MASER: A Mars meteorology and seismology mini-network mission concept enabled by Milliwatt-RPS

Author

Lorenz, Robert ; Oleson, Steve ; Cataldo, Robert ; Schmitz, Paul ; Colozza, Anthony ; Bairstow, Brian ; Young Lee ; Amini, Rashied

Author_Institution

JHU Appl. Phys. Lab., Laurel, MD, USA

fYear

2014

fDate

1-8 March 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

11

Abstract

A design reference mission (MASER - Meteorology and Seismology Enabled by Radioisotopes) for a Mars mini-network is presented. Four hard landers using parachutes and crushable impact attenuators would be deployed in the polar plains north of the Tharsis bulge to perform seismic and meteorological measurements throughout a Martian year (including the dark winter). Operation throughout the polar winter is only possible through the use of a power subsystem that would rely upon six Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs), providing ~240mWe.

Keywords

Mars; parachutes; radioisotope thermoelectric generators; radioisotopes; seismology; space power generation; MASER; Mars mini-network; RHU; crushable impact attenuator; meteorological measurement; meteorology and seismology enabled by radioisotope; milliwatt-RPS; parachutes; polar plains; radioisotope heater units; radioisotope power systems; Compass; Laboratories; Mars; Masers; Meteorology; NASA; Seismic measurements;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2014 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

Print_ISBN

978-1-4799-5582-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2014.6836397

Filename

6836397