The Adaptive Deployable Entry and Placement Technology project is planning ground tests that should address key risk areas for the technology, particularly deployment reliability and thermal load management. The components designed for the tests should represent the important features of a flight design but a fully developed flight design is not needed. The vehicle size and shape for a Venus entry mission is described, and the associated atmospheric environments are summarized. A series of design studies related to the deployment system and the interfaces between components is presented. Proposed concepts and selection criteria are discussed and the baseline decisions are summarized. The implications of these decisions for implementation of subsequent ground tests are explained.
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