Abstract
Abstract. An orbiter and a descent module will be delivered to Mars in the Chinese first Mars exploration mission. The descent module is composed of a landing platform and a rover. The module will be released into the atmosphere by the orbiter and make a controlled landing on Martian surface. After landing, the rover will egress from the platform to start its science mission. The rover payloads mainly include the subsurface radar, terrain camera, multispectral camera, magnetometer, anemometer to achieve the scientific investigation of the terrain, soil characteristics, material composition, magnetic field, atmosphere, etc. The landing process is divided into three phases (entry phase, parachute descent phase and powered descent phase), which are full of risks. There exit lots of indefinite parameters and design constrain to affect the selection of the landing sites and phase switch (mortaring the parachute, separating the heat shield and cutting off the parachute). A number of new technologies (disk-gap-band parachute, guidance and navigation, etc.) need to be developed. Mars and Earth have gravity and atmosphere conditions that are significantly different from one another. Meaningful environmental conditions cannot be recreated terrestrially on earth. A full-scale flight validation on earth is difficult. Therefore the end-to-end simulation and some critical subsystem test must be considered instead. The challenges above and the corresponding design solutions are introduced in this paper, which can provide reference for the Mars exploration mission.
Highlights
Of all the planets of the solar system, Mars is the one that most closely resembles Earth, which is a complex and vast world with a long history
This paper introduces the profile of the Chinese first Mars exploration mission and describes the key challenges faced by the mission
The selection of accessible landing site is the primary step for surface exploration
Summary
Of all the planets of the solar system, Mars is the one that most closely resembles Earth, which is a complex and vast world with a long history. This paper introduces the profile of the Chinese first Mars exploration mission and describes the key challenges faced by the mission. These include the new core technologies and validation. When the top of the atmosphere is reached, the descent module will begin the EDL process and land on the surface of Mars safely. The payload of the rover includes: 1) Terrain camera, 2) Sub-surface radar, 3) Multispectral camera, 4) Magnetometer, and 5) Anemometer. When the lifetime of the rover ends, the orbiter will at last enter into the remote sensing orbit to image the Martian surface for more than one year
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