Investigation of the Ballistic Descent Mode for a Maneuverable Lander to the Venus Surface

At present, various projects to continue fundamental investigations of Venus are considered in Russia and abroad. It means that the issue of developing a landing module to reach the surface of the planet becomes topical, as the module might provide access to the regions most attractive in terms of research. We propose to use a landing module of the lifting body type, which, as compared to a ballistic class module, is not unacceptably complicated in terms of design and at the same time features a lift-to-drag ratio adequate for solving manoeuvring problems arising in the process of descent into the Venusian atmosphere to reach the target landing area. We consider potential descent trajectories available to a landing module of this type, including the possibility of performing a maximum lateral manoeuvre; we took into consideration its long-period trajectories characterised by multiple re-entries into the dense atmosphere and compared these trajectories to the descent trajectory of a conventional ballistic class landing module. We show that using a manoeuvrable craft expands the selection of potential landing regions, as well as reduces loads and broadens the scope of scientific problems to be solved and studies to be undertaken

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