Abstract:
All throughout history, the human species has pushed the envelope on physical and technological limits. We have evolved to question how the world works and continue to try and accumulate a natural understanding of the universe. The love for exploration, the primitive instinct to overcome any challenges, and the cooperation of many nations as a whole, are all bringing us closer and closer to becoming an interplanetary species. In order to do this, we must be capable of putting man on mars, which is where robotic missions pave the way. The name of my robotic mission will be Triumph. I am naming it this because I believe landing any kind of object on mars is an extremely difficult feat, which takes a lot of time and planning; therefore, we should see it as a triumph for everyone on earth.
The overall goal of Triumph is to land a rover and interactive laboratory on the mineralogical diverse Nili Fossae Carbonate Plains (NF). Triumph will seek traces of water and biological life in the past, as well as obtain a better understanding of geological processes that have taken place. The NF carbonate plain is the largest, most contiguous, and well-exposed Noachian carbonate bearing rock unit as well as the largest exposure of high-olivine containing rocks located on mars (Niles, P. B., 2012). The possible scientific discoveries and amount of questions that could be answered from exploring such a place are astounding. Exploring the NF carbonate plains would be our best chance at seeing and understanding the habitable Noachian era of mars. NF has been extensively studied and well examined with mature data analyses from an array of different satellites with photographic capabilities such as the Thermal Emission Spectrometer on board the Mars Global Surveyor as well as the OMEGA spectrometer on the Mars Express craft (Mangold, N., 2007). As soon as a rover lands on NF, we would have immediate access to groundbreaking science. Although the Triumph rover will have a wide array of jobs and goals, these will be broken up into 3 main scientific objectives as follows:
1. Search and analyze high-mg mafic/ultramafic rocks on the surface to answer important questions about the mantle of mars and its volcanic history. These rocks give us a look back in time by preserving record of early igneous processes.
2. Investigate the possibility of past aqueous and habitable environments. The Nili Fossae carbonate plain is the largest exposure of carbonate-bearing rock on mars, formed by precipitation from neutral/alkaline liquid water (Niles, P. B., 2012). Carbonate requires extensive aqueous alteration to form, and where there is water, there is the capability for microbial life.
3. Collect samples from exposed rocks containing high amounts of olivine and test for phyllosilicates. Depending on the size of olivine grains, phyllosilicates found, as well as other chemicals found with these samples, we can see what kind of chemical alterations have taken place and link them to past geological processes such as rich lava flows, impact melts, subsurface fluid circulation, aqueous surface weathering, and so on.
Pre-launch Activities:
Pre-launch activities are some of the most important and tedious parts of the entire mission. This period covers everything from creating the mission and setting objectives to building and testing the rover and spacecraft. It is within this time frame where scientists and engineers come together to design the craft as well as all of the instruments that will be stowed onboard the rover. Once an initial design and scientific objectives are set in place and a landing site is carefully chosen, the building can begin. Building the rover and its launch vehicle is often an extremely meticulous process that often takes years to complete. The Triumph rover will be assembled in a large clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California to prevent any dust contamination that could interfere with the onboard instruments. With the help of many different scientists and universities around the country, there are a large amount of suppliers for the individual scientific instruments that are created and tested at other partner sites which are then sent in to be attached to the Triumph rover. Every single item on the rover and spacecraft must be extensively tested for any kind of possible errors due to the fact that one small error could jeopardize the entire mission. After years of building and testing, the Triumph rover is packaged with extreme care and caution and flown to Cape Canaveral, Florida to prepare for final testing and launch. After arrival at Kennedy Space Center, Triumph and its launch vehicle are carefully assembled and tested one final time to ensure it is ready to go.
Launch:
On September 26th, 2024 the Triumph rover will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an SLS rocket fitted with a Block 1B Cargo fairing containing the Triumph rover housed inside a mars entry vehicle. The two-stage vehicle will be the largest rocket ever built and will allow missions to asteroids, mars, and other distant places (NASA). The launch sequence of the SLS will be similar to the Space Shuttle program and requires tedious precision and scheduling of all events. This is the day that many years of hard work and planning is finally put into action and the following of procedures and scheduling is treated with great diligence. Hours before the launch, workers must inspect and make sure every aspect of the spacecraft and launch pad are ready to go. This includes the checking of thousands of sensors and electrical instruments to make sure they are properly communicating with mission control. Mission control will consist of over 150 team members all monitoring data and relaying information to the spacecraft as well as other personnel to ensure everything is operating smoothly and safely. Once everything is all checked and cleared for launch, the final minutes of the countdown will begin. About 6 seconds before T-0, the 4 RS-25 core stage engines will start. Once the engines ignite properly, the 2 solid rocket boosters (SRB’s) will ignite at T-0, lifting the 130 ton SLS into the air with 9.2 million pounds of thrust (NASA, 2). The SRB’s will continue to burn as the spacecraft ascends into earth’s upper atmosphere and after 126 seconds, the SRB’s are jettisoned and will fall back into earth to land somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Next, the 4 RS-25 main engines will cut off and the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) will disconnect from the Core Stage. After separation, the 4 RL 10 engines on the EUS will fire and propel the vehicle into an elliptical orbit around earth. About 90 minutes after launch, as it completes almost a full orbit, the EUS will perform a Trans-Lunar injection burn which will put it on the correct trajectory to mars.
Cruise:
The cruise phase of the mission begins once the EUS separates from the Core Stage and enters its set trajectory to mars. The journey from earth to mars takes roughly 7 months and the cruise phase will end once Triumph is about 45 days from entry to mars. Although the spacecraft is just floating through space, the ground crew must still keep in constant contact with systems computers and maintain the proper cruise configuration. Shortly after the Trans-Lunar injection burn, the spacecraft will deploy its solar rays to begin storing power for the crafts on board computers and communication devices. Since properly putting a spacecraft into mar’s orbit is comparable to throwing a dart at a moving target, mission control must do a series of trajectory correction maneuvers throughout the cruise phase to ensure the craft’s trajectory is still accurately lined up to intercept mars. Along with these, a series of attitude correction turns to keep the solar panels pointed towards the sun and the crafts antennae pointed towards earth for communication purposes must be done.
Approach:
The approach phase starts once the spacecraft is about 45 days away from entering the Martian atmosphere and lasts until it actually enters the atmosphere, which extends 3522.2 kilometers from the center of mars (NASA). Throughout this phase, engineers must begin rigorous preparations and calculations to guarantee proper final trajectories and to ensure a successful descent and landing. Engineers at NASA use tracking by the Deep Space Network who currently have both a 34-meter and 70-meter antenna along with spacecraft-quasar delta differential one-way ranging to provide very accurate tracking and mapping of the spacecraft’s final approach trajectory. Since mars is so far away, there is about an 8-minute delay in communications between earth and the Mars Descent Vehicle so the entry, descent, and landing procedures must be programmed into the systems computers. About 3 hours out from entry, the entry, descent, and landing parameters are all updated based on the latest calculated trajectory. One hour out from entry, the spacecraft corrects its entry attitude and then separates from the EUS about 15 minutes prior to entry.
Entry:
After separation from the cruise stage, the Block 1B cargo fairing splits open releasing a Mars Descent Vehicle (MDV) consisting of a back shell and heatshield with the Triumph rover safely enclosed inside. The MDV then rotates to align its heatshield with the atmosphere. Upon entering the Martian atmosphere, the MDV will start a Lifting Trajectory sequence. The MDV attitude is set so that the upwards lift force that is proportional to the exponentially growing density of the atmosphere towards lower altitudes, while usually pushing upwards until it overwhelms the weight of the MDV, causing a skip in the upper layers of the atmosphere, would now actually push downwards due to the angle of attitude. This causes the capsule to rapidly plummet during the first phase down to much deeper layers in the atmosphere.
Descent:
Since the center of gravity of the capsule is slightly offset, if the capsule is rolled a complete 180 degrees, it rapidly flips the lifting force from pushing downwards to now pushing upwards. This suddenly enables a large breaking force which rapidly slows down the capsule. This kills out a majority of the vertical velocity to where it cruises along at a near constant altitude. Since the maneuver was done much closer to the surface however, it means that the drag force will also be greater because drag scales linearly with atmospheric density and will slow the MDV down even more. This way, by the time the capsule is ready to intersect with the ground, it has a much smaller velocity, thus greatly reducing the amount of fuel needed to slow down and land.
Landing:
This is the part where most missions would use a large supersonic parachute to slow down the spacecraft, but due to the weight of the MDV it is not feasible to create one large enough and deploy it properly. The MDV will slow down by using a series of SuperDraco rocket engines which will fire about 900 meters off the surface using supersonic retro-propulsion burns similar to Curiosity’s subsonic retro propulsion used on the sky crane. This will reduce the speed of the MDV from about Mach 2.5 to just 3 M/S with the capability to adjust up to 100 meters, horizontally, in the case of hazard avoidance. The MDV then deploys its 3 landing legs through its heat shield and gently touches down on the mars surface on June 11th , 2025, with the rover safely concealed inside.
First Drive:
First drive is the period right after landing where engineers make sure everything landed safely and that the on board systems are operating at full capacity. Once the MDV is landed, a series of tests will be run to make sure that the landing surface is stable and that the rover and MDV is in no immediate hazard. Then the main hatch will open and fold out a ramp capable of supporting the 2,400-pound rover from entering and exiting the MDV to access the on board laboratory equipped with an array of science instruments. After Triumph has communicated back to earth to verify it is working properly, it will roll out onto the Martian surface and check the temperatures, take pictures with its HD cameras and its spectrometers, and relay this information back to earth to get the green light for surface operations.
Surface Operations:
The surface operations phase is the time period Triumph will be carrying out the scientific objectives at Nili Fossae. This mission will have a goal of conducting research for 2 Martian years which is equivalent to 1374 earth days. The Triumph rover will be slightly larger than Curiosity and will be capable of traveling farther and of traversing rougher terrain. While exploring the NF carbonate plains, Triumph will do several different jobs, such as take pictures with its HD cameras and spectrometers, drill and collect core samples, and monitor conditions of the atmosphere around it. The MDV will contain an on board laboratory capable of analyzing the different core samples and dust samples the Triumph rover collects and transfers back. Having a stationary laboratory for the rover to interact with creates more room for other scientific equipment onboard the rover as well as make it to where we can have larger, more accurate testing methods to analyze many different samples of rocks for traces of olivine and carbonates.
Personnel:
The whole mission would not be possible if it were not for the employees at NASA. Although there will be thousands of people helping to put the entire operation together, there will be four members that form the core of my team. Each member must require a vast knowledge in their specific field and have many years of experience. My team will consist of:
1. Project Manager – Requires a Master’s in aerospace engineering along with a Bachelor’s in business management, and must also have experience working in a management position prior to applying. The project manager will be the person who oversees the entire project, ensuring everything runs smoothly and is being done according to NASA guidelines. The project manager will be responsible for strategically solving problems, keeping the project within budget restrictions, communicating with all agencies, and keeping the project on track for a set deadline. Project Manager will have a system of checks and balances in place to ensure that decisions have the benefit of different points of view to provide the best outcome possible.
2. Navigation and Mission Design Manager – Requires a Master’s in aerospace engineering as well as a Bachelor’s in astrophysics. The Navigation and Mission Design Manager will be responsible for overseeing the flight path and trajectories of the spacecraft all the way from launch to landing on mars. This is a very difficult job that requires a large team of engineers to do many precise calculations, ensuring that the Triumph rover accurately and safely gets to mars.
3. Planetary Geologist – Requires a Ph.D. in earth and planetary geology. The Planetary Geologist will form and oversee a team of geologists to analyze the physical makeup of mars, investigate surface composition, map out the topography, study impact processes and mantle dynamics, as well as find and pick an appropriate landing site and ensure it is safe to land on. The geologists will work hand and hand with the chemists to ensure all the proper tools are equipped on the rover and stationary laboratory.
4. Astrochemist – Requires a Ph.D. in astrochemistry or chemical biology. The Astrochemist will also form and oversee a team of chemists to help with the overall search of life and biological chemicals on mars. They will assist with rover design, selection of scientific tools on the rover and in the laboratory, choosing test methods, as well as helping with rocket propulsion. The scientific tools and testing methods must be capable of analyzing many different rock samples to search for the presence of olivine or phyllosilicates, analyze high-mg mafic/ultramafic rocks, and detect traces of carbonates.
Outreach:
The technologies and ingenuity that will result from such missions to mars will have long lasting benefits and applications to everyday life here on earth. It will also help answer the age-old question of whether or not we are alone in this universe. All previous space missions have resulted in many everyday applications called “spinoffsâ€, such as the Mars Methane Detector that helped revolutionize identifying harmful gas leaks here on earth as well as many more spinoffs. The understanding of Mar’s igneous processes and past events would also help many scientists here on earth better understand our own planets history and what could happen in the future. Promotion and advertising of the Triumph mission will also be a very important aspect so that the mission could have a wide following and support from the entire world. Most of this will be done through social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. The use of social media has exploded in the last decade, making it much easier for people to have access to information regarding the Triumph mission. Large events will be hosted to include the public such as live launch parties around the world in real time for people who cannot attend the actual launch in Florida. We will also have the same events about 7 months later to witness and celebrate the landing of Triumph on mars. Throughout the whole evolution of the mission, products like shirts, hats, stickers, posters, coffee mugs, and other collection items will all be heavily advertised and sold to gain a large following and extra revenue. This will all make the public feel as if they are included in the mission themselves and that are a part of history being made.
References:
JPL. (n.d.). Mission Timeline. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/timeline/approach/
NASA. (2016, February 4). Space Launch System Building America’s New Rocket for Deep Space Exploration. Retrieved February 5, 2017, from https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_october_2015_fact_sheet.pdf
Niles, P. B., Catling, D. C., Berger, G., Chassefière, E., Ehlmann, B. L., Michalski, J. R., . . . Sutter, B. (2012). Geochemistry of Carbonates on Mars: Implications for Climate History and Nature of Aqueous Environments. Quantifying the Martian Geochemical Reservoirs Space Sciences Series of ISSI, 301-328. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7774-7_10
Mangold, N., Poulet, F., Mustard, J. F., Bibring, J., Gondet, B., Langevin, Y., . . . Neukum, G. (2007). Mineralogy of the Nili Fossae region with OMEGA/Mars Express data: 2. Aqueous alteration of the crust. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112(E8). doi:10.1029/2006je002835