There is currently a significant amount of interest in Mars exploration by NASA to send a series of orbiting spacecraft and landers to Mars over the next decade. For the science and engineering systems that will land on the surface of Mars, there is a great challenge for thermal control. The Pathfinder mission will place a lander with an autonomous rover on Mars in July 1997; and the Mars '98 mission set will have an orbiter and surface lander and surface penetrators. In the planning stages are additional landers and rovers, leading up to a Mars sample return mission for 2005 launch opportunity. The 8 torr CO2 atmosphere and cryogenic temperatures are a unique thermal environment. The environment constrains the types and duration of missions that can be conducted and the thermal insulation required. All these factors add to a difficult challenge to design thermal control systems for Mars surface exploration. Current thermal insulation control approaches will be described and the needs for future missions.
Thermal Insulation for Mars Surface Exploration
Sae Technical Papers
International Conference On Environmental Systems ; 1997
1997-07-01
Conference paper
English
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