Eighth IEEE International Conference on SPACE MISSION CHALLENGES FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SMC-IT 2021) Student Mini-Workshop on CubeSat Inspired Mars Mission Concepts

Mini-Workshop Chair(s): Ernesto Gomez, PhD Affiliation: School of Compuer Science and Softwware Engineering, California State University San Bernardino Address: JB-337, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407 Email: [email protected] Phone: (909) 537-5429 FAX:

Advisors:

Jeff Levison, Supervisor, SmallSat Software Engineering Group, JPL 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 W: 818-354-4346, C: 818-653-5908 Jeffrey.W.Levison@jpl.nasa.gov

John Bellardo, Ph.D., Professor, Computer Science Department, Cal Poly Address: 14-235D, CSC Department, Cal Poly 1 Grand Ave San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 W: (805) 756-7256 [email protected]

Larry Bergman, Ph.D. (JPL retired) C: (818) 476-2403 [email protected]

The mini-workshop proposal must include the following (2 pages maximum):

1. Full contact information for the principal organizer; 2. Abstract (2-3 sentences) Ideas in science can rise and fall on the numbers - for example to confirm or deny a theory, we make numeric predictions and test them through experiments. Computers add a new dimension to this - beyond simple prediction we can create computer models of a system, and then test its behavior. 3. Two-page outline of the theme, goals, and draft agenda (if known) of the workshop. Note that a Mini-Workshop format can include invited presentations, contributed presentations, panels, demonstrations, facilitated interactive discussions with attendees. If any presentations have a companion paper that the authors intend to publish with IEEE, they should follow the overall conference manuscript publication and peer review process. The JPL MarCO (Mars Cube One) and Ingenuity (Mars Helicopter) Missions have recently proven that small CubeSat style spacecraft (CSSS) can be successfully designed to operate in Mars orbit and on the surface of Mars, typically for special purpose missions where higher risk (of failure), smaller size/mass, and lower cost are reasonable design parameters. The purpose of this SMC-IT 2021 Mini-Workshop is to solicit student concepts for future similar types of missions to Mars, and ultimately demonstrate the importance and relevance to future robotic and human exploration of Mars. Students are asked to describe the spacecraft concept, its mission objective, its general hardware and system software architecture, any innovative features, and prove basic feasibility by first principles using either simple analytical methods, or computer modeling and simulation. For the purposes of this exercise, one may assume that:  Another mother ship will provide a ride from Earth to Mars (with suitable power during cruise, space environment protection, and communication relay back to Earth)  Once at Mars, the CSSS can communicate through a separately provided Mars Orbiter relay spacecraft back to Earth, or directly with Deep Space Network (DSN) system on Earth at lower bit rate  In general, the CSSS will provide for its own mobility, guidance, power, thermal protection, and communications  Mission duration can be long or short as long as the mission objective is achieved. Since these are largely conceptual designs (the most that can be attempted over a few months time), most of the effort should be focused on proving feasibility, illustrating innovative system properties (especially system software components and/or algorithms), and devising any ways to simplify engineering, fabrication, and operations of the system. At the conference, students will be asked to give a short briefing (20-30 min) on their mission concept, covering the following topics: mission concept and objective, system architecture, software architecture, proof of feasibility, deployment concept, operations concept, innovations, and overall benefit/relevance).

4. Short statement discussing the relevance of the workshop to the field of IT for space missions; Student participants will learn by doing computer modeling in support of space missions, using examples from Mars exploration. They should discover unanticipated features of a system through modeling and learn the usefulness of computer models to science in general and space exploration specifically. 5. The desired minimum and maximum number of workshop participants - please also state and justify the expected number of participants (to help determine whether the workshop is also financially feasible); In a 5 hour afternoon session we can have a keynote speaker, 6 to 9 presentations taking 20-30 minutes, and extra time for discussion. We expect students to work in small groups of 2 or 3, we should have 18 to 24 presenters and expect some additional interested observers, attendance should be around 30. 6. The participant solicitation and selection process (also whether open/closed); Participants will submit a brief (one page) proposal of their mission concept and what they planning to model. Organizers will evaluate relevance of proposal and give participants a conditional acceptance. Final acceptance is contingent on computational or theoretical results provided to organizers two weeks before the conference date (or earlier). 7. A brief description of each organizer's background, including relevant past experience in organizing workshops and contact information; Ernesto Gomez holds a PhD in Computer Science from University of Chicago (research in compiler support for parallel scientific computation) and an MS in Physics from University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (research in ionospheric physics at Arecibo Observatory). He is a Professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering. His current research involves the use of statistical mechanics and entropy in the analysis of the work required to synchronize parallel computation, and support for numeric scientific programming in support of proton therapy. His previous involvement in workshops has included helping the organizers. 8. A preliminary version of the call for workshop papers that the workshop organizers intend to use (only if seeking contributed papers / presentations); Student Workshop for SMC-IT 2021:

Learn by doing -> computer modeling and numeric programming.

Ideas in science can rise and fall on the numbers - for example to confirm or deny a theory, we make numeric predictions and test them through experiments. Computers add a new dimension to this - beyond simple prediction we can create computer models of a system, and then test its behavior.

For example: a simple calculation of atmospheric friction with Earth's atmosphere tells you that it can be used to slow down a spacecraft from orbit, at least to speeds where parachutes or wings can be used for a soft landing. A computer model of the same situation tells you that if something like the space shuttle comes into the atmosphere nose first, small attitude deviations increase friction and temperature enough to destroy it, but if it comes down belly first (as it did), then the same small attitude changes can be safely used to control its course.

This workshop will showcase results of student work on Mars exploration ideas: how to land a payload on Mars, how could we use cubesats to study Mars.

Work should include numeric computation or modeling sufficient to show that the idea may be feasible and may be worth continuing study. Approximations to an order of magnitude are sufficient.

Project 1: Entry Descent and Landing (EDL) phase of a Mars probe: Landing a payload on Mars is different from landing on the Moon or on Earth. Atmospheric braking can not be used on the Moon, but with a gravity of ~1.6 m/s^2, about 1/6 of Earth, using rockets to slow down and land on the surface is practical. Mars gravity is about 3.7 m/s^2, which is about 1/3 of Earth and a bit more than twice that of the Moon. This requires substantially more energy to slow down and land on the surface using only rocket power.

Mars has an atmosphere, but it is much thinner than Earth's (pressure on the surface is about 1% of Earth) so it is not as effective to slow down a spacecraft. Atmospheric braking and parachutes don't work as well as on Earth. See atmosphere model at https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/atmosmrm.html

The combination of gravity and atmosphere on Mars makes a soft landing hard, and led to some odd combinations of strategies - for example the Spirit rover landed on mars using a combination of atmospheric braking, retro rockets, parachutes and bouncing off the Martian surface several times (using airbags) to shed the last bit of energy (see https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/spotlight/rocknroll01.html )

Assume you want to land a 2000 Kg payload on Mars. Assume the same speed and distance from Mars as the Perseverance rover (year 2000, see https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/entry-descent-landing/)

Come up with an EDL method. Key parameters:

1. What is the mass of the total package at the start of EDL to get a 2000Kg payload to the surface?

2. What is the maximum deceleration on the approach to the surface? How hot does it get?

3. How fast is the payload moving when it reaches the surface?

Build a computer model of your EDL that allows you to vary mission parameters and show feasibility of your EDL method. A rough order of magnitude estimate is sufficient for our purposes.

Project 2: cubesats

Cubesats are small, relatively cheap devices (see https://www.cubesat.org/cubesatinfo) that can be placed in orbit for data gathering (see https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/earth-science.php ), navigation and mission support (even on a Mars mission: see https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php), potentially multiple other uses. How would you use cubesats to support the explorations of Mars? Things to consider:

1: What do you want to do with cubesats on Mars? Directly gathering data or supporting other missions? What orbit or orbits do you need to accomplish this?

2: What hardware is needed to do this? Single cubesat? Swarm? Several specialized cubesats?

3: How is the system controlled? Assume a mix of autonomous actions and instructions from Earth, what hardware (processor, memory, data storage) do you need to support this?

4: How do you communicate between cubesat and Earth? Can this be done directly from the cubesats, or is some kind of relay needed? Do you need to communicate with other cubesats?

5: What are weight and power requirements for all of the above? (Note that intensity of sunlight on Mars is about 1/2 what we have on Earth. Solar cells must be bigger to supply the same power).

6: What is the projected lifetime of your design?

7: Assuming the same mars arrival parameters as for EDL, how much work is needed to move your cubesats t your cubesats to the desired orbits?

Design a cubesat (or cubesats) to implement your proposal, show numeric calculations sufficient to demonstrate feasibility, model what you consider ate the key performance parameters of proposed system

Additional references: https://spacenews.com/marco-shows-interplanetary-cubesats-possible-but- not-easy/ https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/space-travel/index.html https://kiss.caltech.edu/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/earth-science.php https://www.cubesat.org/ https://aero.calpoly.edu/cubesat-and-polysat/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/ingenuity https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php https://spacenews.com/mars-cubesats-fall-silent/ https://www.space.com/nasa-mars-cubesats-marco-mission-ends.html https://www.planetary.org/articles/0501-marco-cubesats-to-mars

Simple models, guides and downloadable simulation software. https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/ https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/freesoftware_page.htm

2021 CubeSat Developers Workshop with Dr. Roger Walker of European Space Agency. Keynote Address. ESA Technology CubeSats: Enabling Future Operational Missions. Visit cubesatdw.org for more ... April 29,2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt9qZABBliA

9. A list of (proposed and already committed) program committee members; 10. Requested equipment, room capacity and organization, and any other logistic constraints.