Abstract
This paper conducts the preliminary feasibility study of a transportation and energy ecosystem based on Martian atmospheric conditions. The transportation system is to be realized by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air vehicles enabled by deflected slipstream with coflow jet (CFJ) to achieve ultra-high cruise lift coefficient and efficiency in the thin Martian atmosphere. The electricity will be provided by high-efficiency wind turbines with coflow jet blades to harvest energy from the Martian wind. The coflow jet active flow control is the key technology to tackle the low Reynolds number flows in the Martian atmosphere with high effectiveness, high efficiency, and low power requirement. Lithium-Sulfur batteries will be the eVTOL power and energy source. The wings are equipped with hydraulic systems for a folded wing mechanism to allow for transportation in the rocket fairing. The cruise Mach number of the aircraft is 0.35, with a cruise lift coefficient CL of 3.5, and the corrected lift-to-drag ratio including the CFJ power consumption, CL/CDc of 11.3. The vehicle mass is set to be 874.43 kg, with its low weight attributed to the use of a compact high lift CFJ system, high energy density batteries, and 12 lightweight propellers to power the flight mission. The aircraft has a range of 544.28 km, with an endurance of 1.44 hours. The wind turbine design has a hub height of 20 meters and a blade length of 5 meters with the targeted power efficiency of 55% or higher. An analysis of the potential wind power yield from the landing sites Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia supports the feasibility of the use of wind for energy production under Martian conditions. The Chryse and Utopia wind data analysis yielded results of an average daily energy production of 2.32 kWh, and 4.41 kWh respectively.