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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 NTRS2007

Possible Evidence for Iron Sulfates, Iron Sulfides, and Elemental Sulfur at Gusev Crater, Mars, from Mer, Crism, and Analog Data

The Mossbauer (MB) spectrometers on the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit (Gusev crater) and Opportunity (Meridiani Planum) have detected 14 Fe-bearing phases, and mineralogical assignments have been made for all except 3. Identified Fe2+-bearing phases are olivine, pyroxene, ilmenite, and troilite. Magnetite and chromite are present as mixed Fe(2+) and Fe(3+) phases. Identified Fe(3+) phase are jarosite, hematite, goethite, and nanophase ferric oxide (npOx). Fe(sup 0) (iron metal) is present as kamacite. Nanophase ferric oxide (npOx) is a generic name for octahedrally coordinated Fe(3+) alteration products that cannot be otherwise mineralogically assigned on the basis of MER data. On the Earth, npOx would include ferrihydrite, iddingsite, schwertmannite, akaganeite, and superparamagnetic hematite and goethite. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM instrument, a visible, near-IR hyperspectral imager (approximately 0.35 to 4 micron) enables mineralogical examination of Mars with a tool that is sensitive to H2O and to M-OH (M = Al, Si, Fe, Mg, etc.) at spatial resolution of about 20 m/pixel. We examined a CRISM image of the MER region of Gusev crater (Columbia Hills and plains to the west), looking for spectral evidence of the aqueous process apparent from the MER analyses. We also searched for spectral constraints for the mineralogical composition of our unidentified Fe-bearing phases and the forms of npOx present on Mars. We also consider evidence from analogue samples that the precursor for the goethite detected by MB in Clovis Class rocks is an iron sulfide. We suggest that there is some indirect evidence that elemental sulfur might be present to different extents in Clovis Class rocks, the Fe3Sulfate-rich soils, and perhaps even typical (Laguna Class) surface soils.

Morris, R. V.↗
NASA NTRS2005

MER-DIMES : a planetary landing application of computer vision

During the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) landings, the Descent Image Motion Estimation System (DIMES) was used for horizontal velocity estimation. The DIMES algorithm combines measurements from a descent camera, a radar altimeter and an inertial measurement unit. To deal with large changes in scale and orientation between descent images, the algorithm uses altitude and attitude measurements to rectify image data to level ground plane. Feature selection and tracking is employed in the rectified data to compute the horizontal motion between images. Differences of motion estimates are then compared to inertial measurements to verify correct feature tracking. DIMES combines sensor data from multiple sources in a novel way to create a low-cost, robust and computationally efficient velocity estimation solution, and DIMES is the first use of computer vision to control a spacecraft during planetary landing. In this paper, the detailed implementation of the DIMES algorithm and the results from the two landings on Mars are presented.

landing systems↗
NASA NTRS2012

Investigations Using Laboratory Testbeds to Interpret Flight Instrument Datasets from Mars Robotic Missions

The Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) has laboratory instrumentation that mimic the capabilities of corresponding flight instruments to enable interpretation of datasets returned from Mars robotic missions. The lab instruments have been and continue to be applied to datasets for the Moessbauer Spectrometer (MB) on the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), the Thermal & Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) on the Mars Phoenix Scout, the CRISM instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Missions and will be applied to datasets for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) and Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) instruments onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The laboratory instruments can analyze analog samples at costs that are substantially lower than engineering models of flight instruments, but their success to enable interpretation of flight data depends on how closely their capabilities mimic those of the flight instrument. The JSC lab MB instruments are equivalent to the MER instruments except without flight qualified components and no reference channel Co-57 source. Data from analog samples were critical for identification of Mg-Fe carbonate at Gusev crater. Fiber-optic VNIR spectrometers are used to obtain CRISM-like spectral data over the range 350-2500 nm, and data for Fephyllosilicates show irreversible behavior in the electronic transition region upon dessication. The MB and VNIR instruments can be operated within chambers where, for example, the absolute H2O concentration can be measured and controlled. Phoenix's TEGA consisted of a calorimeter coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS). The JSC laboratory testbed instrument consisted of a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) coupled to a MS configured to operate under total pressure (12 mbar), heating rate (20 C/min), and purge gas composition (N2) analogous to the flight TEGA. TEGA detected CO2 release at both low (400-680 C) and high (725-820 C) temperature and an endothermic reaction in concert with the high temperature release. The high-temperature thermal decomposition is consistent with calcite, dolomite, or ankerite, (3-6 wt.%) or any combination of these phase based upon laboratory testbed experiments. Recent laboratory experiments suggest that the low temperature CO2 release was caused by a reaction between calcium carbonate and hydrated magnesium perchlorate; although, CO2 release by the oxidation of organic materials and Fe-/Mg-rich carbonates cannot be ruled out. MSL landed in Gale crater on August 5, 2012. Although numerous analog samples have been analyzed on the JSC laboratory testbeds, no SAM, CheMin, or ChemCam analyses have been acquired by MSL to date. The JSC SAM laboratory testbed consists of a thermal analyzer coupled with a MS configured to operate under total pressure (30 mbar), heating rate (35 C/min), and purge gas composition (He) analogous to the flight SAM. The CheMin and ChemCam laboratory testbeds were developed and built by inXitu, Inc. and Los Alamos National Laboratory, respectively, to acquire datasets relevant to the MSL CheMin and ChemCam flight instruments.

Ming, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Entry Trajectory and Atmosphere Reconstruction Methodologies for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission will land two landers on the surface of Mars, arriving in January 2004. Both landers will deliver the rovers to the surface by decelerating with the aid of an aeroshell, a supersonic parachute, retro-rockets, and air bags for safely landing on the surface. The reconstruction of the MER descent trajectory and atmosphere profile will be performed for all the phases from hypersonic flight through landing. A description of multiple methodologies for the flight reconstruction is presented from simple parameter identification methods through a statistical Kalman filter approach.

Desai, Prasun N.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Flight Reconstruction of the Mars Pathfinder Disk-Gap-Band Parachute Drag Coefficient

On July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) mission successfully landed on Mars. The entry, descent, and landing (EDL) scenario employed the use of a Disk-Gap-Band parachute design to decelerate the Lander. Flight reconstruction of the entry using MPF flight accelerometer data revealed that the MPF parachute decelerated faster than predicted. In the summer of 2003, the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission will send two Landers to the surface of Mars arriving in January 2004. The MER mission utilizes a similar EDL scenario and parachute design as that employed by MPF. As a result, characterizing the degree of underperformance of the MPF parachute system is critical for the MER EDL trajectory design. This paper provides an overview of the methodology utilized to estimate the MPF parachute drag coefficient as experienced on Mars.

Desai, Prasun↗
NASA NTRS2006

Processing of Mars Exploration Rover Imagery for Science and Operations Planning

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) delivered an unprecedented array of image sensors to the Mars surface. These cameras were essential for operations, science, and public engagement. The Multimission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was responsible for the first-order processing of all of the images returned by these cameras. This processing included reconstruction of the original images, systematic and ad hoc generation of a wide variety of products derived from those images, and delivery of the data to a variety of customers, within tight time constraints. A combination of automated and manual processes was developed to meet these requirements, with significant inheritance from prior missions. This paper describes the image products generated by MIPL for MER and the processes used to produce and deliver them.

Instruments↗
NASA NTRS2008

Science Activity Planner for the MER Mission

The Maestro Science Activity Planner is a computer program that assists human users in planning operations of the Mars Explorer Rover (MER) mission and visualizing scientific data returned from the MER rovers. Relative to its predecessors, this program is more powerful and easier to use. This program is built on the Java Eclipse open-source platform around a Web-browser-based user-interface paradigm to provide an intuitive user interface to Mars rovers and landers. This program affords a combination of advanced display and simulation capabilities. For example, a map view of terrain can be generated from images acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science Explorer instrument aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft and overlaid with images from a navigation camera (more precisely, a stereoscopic pair of cameras) aboard a rover, and an interactive, annotated rover traverse path can be incorporated into the overlay. It is also possible to construct an overhead perspective mosaic image of terrain from navigation-camera images. This program can be adapted to similar use on other outer-space missions and is potentially adaptable to numerous terrestrial applications involving analysis of data, operations of robots, and planning of such operations for acquisition of scientific data.

Norris, Jeffrey S.↗
NASA NTRS2003

The Mars Exploration Rovers Entry Descent and Landing and the Use of Aerodynamic Decelerators

The Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) project, the next United States mission to the surface of Mars, uses aerodynamic decelerators in during its entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase. These two identical missions (MER-A and MER-B), which deliver NASA s largest mobile science suite to date to the surface of Mars, employ hypersonic entry with an ablative energy dissipating aeroshell, a supersonic/subsonic disk-gap-band parachute and an airbag landing system within EDL. This paper gives an overview of the MER EDL system and speaks to some of the challenges faced by the various aerodynamic decelerators.

Steltzner, Adam↗
NASA NTRS2005

Results and Implications of Mineralogical Models for Chemical Sediments at Meridiani Planum

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) "Opportunity" has explored chemically-enriched sedimentary outcrops at Meridiani Planum, Mars. In its first year, three different crater sites - Eagle, Fram and Endurance - have been explored. Nineteen high-interest outcrop rocks were investigated by first grinding a hole to reach the interior (using the Rock Abrasion Tool, RAT), and then conducting APXS (alpha particle x-ray spectrometry) analysis, MB (M ssbauer) analysis, and close up imaging (MI, microscopic imager). Sixteen elements and four Fe-bearing minerals were assayed to good accuracy in each sample, producing 380 compositional data points. The Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini- TES) obtained spectra on outcrop materials which provide direct indication of several mineral classes. Preliminary reports on Eagle crater and three RAT samples have been published. Chemical trends and a derived mineralogical model for all RAT d outcrop samples to date has been developed.

Clark, B. C.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Miniaturized Moessbauer Spectrometer MIMOS II for the Asteroid Redirect Mission(ARM): Quantative Iron Mineralogy And Oxidation States

The miniaturized Moessbauer spectrometer MIMOS II is an off‐the‐shelf instrument with proven flight heritage. It has been successfully deployed during NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission and was on‐board the UK‐led Beagle 2 Mars lander and the Russian Phobos‐Grunt sample return mission. A Moessbauer spectrometer has been suggested for ASTEX, a DLR Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) mission study, and the potential payload to be hosted by the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). Here we make the case for in situ asteroid characterization with Moessbauer spectroscopy on the ARM employing one of three available fully-qualified flight-spare Moessbauer instruments.

Schroeder, C.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Miniaturized Mossbauer Spectrometer MIMOS II for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM): Quantitative Iron Mineralogy and Oxidation States

The miniaturized Mossbauer spectrometer MIMOS II is an off-the-shelf instrument, which has been successfully deployed during NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission and was on-board the ESA/UK Beagle 2 Mars lander and the Russian Phobos-Grunt sample return mission. We propose to use a fully-qualified flight-spare MIMOS II instrument available from these missions for in situ asteroid characterization with the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM).

Schroder, Christian↗
NASA NTRS2002

Geology of a Proposed MER Landing Site in Western Melas Chasma

A proposed landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) has been identified in western Melas Chasma. The landing ellipse contains a blocky, bright deposit which we propose formed as a landslide, perhaps beneath a former lake. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Weitz, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

MER SPICE Interface

MER SPICE Interface is a software module for use in conjunction with the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission and the SPICE software system of the Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (SPICE is used to acquire, record, and disseminate engineering, navigational, and other ancillary data describing circumstances under which data were acquired by spaceborne scientific instruments.) Given a Spacecraft Clock value, MER SPICE Interface extracts MER-specific data from SPICE kernels (essentially, raw data files) and calculates values for Planet Day Number, Local Solar Longitude, Local Solar Elevation, Local Solar Azimuth, and Local Solar Time (UTC). MER SPICE Interface was adapted from a subroutine, denoted m98SpiceIF written by Payam Zamani, that was intended to calculate SPICE values for the Mars Polar Lander. The main difference between MER SPICE Interface and m98SpiceIf is that MER SPICE Interface does not explicitly call CHRONOS, a time-conversion program that is part of a library of utility subprograms within SPICE. Instead, MER SPICE Interface mimics some portions of the CHRONOS code, the advantage being that it executes much faster and can efficiently be called from a pipeline of events in a parallel processing environment.

Sayfi, Elias↗
NASA NTRS2005

Operation and Performance of the Mars Exploration Rover Imaging System on the Martian Surface

This slide presentation details the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) imaging system. Over 144,000 images have been gathered from all Mars Missions, with 83.5% of them being gathered by MER. Each Rover has 9 cameras (Navcam, front and rear Hazcam, Pancam, Microscopic Image, Descent Camera, Engineering Camera, Science Camera) and produces 1024 x 1024 (1 Megapixel) images in the same format. All onboard image processing code is implemented in flight software and includes extensive processing capabilities such as autoexposure, flat field correction, image orientation, thumbnail generation, subframing, and image compression. Ground image processing is done at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Multimission Image Processing Laboratory using Video Image Communication and Retrieval (VICAR) while stereo processing (left/right pairs) is provided for raw image, radiometric correction; solar energy maps,triangulation (Cartesian 3-spaces) and slope maps.

imaging↗
NASA NTRS2010

Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science

The Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science System (AEGIS) provides automated targeting for remote sensing instruments on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission, which at the time of this reporting has had two rovers exploring the surface of Mars (see figure). Currently, targets for rover remote-sensing instruments must be selected manually based on imagery already on the ground with the operations team. AEGIS enables the rover flight software to analyze imagery onboard in order to autonomously select and sequence targeted remote-sensing observations in an opportunistic fashion. In particular, this technology will be used to automatically acquire sub-framed, high-resolution, targeted images taken with the MER panoramic cameras. This software provides: 1) Automatic detection of terrain features in rover camera images, 2) Feature extraction for detected terrain targets, 3) Prioritization of terrain targets based on a scientist target feature set, and 4) Automated re-targeting of rover remote-sensing instruments at the highest priority target.

Bornstein, Benjamin J.↗