PDS_VERSION_ID = PDS3
RECORD_TYPE = STREAM
LABEL_REVISION_NOTE = "2011-03-27 MER:crisp Original;
2011-11-14 MSL:crisp Updated mission phases, fixed typos, specified
Gale Crater as the chosen landing site;
2012-05-14 GEO:slavney Changed all LANDER references to ROVER;
2013-01-22 GEO:slavney Added mission alias Curiosity, fixed long lines;
2013-01-28 MSL:crisp updated for actual launch date and past tense
for things that have completed;
2013-08-23 GEO:slavney Corrected number of mission phases;"
OBJECT = MISSION
MISSION_NAME = "MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY"
OBJECT = MISSION_INFORMATION
MISSION_START_DATE = 2003-10-01
MISSION_STOP_DATE = UNK
MISSION_ALIAS_NAME = "CURIOSITY"
MISSION_DESC = "
Mission Overview
================
Development of the Mars Science Laboratory project began in 2003. On
November 26 2011, the Mars Science Laboratory mission launched a
spacecraft on a trajectory to Mars, and on August 6, 2012 (UTC), it
landed a mobile science vehicle named Curiosity at a landing site in
Gale Crater. During the trip to Mars, instrument health checks were
performed and the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument
collected science data. For the primary mission of one Mars year
duration on the surface of Mars, the rover will explore the landing site
and gather imaging, spectroscopy, composition data, and other
measurements for selected Martian soils, rocks, and the atmosphere.
These data will allow the science team to quantitatively assess the
habitability and environmental history. If the mission can continue
beyond one Mars year, an extended surface mission will follow. The
mission's primary objectives are to assess the biological potential of
the landing site, characterize the geology of the landing region,
investigate planetary processes that influence habitability, and
characterize the broad spectrum of surface radiation.
The science instruments, with an acronym or abbreviation and Principal
Investigator (PI) are listed below:
Science Instrument PI
------------------------------------------------- --------------------
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) Ralf Gellert
Chemical Camera (ChemCam) Roger Wiens
Chemistry & Mineralogy (CheMin) David Blake
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) Igor Mitrofanov
Mast Camera (Mastcam) Michael Malin
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Kenneth Edgett
Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) Michael Malin
Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) Don Hassler
Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) Javier Gomez-Elvira
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Paul Mahaffy
Mission Phases
==============
The Mars Science Laboratory Mission is divided in time into six phases:
(1) Development; (2) Launch; (3) Cruise and Approach; (4) Entry,
Descent, and Landing (EDL); (5) Primary Surface Mission; and (6)
Extended Surface Mission.
DEVELOPMENT
-----------
Development of the Mars Science Laboratory mission began in October
2003 with concept and technology development, followed by preliminary
design and technology development completion from March 2006 through
September 2006, final design and fabrication from September 2006
through January 2008, and system assembly, integration, and test from
late January 2008 until launch on November 26, 2011.
Spacecraft Id : MSL
Target Name : MARS
Mission Phase Start Time : 2003-10-01
Mission Phase Stop Time : 2011-11-26
Spacecraft Operations Type : ROVER
LAUNCH
------
The launch phase began when the spacecraft switched to internal power
prior to launch and ended when the spacecraft reached a thermally
stable commandable configuration after separation from the launch
vehicle upper stage. MSL was launched on an ATLAS V 541 launch vehicle
on November 26 2011 at 15:02 UTC (10:02 EST) from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station, Florida.
Spacecraft Id : MSL
Target Name : MARS
Mission Phase Start Time : 2011-11-26
Mission Phase Stop Time : 2011-11-26
Spacecraft Operations Type : ROVER
CRUISE AND APPROACH
-------------------
The cruise and approach phase began when the launch phase ended, and
ended 30 minutes prior to entry into the Mars atmosphere. The MSL
spacecraft used a ballistic Type 1 interplanetary transfer during
cruise from Earth to Mars. The major activities during cruise included:
checkout and maintenance of the spacecraft in its flight configuration;
monitoring, characterization, and calibration of the spacecraft and
payload systems; software parameter updates; attitude correction turns;
navigation activities for determining and correcting the vehicle's
flight path; and preparation for EDL and surface operations. Three
Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TCMs) were conducted during cruise.
The only science investigation during cruise was radiation monitoring
by the RAD instrument.
Approach began 45 days before entry into the Martian atmosphere and
ended 30 minutes before entry. During approach, the focus of
operations was primarily on navigation activities (including a fourth
and final TCM eight days before landing), and preparation for entry,
descent, and landing.
Spacecraft Id : MSL
Target Name : MARS
Mission Phase Start Time : 2011-11-26
Mission Phase Stop Time : 2012-08-06
Spacecraft Operations Type : ROVER
ENTRY, DESCENT, AND LANDING
---------------------------
The entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase began when the Cruise and
Approach Phase was over (30 minutes before atmospheric entry), and
ended when the rover reached a thermally stable, positive energy
balance, commandable configuration on the surface of Mars. During this
phase, a series of events was self-triggered on the spacecraft. Before
entry, the thermal loop was vented and the cruise stage was
jettisoned. The entry vehicle, consisting of the backshell, heat
shield, descent stage, and rover, performed a series of guided
maneuvers. Cruise balance masses separated to adjust the center of
mass of the entry vehicle. At 3522.2 km from the center of Mars, the
vehicle entered the atmosphere. This was followed by peak heating,
peak deceleration, supersonic parachute deploy, and heat shield
separation. At the appropriate time, the descent stage engines
started, the backshell and parachute separated, and the MARs Descent
Imager (MARDI) started recording video. As the descent stage
approached the surface using powered descent, at an altitude of about
18.6 m, the rover was lowered on a descent rate limiter and bridle
umbilical device to 7.5 m below the descent stage, and its wheels were
deployed into the touchdown configuration. The descent stage continued
descending until the rover touched down on the surface of Mars. The
rover landed in Gale Crater at the latitude of 4.5895 degrees South,
and longitude of 137.4417 degrees East, in late southern winter (Solar
Longitude L=150.7), at 15:03 Local Mean Solar Time on Mars (August 6,
2012, 05:18 UTC Spacecraft Event Time). Upon successful touchdown,
the descent rate limiter and bridle umbilical device were cut. The
descent stage flew away and impacted the surface 650 meters away from
the rover.
Spacecraft Id : MSL
Target Name : MARS
Mission Phase Start Time : 2012-08-06
Mission Phase Stop Time : 2012-08-06
Spacecraft Operations Type : ROVER
PRIMARY SURFACE MISSION
-----------------------
The surface phase began when the EDL phase ended and will end when the
mission is declared complete. The flight mission was designed to
provide for a surface mission phase duration of at least one Mars year
(687 days, or 669 sols), which is the primary or 'prime' surface
mission.
Following touchdown, a combination of automated rover sequences and
planned checkouts was executed in order to bring the rover up to a
basic level of functionality and to verify that the rover systems and
payload were all operating as expected. A surface initial checkout
period was defined as starting at successful rover touchdown on Mars
with descent stage separation/fly-away, and concluded with a
transition to normal tactical operations.
Spacecraft Id : MSL
Target Name : MARS
Mission Phase Start Time : 2012-08-06
Mission Phase Stop Time : 2014-06-26
Spacecraft Operations Type : ROVER
EXTENDED SURFACE MISSION
------------------------
The extended surface phase, if there is one, will begin on Sol 670.
Spacecraft Id : MSL
Target Name : MARS
Mission Phase Start Time : 2014-06-26
Mission Phase Stop Time : UNK
Spacecraft Operations Type : ROVER
"
MISSION_OBJECTIVES_SUMMARY = "
Mission Objectives Overview
===========================
The Mars Science Laboratory began surface operations soon after landing
and will continue for at least one Mars year (approximately two Earth
years). The overall scientific goal of the mission is to explore and
quantitatively assess a local region on Mars as a potential habitat for
life, past or present. The MSL rover carries ten scientific instruments
and a sample acquisition, processing, and distribution system. The
various payload elements will be used as an integrated suite to detect
and study potential sampling targets with remote and in situ
measurements; to acquire samples of rock, soil, and atmosphere and
analyze them in onboard analytical instruments; and to observe the
environment around the rover. An overview of the science mission is
provided in [GROTZINGERETAL2012].
MSL will investigate a site that shows clear evidence for ancient aqueous
processes based on orbital data and undertake the search for past and
present habitable environments. Assessment of present habitability
requires an evaluation of the characteristics of the environment and the
processes that influence it from microscopic to regional scales and a
comparison of those characteristics with what is known about the capacity
of life, as we know it, to exist in such environments. Determination of
past habitability has the added requirement of inferring environments and
processes in the past from observation in the present. Such assessments
require the integration of a wide variety of chemical, physical, and
geological observations.
MSL is not a life detection mission and is not designed to detect extant
vital processes that would betray present-day microbial metabolism. Nor
does it have the ability to image microorganisms or their fossil
equivalents. MSL does have, however, the capability to detect complex
organic molecules in rocks and soils. If present, these might be of
biological origin, but could also reflect the influx of carbonaceous
meteorites. More indirectly, MSL will have the analytical capability to
probe other less unique biosignatures, specifically, the isotopic
composition of inorganic and organic carbon in rocks and soils,
particular elemental and mineralogical concentrations and abundances, and
the attributes of unusual rock textures. The main challenge in
establishment of a biosignature is finding patterns, either chemical or
textural, that are not easily explained by physical processes. MSL will
also be able to evaluate the concentration and isotopic composition of
potentially biogenic atmospheric gases such as methane, which has
recently been detected in the modern atmosphere. But compared to the
current and past missions that have all been targeted to find evidence
for past or present water, the task of searching for habitable
environments is significantly more challenging (e.g., [GROTZINGER2009]).
Primarily, this is because the degree to which organic carbon would be
preserved on the Martian surface - even if it were produced in abundance
- is unknown.
The MSL mission has four primary science objectives to meet the overall
habitability assessment goal. The first is to assess the biological
potential of at least one target environment by determining the nature
and inventory of organic carbon compounds, searching for the chemical
building blocks of life, and identifying features that may record the
actions of biologically relevant processes. The second objective is to
characterize the geology of the landing region at all appropriate spatial
scales by investigating the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical
composition of surface and near- surface materials, and interpreting the
processes that have formed rocks and soils. The third objective is to
investigate planetary processes of relevance to past habitability
(including the role of water) by assessing the long timescale atmospheric
evolution and determining the present state, distribution, and cycling of
water and CO2. The fourth objective is to characterize the broad spectrum
of surface radiation, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar proton
events, and secondary neutrons."
END_OBJECT = MISSION_INFORMATION
OBJECT = MISSION_HOST
INSTRUMENT_HOST_ID = "MSL"
OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET
TARGET_NAME = "MARS"
END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET
END_OBJECT = MISSION_HOST
OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION
REFERENCE_KEY_ID = "GROTZINGER2009"
END_OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION
OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION
REFERENCE_KEY_ID = "GROTZINGERETAL2012"
END_OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION
END_OBJECT = MISSION
END
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