The Mars Surveyor Program architecture

Author

Jordan, James F. ; Miller, Sylvia L.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

1

fYear

1999

fDate

1999

Firstpage

361

Abstract

The architecture of NASA´s Mars Surveyor Program received intense scrutiny in 1998. The results to date of that effort are presented. After a review of the ongoing and near-term missions to Mars, the missions in the proposed architecture for launches in 2003 and beyond are described. The heart of the new program architecture consists of missions which will return samples of Martian rock and soil back to Earth for analysis. A primary scientific goal is to understand Mars as a possible abode of past or present life. Other key elements are Mars Micromissions, Telecommunications, and steps toward human exploration. Potential international partnering is key

Keywords

Mars; aerospace robotics; space communication links; space research; Mars Micromissions; Mars Surveyor Program architecture; Martian rock; NASA; human exploration; international partnering; near-term missions; program architecture; robotic exploration; soil; telecommunications; Biological processes; Earth; Heart; Humans; Laboratories; Mars; Orbital robotics; Propulsion; Soil; Space missions;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 1999. Proceedings. 1999 IEEE

Conference_Location

Snowmass at Aspen, CO

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5425-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.1999.794308

Filename

794308