- 1Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany (felix.noeding@campus.tu-berlin.de)
- 2Institute of Space Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany
In our studies, we deal with the numerical modelling of the trajectories of planetary balloons on Mars and the optimisation of the balloon parameters using different machine learning approaches. The balloon’s horizontal and vertical motion is computed by solving a system of differential equations (Palumbo, 2008) numerically. In an earlier study (Nöding et al., 2025), we used atmospheric data (temperature, wind speed) from the Mars Climate Database (Millour et al., 2022) and computed the balloon’s path for several starting points and start dates. In our current studies, two types of balloons, zero-pressure and super-pressure balloons, are tested with different envelope materials, carrier gases, and payload configurations. We use atmospheric data provided by two different data sets, the Mars Climate Database and EMARS (Greybush et al., 2019). Our aim is to model the balloon’s properties and dynamic behaviour as physically accurately as possible. We discuss the permeability of the balloon envelope, the effects of temperature fluctuations on the carrier gas, the air resistance of the balloon and different payload masses. Moreover, we work on optimising those parameters for various missions by using different machine learning approaches.
References:
Greybush, S. J., Kalnay, E., Wilson, R. J. et al. (2019). The ensemble Mars atmosphere reanalysis system (EMARS) version 1.0. Geoscience Data Journal, 6(2), 137-150. https://doi.org/10.18113/D3W375
Millour, E., Forget, F., Spiga et al. & MCD Team. (2022, September 23). The Mars Climate Database (Version 6.1). https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2022-786
Nöding, F., Ziese, R., & Oberst, J. (2025, März 18). Analysis of Balloon Missions and Flight Trajectories on Mars.
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-17677
Palumbo, R. (2008). A simulation model for trajectory forecast, performance analysis and aerospace mission planning with high altitude zero pressure balloons [Doctoral dissertation, Università Degli Studi di Napoli]. https://doi.org/10.6092/UNINA/FEDOA/1839
How to cite: Nöding, F., Ziese, R., and Oberst, J.: Modelling and Parameter Optimization for Balloon Missions on Mars , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-18589, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-18589, 2026.
