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Future missions to Mars for the 1998 launch opportunity and beyond will require advanced thermal control for electronics to minimize enclosure mass, power and volume.
Although NASA has no official plans at this time for a mission to return samples from Mars, the Program Formulation Office of the Mars Exploration Program sponsors ongoing mission concept studies, systems analyses, and technology investments which explore different strategies for the potential return of samples from Mars, consistent with the charter of the program and stated priorities of the science community. Maintaining the thermal integrity of collected samples would be very important. In general, samples would be collected, sealed inside tubes, and left on the surface for later retrieval. They would then be inserted into an OS (Orbiting Sample), and carried to a Mars or Solar orbit via a MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle). Subsequently, an Earth return vehicle would rendezvous with the OS and bring it back to Earth. During ascent from Mars, the OS could serve as the nose cone of the MAV and would be subjected to significant aerodynamic heating from the Martian atmosphere. Once the OS is released from the MAV, its external surface would be exposed to potentially several years of sunlight, eclipse, planetary IR, albedo, and space. The challenge is to ensure that these samples are kept at thermally moderate conditions to preserve their integrity in these widely different environments. Various thermal techniques have been investigated to achieve sample thermal control: use of thermal protection shields and surfaces (ablative and non-ablative) to protect them from adverse exposure to ascent heating, as well combinations of thermo-optical coatings during the orbital phase. The work described herein is part of this ongoing effort & will describe the key challenges related to the thermal control of the potential Mars samples during these phases and the corresponding schemes to overcome them.
The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft which will be launched in December 1996 features an active cooling system for controlling the temperature of the spacecraft. This will be the first time that such a mechanical pump cooling system is used on an interplanetary or long duration flight (over two weeks) in space. The major element of the cooling system is the Integrated Pump Assembly (IPA). It uses centrifugal pumps to circulate liquid Freon to transfer heat from spacecraft electronics to an external radiator. This paper describes the design, fabrication, assembly, and testing of the IPA.
This paper describes a novel thermal control system for future Mars landers and rovers designed to keep battery temperatures within the -10 degrees C temperature range.
Mars lander thermal control system design parameters including environment, power duty cycle and lander size and weight
Effective thermal control of Mars surface vehicles and their equipment is key to their long-term survival on the Martian cold surface.
Thermal control of Mars entry capsule with fiberglass honeycomb sandwich shell analyzed with and without aft thermal curtain, emphasizing cruise-flight phase
Thermal control of Mars entry capsule with fiberglass honeycomb sandwich shell analyzed with and without aft thermal curtain, emphasizing cruise-flight phase
The Mars Rover has been built, environmentally tested and qualified for the 1996 launch of the Pathfinder mission to Mars. The basic structure for the thermal control for the Mars Rover is the Warm Electronics Box (WEB). This consists of a thermal isolating composite structure with co-cured thermal control surfaces and an ultralightweight hydrophobic solid silica aerogel which minimizes conduction and radiation.
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The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission to land a large rover on Mars is being planned for launch in 2009. This paper will describe the basic architecture of the thermal control system, the challenges and the methods used to overcome them by the use of an innovative architecture to maximize the use of heritage from past projects while meeting the requirements for the design.
Two Viking spacecraft, each consisting of a lander capsule coupled to an orbiter, will be launched toward Mars during the summer of 1975. About a year later, the orbiters will go into orbit around Mars and the landers will descend to the surface for 90-day landed missions. The lander must withstand a wide variety of environmental and operational conditions during all phases of the mission, including prelaunch sterilization. On the surface of Mars, the lander internal temperatures must be controlled under widely varying thermal environments and atmospheric conditions. The lander thermal design is based on the maximum use of passive techniques and is integrated into the overall vehicle design and operation. The solutions to the unusual combinations of design problems and a summary of the results of full scale model testing under simulated mission conditions are presented.
The thermal control subsystem for the Mars Observer spacecraft has been synthesized from hardware currently in use on earth-orbiting satellites. Heat input to the spacecraft from environmental and internal sources varies widely throughout the mission, and system requirements, such as accommodation of payload instrument fields-of-view and minimization of weight and power, limit the sizes and locations of thermal control elements. Subsystem components are primarily passive, although heaters and louvers provide augmented control where required. Spacecraft-level finite difference thermal models have shown that all component temperature requirements are met with margin.
Mechanically pumped fluid loop has been the basis of thermal control architecture for the last two Mars lander and rover missions and is the key part of the MSL thermal architecture. Several MPFL technologies are being developed for the MSL rover include long-life pumps, thermal control valves, mechanical fittings for use with CFC-11 at elevated temperatures of approx.100 C. Over three years of life tests and chemical compatibility tests on these MPFL components show that MPFL technology is mature for use on MSL. The advances in MPFL technologies for MSL Rover will benefit any future MPFL applications on NASA s Moon, Mars and Beyond Program.