Title :
The 2009 Mars Telecom Orbiter mission
Author :
Franklin, Stephen F. ; Slonski, John P., Jr. ; Kerridge, S. ; Noreena, G. ; Townes, Steve ; Schwartzbaum, E. ; Synnott, Steve ; Deutsch, Miriam ; Edwards, Chad ; Devereaux, Ann ; Austin, Richard ; Edwards, Bernard ; Scozzafav, J.J. ; Boroson, Don M. ; Rob
Author_Institution :
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
This work provides a comprehensive overview of the proposed Mars Telecom Orbiter (MTO) mission. Launched in 2009, MTO would provide Mars-to-Earth relay services for NASA missions arriving at Mars between 2010 and 2020, enabling far higher science data return and lowering the cost for these missions. MTO also carries an optical communications payload, which demonstrates downlink bit rates from 1 Mbps up to and possible exceeding 30 Mbps. MTO also searches for the potential Mars Sample Return orbiting sample, and demonstrates this capability beforehand, using the sample canister, which it carries.
Keywords :
Earth; Mars; optical communication; space communication links; space research; space vehicles; Mars Sample Return orbiting sample; Mars Telecom Orbiter mission; Mars-to-Earth relay services; NASA missions; downlink bit rates; optical communications payload; Costs; Laboratories; Laser theory; Mars; NASA; Payloads; Relays; Space vehicles; Telecommunications; UHF antennas;
Conference_Titel :
Aerospace Conference, 2004. Proceedings. 2004 IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8155-6
DOI :
10.1109/AERO.2004.1367627
