Scheduled to launch in the fall of 2011 with arrival at Mars occurring in the summer of 2012, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will explore and assess whether Mars ever had conditions capable of supporting microbial life. In order to achieve its science objectives, the Mars Science Laboratory will be equipped with the most advanced suite of instruments ever sent to the surface of the Red Planet. Delivering the next mobile science laboratory safely to the surface of Mars has various key challenges derived from a strict set of requirements which include launch vehicle performance, spacecraft mass, communications coverage during Entry, Descent, and Landing, atmosphere-relative entry speeds, latitude accessibility, and dust storm season avoidance among others. The Mars Science Laboratory launch/arrival strategy selected after careful review satisfies all these mission requirements.


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    Title :

    2011 Mars Science Laboratory Mission Design Overview


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    12th Biennial International Conference on Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments; and Fourth NASA/ARO/ASCE Workshop on Granular Materials in Lunar and Martian Exploration ; 2010 ; Honolulu, Hawaii, United States


    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2010-03-11




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





    2011 Mars Science Laboratory Mission Design Overview

    Abilleira, F. / American Society of Civil Engineers | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2010