The Mars Pathfinder lander uses a novel airbag impact attenuation system to perform its landing on Mars. Full scale testing under Mars like atmospheric pressure conditions was performed to obtaining accurate loading conditions on the airbags during impacts on a rocky terrain. The objective was to minimize the total mass of the airbags while maximizing their performance. This paper will discuss the design of the airbags, the testing techniques used and the lessons learned from the tests. The final design of the airbag subsystem incorporates a 5 layer Vectran fabric construction with solid propellant gas generators and has a mass of 99 kg.
Development Testing of the Mars Pathfinder Inflatable Landing System
Fifth International Conference on Space ; 1996 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
1996-07-19
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Development Testing of the Mars Pathfinder Inflatable Landing System
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