MSL V&V CEDL Mechanical Systems test program

Mars Science Laboratory is a scientific mission with exploration rover. In order to accomplish this mission, the rover must be transported from Earth to the Martian surface, including cruise, entry, descent, and landing phases (CEDL). The key challenges for testing CEDL mechanical system lie in the physical size of the spacecraft and major subassemblies, complex configuration, multiple load cases, numerous separation events, new unique ldquosky cranerdquo landing method, budget and schedule limitations, and difficulties associated with testing in Earth environments. This paper will describe the verification and validation (V&V) CEDL mechanical systems test program and key challenges of each of subsystem testsrdquo.