Interplanetary Mission to Mars

Case Western Reserve University

EMAE356 is the final design course in the Aerospace Engineering degree, building off of other courses such as Aerostructures, Orbital Mechanics, and Propulsion. The goal of this class was to “formulate and conduct a conceptual design of an aerospace vehicle or system starting from mission requirements”.

Our group of 12, known as Team Delta was tasked with designing a concept interplanetary vehicle in accordance with the following requirements, among others:

• A crew of 4 minimum for the mission

• 30 day minimum Mars surface stay

• Maximum 2-year total mission

• The mission shall arrive at Mars no later than December 31, 2045

After much deliberation and simulation, we decided that a Venus Fly-By was our best option, as it minimized ΔV needed and heat loading from the Sun, while also allowing another degree of freedom when choosing our exact mission plan.

I was responsible for creating launch plan concepts, including the Venus Fly-By video below, and designing and analyzing the vehicle structure.