In-situ technology development for Nasa Mars missions

Abstract

The successful landings of Spirit and Opportunity has signaled a new phase of in-situ exploration of the planet Mars. In this phase, hypotheses based on data from orbiter missions are investigated via close up missions. The complexity of lander missions is an order of magnitude greater than that of orbiter missions, particularly for those that carry mobility assets such as rovers, drills, and aerial vehicles.A brief history of Mars exploration will be presented in this talk, followed by an overview of the technical challenges that Mars poses for mission designers. Then a technical overview of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission will be provided, including a description of a number of new technologies that have been successfully developed and integrated into the mission.The planned missions for this decade, particularly the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), will be discussed. The Mars Technology Program is a critical enabler for this mission, as it is presently developing many capabilities for MSL. This talk will provide a description of these technology developments.The technology challenges for second decade missions (2010-2020) will be reviewed next. These missions are designed to carry out scientific investigations to further explore hypotheses that arise from the current decade's missions. Depending on the outcome of earlier missions, the scientific objectives of the next decade's missions will most likely emphasize the search for past and present life, implemented by in-situ and sample return missions.