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Atmospheric Flight
A Word about Packaging
A useful aircraft must carry payload, which might be passengers
or cargo. For the Mars airplane, the payload will include scientific instruments
and cameras. These must be packaged along with its engine, fuel and flight
control system. The payload must be protected from vibration. The payload
must not interfere with the operation of the aircraft.
Wings are often too thin to provide useful volume for packaging large
components. Commercial transport aircraft use their wings to carry liquid
fuel, because the tanks can fit easily into the shape of the wing. Payload
and flight systems are often placed in a fuselage that is typically a
long cylinder.
This cylinder shape gives a good combination of high volume, low structural weight and low aerodynamic drag. Earth-bound gliders only need space (volume) in the fuselage for the pilot, so they often have a pod-shaped cockpit. For the Mars airplane, the packaging task is to find a fuselage shape that has enough room inside for the payload and flight systems. The payload must be placed so that the instruments and cameras can operate properly. As airplane designers you want the best combination of low weight, low drag and high strength for this job.
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