Sojourner on Mars and Lessons Learned for Future Planetary Missions
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The Journey to Mars: How Donna Shirley Broke Barriers for Women in Space Engineering
The Journey to Mars: How Donna Shirley Broke Barriers for Women in Space Engineering Laurel Mossman, Kate Schein, and Amelia Peoples Senior Division Group Documentary Word Count: 499 Our group chose the topic, Donna Shirley and her Mars rover, because of our connections and our interest level in not only science but strong, determined women. One of our group member’s mothers worked for a man under Ms. Shirley when she was developing the Mars rover. This provided us with a connection to Ms. Shirley, which then gave us the amazing opportunity to interview her. In addition, our group is interested in the philosophy of equality and we have continuously created documentaries that revolve around this idea. Every member of our group is a female, so we understand the struggles and discrimination that women face in an everyday setting and wanted to share the story of a female that faced these struggles but overcame them. Thus after conducting a great amount of research, we fell in love with Donna Shirley’s story. Lastly, it was an added benefit that Ms. Shirley is from Oklahoma, making her story important to our state. All of these components made this topic extremely appealing to us. We conducted our research using online articles, Donna Shirley’s autobiography, “Managing Martians”, news coverage from the launch day, and our interview with Donna Shirley. We started our research process by reading Shirley’s autobiography. This gave us insight into her college life, her time working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and what it was like being in charge of such a barrier-breaking mission. -
Long-Range Rovers for Mars Exploration and Sample Return
2001-01-2138 Long-Range Rovers for Mars Exploration and Sample Return Joe C. Parrish NASA Headquarters ABSTRACT This paper discusses long-range rovers to be flown as part of NASA’s newly reformulated Mars Exploration Program (MEP). These rovers are currently scheduled for launch first in 2007 as part of a joint science and technology mission, and then again in 2011 as part of a planned Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. These rovers are characterized by substantially longer range capability than their predecessors in the 1997 Mars Pathfinder and 2003 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions. Topics addressed in this paper include the rover mission objectives, key design features, and Figure 1: Rover Size Comparison (Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration technologies. Rover, ’07 Smart Lander/Mobile Laboratory) INTRODUCTION NASA is leading a multinational program to explore above, below, and on the surface of Mars. A new The first of these rovers, the Smart Lander/Mobile architecture for the Mars Exploration Program has Laboratory (SLML) is scheduled for launch in 2007. The recently been announced [1], and it incorporates a current program baseline is to use this mission as a joint number of missions through the rest of this decade and science and technology mission that will contribute into the next. Among those missions are ambitious plans directly toward sample return missions planned for the to land rovers on the surface of Mars, with several turn of the decade. These sample return missions may purposes: (1) perform scientific explorations of the involve a rover of almost identical architecture to the surface; (2) demonstrate critical technologies for 2007 rover, except for the need to cache samples and collection, caching, and return of samples to Earth; (3) support their delivery into orbit for subsequent return to evaluate the suitability of the planet for potential manned Earth. -
Autonomous Navigation and the Sojourner Microrover
rtRR.31. lYYf3 5: 4“(7-TI 5L1FLNCE RRIWROD NO. >y~ 1-’.1313 m TI-113PATNFINDERIVWSIONmhf.ms tbas@iweofMarostthetime the d F ; Iandar completed sun-finding and identifi 3 the cliraetion of mrirtiannorth on 90! 1. Int$ 4 Autonomous Navigation and the madkfe wqqmints (ss needed) were also de- tined by the driver if them was a preferent$l : Sojourner Microrover path toward the fml dcstindors (such ss a 7 . route to avoid obvious hazsrds along t$e 8 path). If the rover was not slreody faoing e 9 J. Matijevic next waypoinL it was carunandsd to 10 toward tbe god until it facd the destination+ 11 These oommnds (W30to Waypointfl tuqs, 12 and a command to update the position of e TtM Mars ex@xation program has as an ing, the rover used teobniques for aukmo- rover in the x and y coordinate tie) w e i: ovmamhingtheme tho mamh for md under- mous control which were (among sewed sent to tho rovor as part of a single c d stnnding of life, climate, and resou.moson technologies)tkst damonstrate$in flight on sequence. 4 15 16 this fascinating planet. The abfiity to move this mission. One such technique for Upon exeoution of tha “Go to Waypo”mt” 17 aboutthe surfiiof Mars is key to makb autonomow navigation and hszad avoidance cunmand the rover drove an appmxirrde 18 measuremcmtsand the gathuirtg of tha straight lina, ac@9& - its ps data which address this therm (J). In Oc- when it datacted drifi off ils co c ;: tober 1992, the NASA Office of Spaea or enoountoreda tid condili 21 Access and kbno]o~ fdod an ex- king cxooutionof a “Go to Wai - 22 periment to d~nsti~ the mobile vti- point” eomrnsnd,the rover updstdd 23 ck technologiesneeded for a Msrs surl%oc its position relntive to the lander {o 24 mission (2), lllat exporimlmh the Micro- dexarmine(at a mioirnurn) if it ~d rover Flight Expmimcnt (MJ?EX) or reaohed the objeotivc of the trsy- : “So@mer;’ flew on tbe Mars Pathfinder erse. -
Three Women Who Dared Rabbi Van Lanckton Temple B’Nai Shalom Braintree, Massachusetts March 4, 2017
Three Women Who Dared Rabbi Van Lanckton Temple B’nai Shalom Braintree, Massachusetts March 4, 2017 Be happy, it’s Adar! The new month of Adar began last Monday. Next weekend, we celebrate Purim. Spring is finally almost here. In addition to sending sh’lach manot and eating hamentaschen and dressing up in costumes, the central celebration of Purim is the public reading of the Book of Esther, Megillat Esther. Esther is the prime example of a woman who dared. She dared to speak up to King Achashverosh. She dared to enter his throne room without his permission, risking death. She accused Haman, powerful counselor to the king, of plotting to kill the Jews. In doing so, she revealed to the king that she, herself, was Jewish. If she had failed, she would have shared in the fate of all the Jews of Persia in being killed by Haman and his followers. Before these exploits, Esther was unsure what to do. Her uncle Mordecai urged her to use her position as queen to save the Jews. We need to back up a little in the story to understand the exchange between Mordecai and Esther and the key line in that exchange that still speaks to us today. Megillat Esther tells us that the king had promoted Haman and seated him higher than any of his fellow officials. All the king’s courtiers knelt and bowed low to Haman according to the king’s order, but Mordecai would not kneel or bow low. He refused to do so, he said, because he was a Jew. -
Mars Science Laboratory Entry Capsule Aerothermodynamics and Thermal Protection System
Mars Science Laboratory Entry Capsule Aerothermodynamics and Thermal Protection System Karl T. Edquist ([email protected], 757-864-4566) Brian R. Hollis ([email protected], 757-864-5247) NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681 Artem A. Dyakonov ([email protected], 757-864-4121) National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA 23666 Bernard Laub ([email protected], 650-604-5017) Michael J. Wright ([email protected], 650-604-4210) NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 Tomasso P. Rivellini ([email protected], 818-354-5919) Eric M. Slimko ([email protected], 818-354-5940) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109 William H. Willcockson ([email protected], 303-977-5094) Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, CO 80125 Abstract—The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft TABLE OF CONTENTS is being designed to carry a large rover (> 800 kg) to the 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 1 surface of Mars using a blunt-body entry capsule as the 2. COMPUTATIONAL RESULTS ................................. 2 primary decelerator. The spacecraft is being designed for 3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS .................................... 5 launch in 2009 and arrival at Mars in 2010. The 4. TPS TESTING AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT.......... 7 combination of large mass and diameter with non-zero 5. SUMMARY ........................................................... 11 angle-of-attack for MSL will result in unprecedented REFERENCES........................................................... 11 convective heating environments caused by turbulence prior BIOGRAPHY ............................................................ 12 to peak heating. Navier-Stokes computations predict a large turbulent heating augmentation for which there are no supporting flight data1 and little ground data for validation. -
Insight Spacecraft Launch for Mission to Interior of Mars
InSight Spacecraft Launch for Mission to Interior of Mars InSight is a robotic scientific explorer to investigate the deep interior of Mars set to launch May 5, 2018. It is scheduled to land on Mars November 26, 2018. It will allow us to better understand the origin of Mars. First Launch of Project Orion Project Orion took its first unmanned mission Exploration flight Test-1 (EFT-1) on December 5, 2014. It made two orbits in four hours before splashing down in the Pacific. The flight tested many subsystems, including its heat shield, electronics and parachutes. Orion will play an important role in NASA's journey to Mars. Orion will eventually carry astronauts to an asteroid and to Mars on the Space Launch System. Mars Rover Curiosity Lands After a nine month trip, Curiosity landed on August 6, 2012. The rover carries the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the martian surface. Curiosity analyzes samples scooped from the soil and drilled from rocks to record of the planet's climate and geology. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Begins Mission at Mars NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched from Cape Canaveral August 12. 2005, to find evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars. The instruments zoom in for photography of the Martian surface, analyze minerals, look for subsurface water, trace how much dust and water are distributed in the atmosphere, and monitor daily global weather. Spirit and Opportunity Land on Mars January 2004, NASA landed two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on opposite sides of Mars. -
Mars Pathfinder
NASA Facts National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91109 Mars Pathfinder Mars Pathfinder was the first completed mission events, ending in a touchdown which left all systems in NASAs Discovery Program of low-cost, rapidly intact. developed planetary missions with highly focused sci- The landing site, an ancient flood plain in Mars ence goals. With a development time of only three northern hemisphere known as Ares Vallis, is among years and a total cost of $265 million, Pathfinder was the rockiest parts of Mars. It was chosen because sci- originally designed entists believed it to as a technology be a relatively safe demonstration of a surface to land on way to deliver an and one which con- instrumented lander tained a wide vari- and a free-ranging ety of rocks robotic rover to the deposited during a surface of the red catastrophic flood. planet. Pathfinder In the event early in not only accom- Mars history, sci- plished this goal but entists believe that also returned an the flood plain was unprecedented cut by a volume of amount of data and water the size of outlived its primary North Americas design life. Great Lakes in Pathfinder used about two weeks. an innovative The lander, for- method of directly mally named the entering the Carl Sagan Martian atmos- Memorial Station phere, assisted by a following its suc- parachute to slow cessful touchdown, its descent through and the rover, the thin Martian atmosphere and a giant system of named Sojourner after American civil rights crusader airbags to cushion the impact. -
The Mars Pathfinder Project
CaseStudy The Mars PathfinderProject Introduction In 1992budgets throughout the U.S. government were being slashedas the post-Cold War drawdown gathered momentum. Support for expensive space exploration projects was waning and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) relationship with politicians and the general public had been strained by recent high-profile, expensive project failures. "The new NASA A.dministrator determined that the United States must continue to do space science missions despite the government-wide belt tightening that had squeezed the NASA budget, began talking about 'Faster, Better, Cheaper.' The catch- phrase summed up a philosophy that was right in step with the new adrninistration's practical thinking" (Muirhead & Simon, 1999). For NASA, this mantra meant increasing the number of planetary rnissions, spending less than $150 million (US) on each mission and taking no longer than 36 months for implernentation. Frojects that took longer or cost more would be canceled. With this philosophy, NASA teamed with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 0PL) and embarked on a project to land a scientific exploration module on the planet of Mars. This proiect was known as the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) mission. More than three years later, NASA and JPL received their last scientific data transmission from the MPF. This transmission marked the culmination of a phenomenal rnission that far exceeded all rightful expectations. Both in terms of science and management, the MPF project was hugely successfirl and won the Project Management Institute's coveted "Project of the Year ,{ward" for 1998 (Project lv{anagement Institute, n.d.). Many factors led to the project's success. -
Rtg Impact Response to Hard Landing During Mars Environmental Survey (Mesur) Mission
RTG IMPACT RESPONSE TO HARD LANDING DURING MARS ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEY (MESUR) MISSION A. Schock M. Mukunda Space ABSTRACT Since the simultaneous operation of large number of landers over a long period of time is required, the landers The National Aeronautics and Space Administration must be capable of long life. They must be simple so that (NASA) is studying a seven-year robotic mission (MESUR, a large number can be sent at affordable cost, and yet Mars Environmental Survey) for the seismic, meteorological, rugged and robust In order to survive a wide range of and geochemical exploration of the Martian surface by means landing and environmental conditions, of a network of -16 small, inexpensive landers spread from pole to pole. To permit operation at high Martian latitudes, NASA has basellned the use of Radioisotope NASA has tentatively decided to power the landers with small Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) to power the probe, RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators). To support lander, and scientific Instruments. Considerations favoring the NASA mission study, the Department of Energy's Office of the use of RTGs are their applicability at both low and high Special Applications commissioned Fairchild to perform Martian latitudes, their ability to operate during and after specialized RTG design studies. Those studies indicated that Martian sandstorms, and their ability to withstand Martian the cost and complexity of the mission could be significantly ground impacts at high velocities and g-loads. reduced if the RTGs had sufficient impact resistance to survive ground impact of the landers without retrorockets. High Impact resistance of the RTGs can be of critical Fairchild designs of RTGs configured for high impact importance In reducing the complexity and cost of the resistance were reported previously. -
Scientific Exploration of Mars
Chapter 5 Scientific Exploration of Mars UNDERSTANDING MARS successfully inserted Mariner 9 into an orbit about Mars8 on November 13, 1971. It was the The planets have fascinated humankind ever first spacecraft to orbit another planet (box 5-A). since observers first recognized that they had For the first 2 months of the spacecraft’s stay in characteristic motions different from the stars. Mars’ orbit, the most severe Martian dust storms Astronomers in the ancient Mediterranean called ever recorded obscured Mars surface features. them the wanderers because they appear to wan- After the storms subsided and the atmosphere der among the background of the stars. Because cleared up, Mariner 9 was able to map the entire of its reddish color as seen by the naked eye, Mars Martian surface with a surface resolution of 1 9 drew attention. It has been the subject of scientif- kilometer. ic and fictiona13 interest for centuries.4 In recent Images from Mariner 9 revealed surface fea- years, planetary scientists have developed in- tures far beyond what investigators had expected creased interest in Mars, because Mars is the from the earlier flybys. The earlier spacecraft had most Earthlike of the planets. “The study of Mars by chance photographed the heavily cratered is [therefore] an essential basis for our under- southern hemisphere of the planet, which looks standing of the evolution of the Earth and the more like the Moon than like Earth. These first inner solar system.”5 closeup images of Mars gave scientists the false Planetary exploration has been one of the Na- impression that Mars was a geologically “dead” tional Aeronautics and Space Administration’s planet, in which asteroid impacts provided the (NASA) primary goals ever since the U.S. -
What Makes a Rover?
What Makes a Rover? WHAT MAKES A ROVER? HOW DO SCIENTISTS USE THEM TO DISCOVER FAR AWAY PLACES? Use this activity guide to explore rovers that humans have built, then design one of your own to explore a location in the solar system! HOW DOES IT WORK? SKILLS Complete the activities in this guide to research, design, build, and test Asking Questions your own rovers! Use the instructions on the following pages to Developing and Using guide your research and design process. Directions for each activity Models are on the following pages: Rover Research (pages 2-3), Design Planning and Carrying out Investigations Challenge: Rovers (pages 4-5), Rover Races (page 6). Analyzing and Interpreting Data Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information CONCEPTS Cause and Effect Structure and Function STANDARDS More information regarding the NGSS standards of this activity is available at the end of this guide (page 9). WHAT’S A ROVER? Stay Connected! When humans want to learn about other planets or objects in the solar Be sure to share your system, they can use tools like telescopes, satellites, and rovers. A research, designs, and rover is a small, mobile robot that scientists send to moons and planets prototypes with us online to land on their surfaces and explore. Rovers can take pictures and by tagging collect information about the planet by taking temperature readings, @chabotspace, or using rock, and soil samples. The rovers then send this information back to the hashtags scientists on earth through radio signals. Rovers can help scientists learn #ChabotRovers and about faraway places without having to send people to space, which #LearningLaunchpad can be tricky! ROVER RESEARCH NASA uses rovers to explore other places in our solar system. -
Abstract - MESUR Pathfinder Mission Operations Concepts $
.$’ Abstract - MESUR Pathfinder Mission Operations Concepts $. The Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) Pathfinder Project plans a December 1996 launch of a single spacecraft. The 7-month cruise includes up to four trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMS) and two checkouts of the complete flight system, one just after launch and one just before arrival at Mars. After jettisoning a cruise stage, an entry body containing a lander and microrover will directly enter the Mars atmosphere and parachute to a hard landing near the sub-solar latitude of 15 degrees North in July 1997. Primary surface operations last for 30 days, As a Discovery mission, MESUR Pathfinder costs are capped. Cost estimates for Pathfinder ground systems development and operations are not only lower in absolute dollars, but also are a lower percentage of total project costs than in past planetary missions. Operations teams will be smaller and fewer than typical flight projects. All experiment functions, including rover technology experiments, are collected in one Experiment Team. All engineering functions (exclusive of multimission services) are collected into a single Engineering Team. Operations with two small teams is made possible by the following characteristics: Acceptance of more risk as a Class C mission. Rover operations using simple high-level behavior commands. A simple spin-stabilized flight system. Telemetry collection of engineering and experiment data packets by demand into solid state memory. ● Direct-to-Earth telemetry driven only by downlink data rate and independent of collection rate. Prioritized packet downlink determined by ground command parameters. Onboard management of computer memory. No complex navigation data types. No cruise science and limited surface experiments.