Low cost approach to Mars Pathfinder
Abstract
Mars Pathfinder, launching in December '96 and landing in July '97, will demo a low cost delivery system to the surface of Mars. Historically, spacecraft that orbit or land on a distant body carry a large amount of fuel for braking. Mars Pathfinder, thrusting only for navigation, enters directly into the Martian atmosphere, aerobrakes with its aeroshell, deploys a parachute at 10 km above the surface and, within 100 m off the surface, ignites solid rockets for final braking prior to deployment of air bags which cushion touchdown. After landing, petals open to upright the lander, exposing solar panels to the sun. Even though the lander and rover are expected to last longer, the major objectives of Mars Pathfinder, demonstrating EDL (Entry, Descent, Landing) and lander-rover surface operations, will occur within the first few days, at which time panoramic images of the surface will be transmitted and the rover will be deployed to conduct both mobility tests and rock composition measurements. While Mars Pathfinder is primarily an engineering demo, it accomplishes a focused, exciting set of science investigations with a stereo, multi-color lander imager; atmospheric instrumentation, used as a weather station after landing; and the rover with cameras and the APXS (Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer). This paper features Mars Pathfinder's approach to innovative and cost effective mission accomplishment, under a development cost cap. Mars Pathfinder is pathfinding a new way of doing business at NASA and JPL for small, low cost, Discovery class missions.
- Publication:
-
Acta Astronautica
- Pub Date:
- October 1995
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0094-5765(95)00066-9
- Bibcode:
- 1995AcAau..37..131S