Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing System

Steltzner, Adam; Kipp, D.; Chen, A.; Burkhart, Dan; Guernsey, Carl S.; Mendeck, Gavin F.; Mitcheltree, Robert A.; Powell, Richard W.; Rivellini, Tommaso P.; Martin, Miguel San; Way, David W.

doi:10.1109/aero.2006.1655796

Cited by 76 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…EDL consists of six major segments: Exo-Atmospheric, Entry, Parachute Descent, Powered Descent, Sky Crane, and Fly Away. 42 The Exo-Atmospheric segment begins once the cruise stage separation command is sent. Once the cruise stage separates, Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) is enabled.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System Trajectory Reconstruction Algorithms and Flight Results

Karlgaard

Kutty

Schoenenberger³

et al. 2013

51st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

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The Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System is a part of the Mars Science Laboratory, Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation project. These sensors are a system of seven pressure transducers linked to ports on the entry vehicle forebody to record the pressure distribution during atmospheric entry. These measured surface pressures are used to generate estimates of atmospheric quantities based on modeled surface pressure distributions. Specifically, angle of attack, angle of sideslip, dynamic pressure, Mach number, and freestream atmospheric properties are reconstructed from the measured pressures. Such data allows for the aerodynamics to become decoupled from the assumed atmospheric properties, allowing for enhanced trajectory reconstruction and performance analysis as well as an aerodynamic reconstruction, which has not been possible in past Mars entry reconstructions. This paper provides details of the data processing algorithms that are utilized for this purpose. The data processing algorithms include two approaches that have commonly been utilized in past planetary entry trajectory reconstruction, and a new approach for this application that makes use of the pressure measurements. The paper describes assessments of data quality and preprocessing, and results of the flight data reduction from atmospheric entry, which occurred on August 5th, 2012.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System Trajectory Reconstruction Algorithms and Flight Results

Karlgaard

Kutty

Schoenenberger³

et al. 2013

51st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

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“…3 Key modeling assumptions used in LAURA 6 and DPLR 7 simulations for MSL are summarized in Table 2. In the present work version 4.02.2 DPLR is used in all simulations; v3.05 of DPLR was used in MSL simulations.…”

Section: B Modeling and Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latest in the series of Mars missions is the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), which was launched on November 26,2011. 3 This 4.5 m diameter 70° sphere-cone configuration will be NASA's largest capsule to enter the Mars atmosphere (or any planetary atmosphere for that matter). Like Viking which flew a lifting trajectory with a nominal angle of attack of -11°, the MSL capsule too will fly a lifting trajectory, only this time with a nominal angle of attack of -16°.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Heatshield Shapes for Mars Entry Capsules

Prabhu

Saunders

2012

50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

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The 70° sphere-cone -the standard geometry for all US Mars entry missions -is thoroughly examined via flow field simulations at a select few peak heating points along candidate flight trajectories. Emphasis is placed on turbulent heating based on the BaldwinLomax turbulence model. It is shown that increased leeward turbulent heating for a 70° sphere-cone flying at angle of attack is primarily due to the discontinuity in curvature between the spherical nose cap and the conical frustum -the attachment of the sonic line at this sphere-cone junction leads to a supersonic edge Mach number over the leeward acreage. In an attempt to mitigate this problem of elevated turbulent heating, alternate geometries, without any curvature discontinuities in the acreage, are developed. Two approaches, one based on nonlinear optimization with constraints, and one based on the use of non-uniform rational B-splines, are considered. All configurations examined remain axisymmetric. The aerothermal performance of alternate geometries is shown to be superior to that of the 70° sphere-cone.

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“…Of particular note are the introductions of guided entry and navigated velocity based event triggers, where the event is sensitive to true Mach. Previous publications have documented the MSL EDL architecture and its development [1,2]. Event trigger logic through the EDL sequence have also been documented in detail [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric risk assessment for the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing system

Chen

Vasavada

Cianciolo

et al. 2010

2010 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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Abstract-In 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission will pioneer the next generation of robotic Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems, by delivering the largest and most capable rover to date to the surface of Mars. 12As with previous Mars landers, atmospheric conditions during entry, descent, and landing directly impact the performance of MSL's EDL system. While the vehicle's novel guided entry system allows it to "fly out" a range of atmospheric uncertainties, its trajectory through the atmosphere creates a variety of atmospheric sensitivities not present on previous Mars entry systems and landers. Given the mission's stringent landing capability requirements, understanding the atmosphere state and spacecraft sensitivities takes on heightened importance. A joint EDL engineering and Mars atmosphere science and modeling team has been created to identify the key system sensitivities, gather available atmospheric data sets, develop relevant atmosphere models, and formulate methods to integrate atmosphere information into EDL performance assessments. The team consists of EDL engineers, project science staff, and Mars atmospheric scientists from a variety of institutions.This paper provides an overview of the system performance sensitivities that have driven the atmosphere modeling approach, discusses the atmosphere data sets and models employed by the team as a result of the identified sensitivities, and introduces the tools used to translate atmospheric knowledge into quantitative EDL performance assessments.2

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Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing System

Cited by 76 publications

References 2 publications

Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System Trajectory Reconstruction Algorithms and Flight Results

Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System Trajectory Reconstruction Algorithms and Flight Results

On Heatshield Shapes for Mars Entry Capsules

Atmospheric risk assessment for the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing system

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