The Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL) has undertaken a developmental Touchdown Test Program that utilizes a full-scale rover vehicle and an overhead winch system to replicate the skycrane landing event. Landing surfaces consisting of flat and sloped granular media, planar, rigid surfaces, and various combinations of rocks and slopes were studied. Information gathered from these tests was vital for validating the rover analytical model, validating certain design or system behavior assumptions, and for exploring events and phenomenon that are either very difficult or too costly to model in a credible way. This paper describes this test program, with a focus on the creation of test facility, daily test operations, and some of the challenges faced and lessons learned along the way.
A Capable and Temporary Test Facility on a Shoestring Budget: The MSL Touchdown Test Facility
24th Aerospace Testing Seminar ; 2008 ; Manhattan Beach, CA, United States
2008-04-08
Conference paper
No indication
English
The Mars Science Laboratory Touchdown Test Facility
NTRS | 2009
|Emerald Group Publishing | 2003
Emerald Group Publishing | 2004