU Naoki The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,Research Division for Space Systems Engineering Research Associate, システム研究系, 助手 (90184639)
GOTO Ken The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,Research Division for Space Propulsion,Research Associate, 宇宙推進研究系, 助手 (40300701)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 2001
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| Keywords | Venus / Balloon / Planetary exploration / lightweight spherical shell / Electroplating / Filament winding / Titamium alloy / High-trmperature electronics |
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| Research Abstract |
Methods to actualize 'the double capsule balloon system' were investigated for a long duration exploration at low altitudes in the Venusian atmosphere. The total floating mass of 10.7kg is obtained at the altitude of 20km by a 1m diameter spherical balloon. As for a balloon shell, a thin spherical shell can be made of nickel-cobalt alloy by electroplating with 2kg. The balloon satisfies the required pressure-resistant and the payload weight becomes 5kg excluding buoyancy gas and inside structures. Its lifetime is to be more than one year. As another candidate, a thin CFRP vessel was built up by filament winding method. Gas barrier property is the only problem for the method. A film made of liquid crystal polymers attains one-week lifetime. Two proto-type models of 0.25m in diameter with nickel-cobalt alloy and of 0.3m in diameter with CFRP were actually constructed and variously tested to ensure their performances and manufacturing processes. A high specific strength metal such as titanium alloys may give the best way to make a very lightweight shell practically, however its shaping means to compose a very thin sphere shell has not been established yet. It will be a future subject to find the breakthrough for manufacturing technique in the practical use. Latest technology of high-temperature electronics was surveyed. As using electronic elements and devices usable under up to 220ーC, a load factor for the cooling system can be reduced by half as compared with use of normal devices. Therefore, the total weight for electronic devices including cooling system can be largely decreased in comparison with that of the system mentioned in the original plan. To summarize, the above-mentioned results showed a high potential to actualize Venus balloons at low altitudes in the high-temperature and high -pressure environment regarding the balloon shell as well as electronics and cooling system.
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