Orbit/deorbit analysis for the Mars rover sample return mission

Abstract

Four astrodynamic problems involved in a combined Mars rover and surface sample return mission projected for the early 1990s are explored. Two of the problems are associated with the satisfaction of the specific mission requirements at Mars, calling for the initial orbit entered into at Mars to be highly eccentric and to have a very low periapsis altitude (about 250 km). The problem of placing an areosynchronous communications satellite in orbit around Mars is then discussed. Finally, the problem of deorbiting to a specified landing site from a highly eccentric orbit is considered.