Sun-Seeking Eternal Flight Solar-Powered Airplane for Venus Exploration

A novel sun-seeking eternal flight solar-powered airplane (SESPA) for Venus exploration is proposed with consideration of the high atmospheric density and long rotation period of Venus. The flight track is in accordance with the latitude circle of Venus. The flight speed equals the resultant velocity of the zonal wind speed and the rotation speed of Venus, and the flight direction is opposite to the resultant velocity. The SESPA can fly consistently at daytime under the local midday, thus increasing the utilization ratio of solar cells and eliminating the need for a battery. This feature reduces the system complexity and mission costs of the SESPA. This paper introduces the atmospheric characteristics of Venus and analyzes the feasibility of a SESPA for Venus exploration. A set of constraints of realizing sun-seeking eternal flight is derived. The designed SESPA is feasible for the atmospheric flight only when all constraints have been satisfied. Finally, the favorable flight condition for the SESPA is analyzed. The result shows the feasible flight altitude of the SESPA ranges from 71.5-75 km. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.