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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2000

The Mars Micromission Spacecraft

The concept of a small common Mars Micromission spacecraft design, using the Ariane-5 GTO piggyback launch opportunities has been studied over the past year by NASA/JPL and CNES. The study is based on the 200 kg ASAP twin configuration, due to its clear performance and cost advantages for planetary missions over the 100-kg ASAP configuration. The spacecraft design commonalty has been explored for the Mars 2003, 2005, and 2007 launch opportunities and for three main mission types: Probe Carrier missions, with one or more probes, measuring 40-80 cm in diameter. Science Orbiter missions, with additional fuel for orbit insertion. and Telecommunication Relay Orbiter missions, with optimal data return link.

Leschly, Kim↗
NASA NTRS2004

MARIE: Current Status and Results from 20 Months of Observations at Mars

The MARIE instrument aboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft detects energetic charged particles in the Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) and during solar particle events (SPE) [1]. As of this writing (January 2004), MARIE has been turned off, after losing communication with the spacecraft during the large SPE of October 28, 2003. However, during the prior 20 months, MARIE collected data almost continuously, observing several solar events and the nearly-constant GCR. There is still a possibility the instrument can be recovered, and troubleshooting efforts are scheduled to begin in May 2004, following the completion of the primary missions of MER-A (Spirit) and MER-B (Opportunity). At present, Odyssey is acting as a telecommunications relay for the rovers and only routine science operations are permitted in this mode.

Zeitlin, C.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Report of the NASA Science Definition Team for the Mars Science Orbiter (MSO)

NASA is considering that its Mars Exploration Program (MEP) will launch an orbiter to Mars in the 2013 launch opportunity. To further explore this opportunity, NASA has formed a Science Definition Team (SDT) for this orbiter mission, provisionally called the Mars Science Orbiter (MSO). Membership and leadership of the SDT are given in Appendix 1. Dr. Michael D. Smith chaired the SDT. The purpose of the SDT was to define the: 1) Scientific objectives of an MSO mission to be launched to Mars no earlier than the 2013 launch opportunity, building on the findings for Plan A [Atmospheric Signatures and Near-Surface Change] of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Second Science Analysis Group (SAG-2); 2) Science requirements of instruments that are most likely to make high priority measurements from the MSO platform, giving due consideration to the likely mission, spacecraft and programmatic constraints. The possibilities and opportunities for international partners to provide the needed instrumentation should be considered; 3) Desired orbits and mission profile for optimal scientific return in support of the scientific objectives, and the likely practical capabilities and the potential constraints defined by the science requirements; and 4) Potential science synergies with, or support for, future missions, such as a Mars Sample Return. This shall include imaging for evaluation and certification of future landing sites. As a starting point, the SDT was charged to assume spacecraft capabilities similar to those of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The SDT was further charged to assume that MSO would be scoped to support telecommunications relay of data from, and commands to, landed assets, over a 10 Earth year period following orbit insertion. Missions supported by MSO may include planned international missions such as EXOMARS. The MSO SDT study was conducted during October - December 2007. The SDT was directed to complete its work by December 15, 2007. This rapid turn-around was required in order to allow time to prepare an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for science investigations, to be released in early 2008.

Smith, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2019

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter maneuver plan for Mars 2020 entry, descent, and landing support and beyond

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft continues to perform valuable science observations at Mars, provide telecommunication relay for surface assets, and characterize landing sites for future missions. MRO provided primary relay support for the InSight Mission during Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) on November26, 2018. This paper discusses the current maneuver plan to support Mars 2020 EDL and maintain MRO’s orbit for science operations through 2028.

Menon, Premkumar R.↗
NASA NTRS2017

50,000 Laps Around Mars: Navigating the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Through the Extended Missions (January 2009 - March 2017)

Orbiting Mars since March 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft continues to perform valuable science observations, provide telecommunication relay for surface assets, and characterize landing sites for future missions. Previous papers reported on the navigation of MRO from interplanetary cruise through the end of the Primary Science Phase (PSP) in December 2008 and on maneuvers performed through November 2016. This paper highlights the navigation of MRO from January 2009 through its 50,000th orbit around Mars on March 27, 2017, an eight-year period covering the Extended Science Phase, the first three extended missions, and a portion of the fourth extended mission which began on October 1, 2016. Since the beginning of the PSP in November 2006, MRO’s navigation performance has continued to exceed expectations. Over that period of time, the mission has returned over 300 terabytes of data.

Schulze, William↗
NASA NTRS2015

MarCO: CubeSats to Mars in 2016

In March of 2016, the InSight lander will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base to begin a 6.5 month cruise to Mars. Soon after InSight separates from the upper stage of the launch vehicle, the two MarCO CubeSats will deploy and independently fly to Mars to support telecommunications relay for InSight’s entry, descent, and landing sequence. These craft will have onboard capability for deep space trajectory correction maneuvers; high-speed direct-to-Earth & DSN-compatible communications; an advanced navigation transponder; a large deployable reflectarray high gain antenna; and a robust software suite. This paper will present preliminary information on the MarCO project, including a concept of operations and details of the CubeSats and subsystem design. MarCO will open the door for NanoSpacecraft to serve in support roles for much larger primary missions – in this case, providing a real-time relay of for the InSight project. It will also be the first CubeSats to reach deep space, building upon the lessons learned from the INSPIRE project. At only a 6U in size, these craft well illustrate the tremendous capability available in a small package.

Krajewski, Joel↗
NASA NTRS2021

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Maneuver Plan Following Mars 2020 Landing

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft continues to perform valuable science observations at Mars, provide telecommunication relay for surface assets, and characterize landing sites for future missions. The spacecraft provided the primary relay support for the Mars 2020 mission during entry, descent, and landing on February 18, 2021. This paper discusses the propulsive maneuver plan following the Mars 2020 landing to return the spacecraft to its primary science orbit by November 2021 and maintain it through 2029. Alternate maneuver plans considered for supporting Mars 2020 surface operations and the entry, descent, and landing of the ExoMars 2022 mission are also described.

Menon, Premkumar R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System /TDRSS/ telecommunication services

The TDRSS and tracking services define the telecommunication performance of the TDRSS between the RF interface with user spacecraft and the data interface with NASCOM at the ground terminal. Attention is given to system constraints, forward link services, multiple-access signal design parameters, S-band single access signal design parameters, multiple-access return link services, and single-access return link services.

Deerkoski, L. F.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Tracking and data relay satellite system configuration and tradeoff study. Volume 7: Telecommunications system summary, part 1

The baseline Tracking and Data Relay Satellite telecommunication system is described. The configurations of the user spacecraft terminal and the ground based terminal are illustrated. The system service and performance summary is developed to show the link support, modes of operation, and link performance to the low data rate and medium data rate user spacecraft. The link budget calculation is included to show a typical computation for each space-to-space and space-to-ground link with the assumptions used in each calculation.

Hill, T. E.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Assessing Relay Communications for Mars Sample Return Surface Mission Concepts

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign is a 3-mission campaign concept supported by NASA and ESA to return samples from the Mars surface. MSR will, for the firsttime ever, present a need to communicate with multiple surfaceassets that are co-located on Mars in a coordinated effort toaccomplish the unified objective of fetching, transporting, andreturning samples from Mars. Currently, Mars surface assetsrelay data to and from Earth using a number of orbiters inwhat’s known as the Mars Relay Network (MRN). This networkis characterized by a small number of surface assets distributedacross the Martian globe and a larger number of orbiters toprovide relay services. As of June 2020, there are two surfaceassets for which five orbiters are providing relay. During theMSR Campaign, there will be two rovers and a lander that allwill require relay communication from a small number of Marsorbiters to meet the aggressive MSR timeline. The inversion ofthe current MRN paradigm, a system of many surface assetsrequiring relay and few orbiters to provide relay, necessitatesthe unique challenge of optimally allocating relay passes tomaximize the operational capability of all assets. The allocationmust consider a large number of trade variables includingMars asset operational requirements and Earth ground systemconstraints, including staffing schedules, operations planningacross time zones, and more. To address these telecommunicationchallenges, the Mars Asset Relay Mission Link AllocationDesign Environment (MARMLADE) tool was developed. Itis a MATLAB-based tool to assign orbiter passes or Direct-From-Earth (DFE) links to each of the three surface assets andquantify the operational efficiency of each surface asset.MARMLADE uses a data set of simulated Mars relay orbitergeometry and telecommunication capabilities provided by JPL’sTelecom Orbit Analysis and Simulation Tool (TOAST) softwareto compute which asset should get each pass based on a seriesof heuristics and predictions of all assets’ states. WithinMARMLADE, the user can provide inputs including the optionfor time-based pass splitting, fixed FWD data rate capabilities,DFE communication capabilities, and link parameters allowingfor the assessment of complex operations and hardware tradesusing surface mission operational efficiency as a primary figureof merit. As the MSR mission concepts continue to mature,MARMLADE is being used to assess ability of all MSR elementsto meet the surface mission timeline requirements and to provide relay link allocations to each of the MSR surface assets.

Lee, Charles↗
NASA NTRS2005

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission operations: architecture and approach

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was launched on August 12, 2005 by an Atlas V launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MRO will carry a rich set of science instruments to Mars and provide global, regional survey, and targeted observations. In addition, a set of engineering instruments providing optical navigation, Ka band telecommunication and UHF relay services to future Mars missions are part of the MRO payload.

MRO↗