Technology development plans for the Mars Sample Return mission

Mattingly, Richard; Hayati, S.; Udomkesmalee, Gabriel

doi:10.1109/aero.2005.1559389

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Analysis of the SRF design trade space has identified several major recognizable technology gaps [see also the planning reported by Mattingly et al (2005), which was based on the same SRF studies reported in this paper] and some areas requiring further analysis.…”

Section: G Areas For Further Analysis and Technology Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although different variants of this mission over the years have taken different names, we refer to the mission described in this paper as Mars Sample Return, or MSR. In an engineering sense, MSR as a flight mission is one of the most complex undertakings NASA and its European partners have ever considered-there are some fascinating challenges related to the flight system (see, e.g., Bar-Cohen et al, 2005;Gershman et al, 2005;Mattingly et al, 2005;Stephenson and Willenberg, 2006;iMARS, 2008;Moura et al, 2008;Backes et al, 2009). In addition to the complexities of the flight system, the planning for management of the samples once they arrive on Earth is equally critical.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Planning Considerations for a Mars Sample Receiving Facility: Summary and Interpretation of Three Design Studies

et al. 2009

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It has been widely understood for many years that an essential component of a Mars Sample Return mission is a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF). The purpose of such a facility would be to take delivery of the flight hardware that lands on Earth, open the spacecraft and extract the sample container and samples, and conduct an agreedupon test protocol, while ensuring strict containment and contamination control of the samples while in the SRF. Any samples that are found to be non-hazardous (or are rendered non-hazardous by sterilization) would then be transferred to long-term curation. Although the general concept of an SRF is relatively straightforward, there has been considerable discussion about implementation planning.The Mars Exploration Program carried out an analysis of the attributes of an SRF to establish its scope, including minimum size and functionality, budgetary requirements (capital cost, operating costs, cost profile), and development schedule. The approach was to arrange for three independent design studies, each led by an architectural design firm, and compare the results. While there were many design elements in common identified by each study team, there were significant differences in the way human operators were to interact with the systems. In aggregate, the design studies provided insight into the attributes of a future SRF and the complex factors to consider for future programmatic planning.

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Section: G Areas For Further Analysis and Technology Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planning Considerations for a Mars Sample Receiving Facility: Summary and Interpretation of Three Design Studies

et al. 2009

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“…Future missions, both manned and unmanned, will require safe and accurate landings [19][20] [21] enabled by a safe site detection functionality. This mission critical element is being addressed by MDA, NGC Aerospace, and Optech through the LAPS technology development program.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Full-scale testing and platform stabilization of a scanning lidar system for planetary landing

et al. 2008

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In August 2007, the engineering model of the Rendezvous Lidar System (RLS) was tested at the Sensor Test Range Facility that has been developed at NASA Langley Research Center for the calibration and characterization of 3-D imaging sensors. The three-dimensional test pattern used in this characterization is suitable for an empirical verification of the resolving capability of a lidar for both mid-range terminal rendezvous and hazard avoidance landing. The results of the RLS lidar measurements are reported and compared with image frames generated by a lidar simulator with an Effective Instantaneous Field of View (EIFOV) consistent with the actual scanning time-of-flight lidar specifications. These full-scale tests demonstrated the resolving capability of the lidar under static testing conditions. In landing operations, even though the lidar has a very short exposure time on a per-pulse basis, the dynamic motion of a lander spacecraft with respect to the landing site will cause pulse-to-pulse imaging distortion. MDA, Optech, and NGC Aerospace have teamed together to resolve this issue using motion compensation (platform stabilization) and motion correction (platform residual correction) techniques. Platform stabilization permits images with homogenous density to be generated so that no safe landing sites will be missed; platform residual errors that are not prevented by this stabilization are then corrected in the measurement data prior to map generation. The results of recent developments in platform stabilization and motion correction are reported and discussed in the context of total imaging error budget.

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“…Furthermore, this landing strategy limits the growing in terms of the physical size and mass of science payloads due to the capability of airbag system and it is lack of the ability to land accurately at selected site which is significantly required in future surface missions. In the face of these drawbacks, some papers have developed a new soft landing concept using a tether system [1][2]4] . Thereby, this study will investigate the new strategy using engines, parachutes and tether system for soft landing on planets with atmosphere.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on tethered lander for soft landing on a class of planets with atmosphere

Zhu

2006

57th International Astronautical Congress

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This paper studies a tethered lander which is applied to soft landing on a class of planets with atmosphere. The lander is comprised of two parts: Assisted Decelerating Module (ADM) equipped with thrusters, engines and tether system, and Payload Assembly Module (PAM) such as rovers and crew vehicles. The PAM is attached to the ADM by a tether enwinding around a windlass. The ADM suspends the PAM from above and lowers it to the surface via the tether. The dynamics of tethered lander is modeled under some assumptions. Two controllers based on fuzzy control and variable structure control theories are designed respectively to command the decelerating engines' on or off and to regulate the tether's tension. In order to illustrate a representative soft landing on planets with atmosphere, the surface wind is also considered. Numerical simulations for soft landing on the Mars are fulfilled. The results show that the proposed controllers applied to the tethered lander can prevent the lander from damaging by rocks and ejecta of engines due to ground interference, the PAM could be lowered to the Martian surface safely, and the ADM is sacrificed at a site far from the PAM. Therefore, it is feasible that the tethered lander would be adopted for soft landing on a class of planets with atmosphere.

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Technology development plans for the Mars Sample Return mission

Cited by 16 publications

References 8 publications

Planning Considerations for a Mars Sample Receiving Facility: Summary and Interpretation of Three Design Studies

Planning Considerations for a Mars Sample Receiving Facility: Summary and Interpretation of Three Design Studies

Full-scale testing and platform stabilization of a scanning lidar system for planetary landing

A study on tethered lander for soft landing on a class of planets with atmosphere

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