Mars Phobos and Deimos Survey (M-PADS) – A martian Moons orbiter and Phobos lander

We describe a Mars ‘Micro Mission’ for detailed study of the martian satellites Phobos and Deimos. The mission involves two ∼330 kg spacecraft equipped with solar electric propulsion to reach Mars orbit. The two spacecraft are stacked for launch: an orbiter for remote investigation of the moons and in situ studies of their environment in Mars orbit, and another carrying a lander for in situ measurements on the surface of Phobos (or alternatively Deimos). Phobos and Deimos remain only partially studied, and Deimos less well than Phobos. Mars has almost always been the primary mission objective, while the more dedicated Phobos project (1988–89) failed to realise its full potential. Many questions remain concerning the moons’ origins, evolution, physical nature and composition. Current missions, such as Mars Express, are extending our knowledge of Phobos in some areas but largely neglect Deimos. The objectives of M-PADS focus on: origins and evolution, interactions with Mars, volatiles and interiors, surface features, and differences. The consequent measurement requirements imply both landed and remote sensing payloads. M-PADS is expected to accommodate a 60 kg orbital payload and a 16 kg lander payload. M-PADS resulted from a BNSC-funded study carried out in 2003 to define candidate Mars Micro Mission concepts for ESA’s Aurora programme.     

载人火星和小行星探测任务初步分析

载人火星和小行星探测是未来深空探测的重要发展方向,以美国为代表的航天强国正在积极开展相关方案论证和技术攻关。由于任务规模庞大,受制于目前以化学推进为主的运输系统能力限制,要进行火星、小行星探测,必须发展重型运载火箭、轨道转移级等运载工具。从载人火星、小行星探测任务规划的角度出发,对总体任务进行了初步分析,提出了初步的系统方案。     

γ-ray spectroscopy in Mars orbit during solar proton events

Understanding the evolution of Mars requires determining the composition of the surface and atmosphere of the planet. The European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover mission, which is expected to launch in 2016, is part of the Aurora programme. The instruments on the rover will search for evidence of life on Mars and will map a sub-section of the Martian surface, extracting compositional information. Currently our understanding of the bulk composition (and mineralogy) of Mars relies on orbital data from instruments on-board satellites such as 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express, in addition to in-situ instrumentation on rovers such as Spirit and Opportunity. γ-ray spectroscopy can be used to determine the composition of Mars, but it has yet to be successfully carried out in-situ on Mars. This study describes some of the results obtained from the γ-ray spectrometer on 2001 Mars Odyssey during solar proton events and discusses whether the increased emissions are useful in γ-ray spectroscopy. The study shows that although increased γ-ray emissions were expected from the Martian surface during a solar proton event, they were not detected from orbit probably due to insufficient signal-to-background. However, this does not preclude the possibility of measuring changes in γ-ray flux corresponding to changes in solar activity on the surface of the planet.     

火星生命探测中一种潜在的生物标志物磷酸盐

地外生命探索是国际上广泛关注的深空探测重要目标之一.中国第一个火星探测器天问一号成功发射,开启了对火星表面形貌、生命迹象等进行科学探索的旅程.作为太阳系中与地球最为相似的星球,火星带给人类无穷的遐想.火星上是否存在生命,未来人类是否可以移民火星,磷作为重要的生命元素,在生命的整个进化过程具有不可替代的作用.磷酸盐可以作为一种潜在的生命标志物,为火星生命探测提供新的思路和线索.      

火星表面热环境对航天器热控影响分析

火星大气对太阳辐射产生吸收和散射作用，同时还将与火星表面航天器发生对流换热。热设计时难以直接评估对流、辐射和导热三种换热对航天器的影响，从而确定主要的控温途径。在调研火星表面辐射、大气等热环境的基础上，从线性化传热系数和对流辐射比的角度对比分析了辐射、对流和导热对航天器的影响。器表辐射传热系数随光学属性和温度的变化范围为0.3～1.4W/(m2·℃)，对流传热系数随风速变化为0.2～1.5W/(m2·℃)，器内导热传热系数可控制在0.25W/(m2·℃)以下。结果表明，太阳辐射较火星表面和天空辐射而言是主要外热源，航天器表面的辐射和对流换热为两条并联换热途径，两者均可成为主要换热途径，器内导热传热是控制航天器内外隔热的主要可控因素。     

Estimation and assessment of Mars contamination.

Since the beginning of the exploration of Mars, more than fourty years ago, thirty-six missions have been launched, including fifty-nine different space systems such as fly-by spacecraft, orbiters, cruise modules, landing or penetrating systems. Taking into account failures at launch, about three missions out of four have been successfully sent toward the Red Planet. The fact today is that Mars orbital environment includes orbiters and perhaps debris, and that its atmosphere and its surface include terrestrial compounds and dormant microorganisms. Coming from the UN Outer Space Treaty [United Nations Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the "Outer Space Treaty") referenced 610 UNTS 205 - resolution 2222(XXI) of December 1966] and according to the COSPAR planetary protection policy recommendations [COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy (20 October 2002), accepted by the Council and Bureau, as moved for adoption by SC F and PPP, prepared by the COSPAR/IAU Workshop on Planetary Protection, 4/02 with updates 10/0, 2002], Mars environment has to be preserved so as not to jeopardize the scientific investigations, and the level of terrestrial material brought on and around Mars theoretically has to comply with this policy. It is useful to evaluate what and how many materials, compounds and microorganisms are on Mars, to list what is in orbit and to identify where all these items are. Considering assumptions about materials, spores and gas location and dispersion on Mars, average contamination levels can be estimated. It is clear now that as long as missions are sent to other extraterrestrial bodies, it is not possible to keep them perfectly clean. Mars is one of the most concerned body, and the large number of missions achieved, on-going and planned now raise the question about its possible contamination, not necessarily from a biological point of view, but with respect to all types of contamination. Answering this question, will help to assess the potential effects of such contamination on scientific results and will address concerns relative to any ethical considerations about the contamination of other planets.     

Electric discharge in the Martian atmosphere,Paschen curves and implications for future missions

Electric discharge between two electrically charged surfaces occurs at a well-defined, gas-dependent combination of atmospheric pressure and the distance between those two surfaces, as described by Paschen’s law. The understanding of when the discharge will occur in the conditions present on Mars is essential for designing space-flight hardware that will operate on the Martian surface as well as understanding electrical discharge processes occurring in the Martian atmosphere. Here, we present experimentally measured Paschen curves for a gas mixture representative of the Martian atmosphere and compare our results to breakdown voltages of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and helium as measured with our system and from the literature. We will discuss possible implications for instrument development as well as implications for processes in the Martian atmosphere. The DC voltage at which electric discharge occurred between two stainless steel spheres was measured at pressures from 10⁻² to 100 torr in all gases. We measured a minimum voltage for discharge in the Mars ambient atmosphere of 410 ± 10 V at 0.3 torr cm. As an application, the breakdown properties of space-qualified, electrical wires to be used in the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) were studied.     

Biological assessment of Ariane 5 fairing

United Nations Space Treaties [10 and 11] require the preservation of planets and of Earth from contamination. All nations part to these Treaties shall take measures to prevent forward and backward contamination during missions exploring our solar system. As observer for the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the COSPAR (Committee of Space Research) defines and handles the applicable policy and proposes recommendations to Space Agencies [COSPAR Planetary Protection Panel, Planetary Protection Policy accepted by the COSPAR Council and Bureau, 20 October 2002, amended 24 March 2005. http://www.cosparhq.org/scistr/PPPolicy.htm.]. The goal is to protect celestial bodies from terrestrial biological contamination as well as to protect the Earth environment from an eventual biohazard which may be carried by extraterrestrial samples or by space systems returning to Earth. According to the applicable specifications, including in our case the French requirements [CNES, System Safety. Planetary Protection Requirements. Normative referential CNES RNC-CNES-R-14, CNES Toulouse, ed. 4, 04 October 2002.], the prevention of forward contamination is accomplished by reducing the bioburden on space hardware to acceptable, prescribed levels, including in some instances system sterilization, assembling and integrating the appropriate spacecraft systems in cleanrooms of appropriate biological cleanliness, avoiding or controlling any recontamination risk, and limiting the probability impact of space systems. In order to prepare for future exploration missions [Debus, A., Planetary protection: organization requirements and needs for future planetary exploration missions, ESA conference publication SP-543, pp 103–114, 2003.], and in particular for missions to Mars requiring to control the spacecraft bioburden, a test program has been developed to evaluate the biological contamination under the fairing of the Ariane 5 launcher.     

The VESTA project: Combined studies of Mars and small bodies of the solar system

A mission to Mars and small solar system bodies is presently studied as a possible collaboration between INTERCOSMOS, CNES, ESA and eventually other participants. The VESTA concept, based on the same strategy as the successful VEGA mission, is more ambitious, as two spacecrafts separate soon after launch: a soviet spacecraft, dedicated to the study of Mars, and a spacecraft dedicated to the study of small bodies, under the responsibility of CNES and ESA. This spacecraft would use Mars gravity assists to visit up to 4 small bodies in less than 5 years. The mission is duplicated, which means that up to 8 small bodies could be studied (e.g. 6 main belt asteroids, 1 apollo-amor asteroid and 1 short period comet). Low relative velocities (< 3.5 km/s) should allow to drop a penetrator on two large main belt asteroids, such as 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres (1994 launch).     

萤火一号火星探测计划的科学目标

与其他行星相比火星是与地球最为相似, 也是最有可能在其上发现地球以外生命现象的一颗行星, 因此特别受到人类的关注. 近年来, 有国家已经发射了火星探测器, 并启动了载人火星探测研究计划. 中国是世界上第五个具备自主发射人造卫星的国家, 也是世界上第三个具备自主开展载人航天活动的国家. 但是中国在深空探测领域才刚刚起步. 2007年中俄两国签署了联合探测火星计划, 俄罗斯负责将中国研制的一颗微小卫星------萤火一号发送至火星轨道. 萤火一号将开展自主探测, 并与俄罗斯的火卫一探测器开展联合探测. 本文综述了萤火一号任务提出的科学背景及科学目标, 简要介绍了为实现科学目标配置的有效载荷, 以及入轨后的主要探测任务, 并对其科学探测结果进行了初步的展望.      

基于火卫二视线测量的火星接近段自主导航算法

针对火星接近段导航通信时延大、存在通信盲区、自主导航可用观测信息有限等问题,提出了一种基于一组火卫二相对探测器视线矢量测量的天文自主导航算法,每个导航周期测量一组火卫二视线矢量可得到其中某一时刻探测器的完整轨道信息的估计值,该方法不依赖于轨道渐近线方向等先验信息。考虑到存在火卫二和火星在同一视场的情形,此时结合火星中心视线矢量方向以及火卫二的星历信息可估计出精度较高的探测器轨道半径,作为第一种方法的补充观测量,提高导航精度。最后给出仿真校验,验证了该方法的导航精度和可行性,表明该方案能够满足未来火星探测接近段自主导航需求。     

Planetary protection issues and the future exploration of Mars.

A primary scientific theme for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) is the search for life, extant or extinct, on Mars. Because of this, concerns about Planetary Protection (PP), the prevention of biological cross-contamination between Earth and other planets during solar system exploration missions, have arisen. A recent workshop assessed the necessity for, and impact of, PP requirements on the unmanned and human missions to Mars comprising the SEI. The following ground-rules were adopted: 1) information needed for assessing PP issues must be obtained during the unmanned precursor mission phase prior to human landings; 2) returned Mars samples will be considered biologically hazardous until proven otherwise; 3) deposition of microbes on Mars and exposure of the crew to Martian materials are inevitable when humans land; and, 4) human landings are unlikely until it is demonstrated that there is no harmful effect of Martian materials on terrestrial life forms. These ground-rules dictated the development of a conservative PP strategy for precursor missions. Key features of the proposed strategy include: 1) for prevention of forward contamination, all orbiters will follow Mars Observer PP procedures for assembly, trajectory, and lifetime. All landers will follow Viking PP procedures for assembly, microbial load reduction, and bioshield; and, 2) for prevention of back contamination, all sample return missions will have PP requirements which include fail-safe sample sealing, breaking contact chain with the Martian surface, and containment and quarantine analysis in an Earth-based lab. In addition to deliberating on scientific and technical issues, the workshop made several recommendations for dealing with forward and back contamination concerns from non-scientific perspectives.     

无人火星取样返回任务关键环节分析

无人火星取样返回探测在科学成果获取和工程能力提升方面均具有重要意义,与国外已经多次实现的火星着陆巡视任务相比,其任务周期更长,技术风险更高。取样返回飞行方式决定了任务的系统顶层设计。通过对国外研究成果的对比论证,认为应当在火星轨道附近完成交会捕获与样品转移任务,因此需要采用2个不同功能探测器:一个完成火星捕获、样品转移收纳与火地返回;另一个完成火星大气进入、表面上升与样品投送。在此基础上对大气进入、起飞上升、火星轨道交会捕获、样品转移、地球再入等关键环节进行任务分析,论证主要技术难点和初步的可实现途径。     

A space radiation shielding model of the Martian radiation environment experiment (MARIE)

The 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft was launched towards Mars on April 7, 2001. Onboard the spacecraft is the Martian radiation environment experiment (MARIE), which is designed to measure the background radiation environment due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar protons in the 20–500 MeV/n energy range. We present an approach for developing a space radiation-shielding model of the spacecraft that includes the MARIE instrument in the current mapping phase orientation. A discussion is presented describing the development and methodology used to construct the shielding model. For a given GCR model environment, using the current MARIE shielding model and the high-energy particle transport codes, dose rate values are compared with MARIE measurements during the early mapping phase in Mars orbit. The results show good agreement between the model calculations and the MARIE measurements as presented for the March 2002 dataset.     

我国首次火星探测任务

我国首次火星探测任务于2016年立项实施。综合介绍了国际火星探测的历史和现状,我国首次火星探测任务的工程目标和科学目标、总体技术方案、关键技术难点、预期创新成果。我国首次火星探测任务将通过一次发射,实现火星环绕和着陆巡视,对火星开展全球性普查和局部的精细探测,推进火星地形地貌与地质构造、土壤特征与水冰分布、表明物质组成、大气电离层和气候环境、物理场与内部构造等方面的研究。实现火星探测任务目标,针对火星探测面临的各种特殊环境,需突破长期自主管理与控制等8类关键技术,取得的一系列创新成果,将为我国建立独立自主的深空探测基础工程体系,掌握深空探测基础共性技术,形成开展深空探测的基础工程能力。     

Radio beacons/IMU integrated navigation for Mars entry

High precision entry navigation capability is essential for future Mars pinpoint landing missions, together with the entry guidance and aerodynamic lift control. This paper addresses the issue of Mars entry navigation using inertial measurement unit (IMU) and orbiting or surface radiometric beacons. The range and Doppler information sensed from orbiting or surface radio beacons and the entry vehicle state information derived from IMU are integrated in Unscented Kalman filter to correct the inertial constant bias and suppress the navigation measurement noise. Computer simulations show that the integrated navigation algorithm proposed in this paper can achieve 50 m position error and 2 m/s velocity error, which satisfies the need of future pinpoint Mars landing missions.     

Mars: A contamination potential?

Three regions on Mars, Solis Lacus, Noachis-Hellespontus, and the Syrtis Major border areas, would appear to have generally less hostile environments than at the Viking lander sites. Significant soil moisture may extend to within ～ 1 cm of the surface. Water vapor pressures within the pore spaces may be near saturation, and brines may be physically segregated from pockets of relatively pure H₂O. Temperatures reach above 0° C during southern spring and summer, with peak temperatures reaching +22°. These regions should contain fewer oxidants, and primary synthesis of organics may occur. The potential for contamination of these sites by microbes transported from existing spacecraft should be assessed. The adequacy of proposed new planetary protection procedures for possible future United States Mars Surface Sample Return missions should also be assessed in light of these findings.     

Investigation of the Mars Express HRSC color channel calibration

The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the Mars Express spacecraft in orbit about Mars has four detector channels dedicated to produce images in four spectral channels. Utilizing these spectrophotometric data requires understanding the instrument radiometric calibration and other photometric properties of the data. We present here some results of our investigation into the HRSC color data characteristics. This covers comparison of HRSC measurements with those of telescopes and the Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité (OMEGA) instrument, also on Mars Express. We also investigate the dependence of HRSC Color measurements on solar phase angle and altitude of the Mars surface. These results confirm and extend our earlier findings [McCord, T.B., Adams, J.B., Bellucci, G., Combe, J.-Ph., Hansen, G., Hoffman, H., Jaumann, R., Lumme, K., Neukum, G., Pinet, P., Poulet, F., the HRSC Co-I Team, The Mars Express high Resolution Stereo Camera spectrophotometric data: characteristics and science analysis. J. Geophys. Res. 112, E6, 2007.]. A basic finding from our study is that there are nearly constant offsets between the I/F value derived from the HRSC data and those determined from OMEGA and groundbased telescope measurements, especially in the HRSC red bandpass. These offsets are nearly independent of solar phase angle and Mars surface altitude but are considerably larger for the one comparison at Phobos we were able to make. Several hypotheses could explain these effects: atmospheric scattering, surface photometric effects, shift of the spatial registration or calibration. All these possibilities were investigated.     

A Revisit of the Phobos Events

The magnetic field disturbances detected by the Phobos-2 spacecraft in 1989 have been suggested to be caused by a ring of dust and/or gas emitted from the Martian moon, Phobos. The physical nature of these ``Phobos events' is examined using results from related investigations over the last twenty years. It is concluded that there is no clear evidence at present to support the association of magnetic field disturbances in the solar wind with Phobos. The situation will be further clarified taking advantage of the multi-spacecraft observations of the Yinghuo-1(YH-1), Mars Express and MAVEN missions beginning in 2012. It is expected that many novel features of solar wind interaction with Phobos (and possibly also Deimos) itself will also be revealed.      

An innovative navigation scheme of powered descent phase for Mars pinpoint landing

Pinpoint landing (within 100 m from the target) is essential for future Mars exploration missions. This paper deals with one aspect of the pinpoint landing architecture—the navigation performance improvement during the powered descent phase, and proposes an innovative navigation scheme to obtain the vehicle complete and accurate states. On the basis of dead reckoning relying on the Inertial Measurement Unit, measurements of the Integrated Doppler Radar are adopted to correct the vehicle velocity and altitude. Distance between the vehicle and one Mars Orbiter as well as their line-of-sight relative velocity is measured by a radio sensor, and integrated in the filter to correct the vehicle horizontal position. The innovative navigation system is based on an Extend Kalman Filter. Two observation schemes are developed. One considers measurements of the Integrated Doppler Radar and radio range measurement. Another further considers radio velocity measurement. The performance of the innovative navigation scheme is greatly influenced by the position of the Mars Orbiter with respect to the target. Stochastic analyses are performed to obtain optimal locations of Mars Orbiter. Finally, the innovative navigation scheme performances are assessed through stochastic simulations. Its performance improvements are demonstrated by comparison with the Integrated Doppler Radar only navigation scheme.