| 摘要 |
Systems and methods that employ a spin-stabilized spacecraft in combination with a support and deployment module to carry a plurality of probes containing scientific instruments that are to enter a planet's atmosphere and/or are to be landed on a planet that is to be explored. The spacecraft functions as a probe carrier using the support and deployment module, and near the planet, it functions as an orbiting communications satellite that relays data and commands between the aerocraft and Earth. The support and deployment module secures the probes and is interposed between the spacecraft and the launch vehicle, and passes all structural loads due to the added mass of the aerocraft directly to the launch vehicle. The structural loads on the satellite are essentially the same as if the satellite was launched by itself with no added structure attached thereto. Therefore, existing spin-stabilized satellites may be used as probe carriers without structural redesign. In proximity to the planet, the spin axis of the spacecraft is oriented at a predetermined location on the surface of the planet, and multiple probes are deployed from the deployment module so that they will land at selected locations on the surface of the planet. Thereafter, the deployment module is jettisoned along a trajectory that will miss the planet, and a retrograde rocket is fired to inject the spacecraft into orbit around the planet. In this orbit, the spacecraft acts as a communication relay station between the scientific instruments on the surface of the planet and Earth.
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