Engineering topics

Garcia, Mark D.

Publications and source records attributed to Garcia, Mark D..

4 records

NASA NTRS2013

The Plans for Getting OCO-2 into Orbit

The method and terms used to design the target parameters that will be used to insert the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) into the A-train are defined. Comparisons are made to the plan that would have been used had OCO-1 successfully achieved its Injection Orbit. Major differences arise from the fact that OCO-1 was launched on a Taurus XL with a target 65 km below the A-Train while OCO-2 will be launched on a Delta II with a target only 15 km below the A-Train. The new plan is similar to the one used for the CloudSat/CALIPSO missions, but reformulated into a one-step iteration process that is easier to understand.

lessons learned↗

NASA NTRS2008

Entry, Descent, and Landing Communications for the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander

This paper addresses NASA's requirement on the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander to provide spacecraft communications during entry, descent, and landing on Mars to allow the identification of probable root cause should any mission failure occur. The Phoenix mission launched on 4 August 2007 and will land on 25 May 2008 on the northern plains of Mars to conduct a three-month study of the Martian environment. The paper discusses the architectural trades in designing a communications link and surveys the entry, descent, and landing communications approaches taken by previous missions. It then discusses the Phoenix-specific constraints and degrees of freedoms and presents a novel and robust implementation approach to entry, descent, and landing communications. The overall methodology and conclusions described herein can serve as a pathfinder for the entry, descent, and landing communications architecture and implementation of future Mars landed missions.

communications↗

NASA NTRS2007

Mission Design Overview for the Phoenix Mars Scout Mission

The Phoenix mission "follows the water" by landing in a region where NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has discovered evidence of ice-rich soil very near the Martian surface. For three months after landing, the fixed Lander will perform in-situ and remote sensing investigations that will characterize the chemistry of the materials at the local surface, sub-surface, and atmosphere, and will identify potential provenance of key indicator elements of significance to the biological potential of Mars, including potential organics and any accessible water ice. The Lander will employ a robotic arm to dig to the ice layer, and will analyze the acquired samples using a suite of deck-mounted, science instruments. The development of the baseline strategy to achieve the objectives of this mission involves the integration of a variety of elements into a coherent mission plan.

Phoenix↗

NASA NTRS2004

Spitzer Space Telescope mission design

This paper gives a description of the mission design, launch, orbit, and navigation results for the Spitzer space telescope mission. The Spitzer telescope was launched by the Delta II Heavy launch vehicle into a heliocentric Earth trailing orbit. This orbit is flown for the first time and will be used by several future astronomical missions such as Kepler, SIM, and LISA. This paper describes the launch strategy for a winter versus a summer launch and how it affects communications. It also describes how the solar orbit affects the design and operations of the Observatory. It describes the actual launch timeline, launch vehicle flight performance, and the long term behavior of the as flown orbit. It also provides the orbit knowledge from in-flight navigation data.

Mission Design↗