MSR Timeline and Concept of Operations MSR M… · Tube Collection & Depot Retrieve OS Earth Return...

MSR Timeline and Concept of Operations

Austin NicholasMars Program Office, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Briefing to MEPAGApril 15, 2020

This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical information.

Mars Sample Return Pre-Project

Mars Sample Return

MSR Overview

2For planning and discussion purposes only.

Earth

Mars

Sample Return and ScienceSample Retrieval Lander

Tube Retrieval

Mars AscentVehicle

Orbiting Sample

Mars 2020

Mars2020

Tube Collection & Depot

Retrieve OS

Earth Return Orbiter

Earth Entry Vehicle

Break-the-Chain

Avoid Earth

ERO

Relay Support

Tube Delivery SRL

Sample Fetch Rover

Mars Sample Return

Campaign Timeline Overview


• SRL avoids winter and global dust storm season, enabling all-solar SRL/SFR

• SRL EDL occurs in a favorable season, maximizing landed mass

• ERO can provide all relay services needed for MSR (SRL, SFR, M2020, MAV)

• SRL and ERO fit on available launch vehicles and trajectories are feasible

26 – 26 – 31SRL Launches in 2026

ERO launches in 2026Samples are returned in 2031

*Illustrates an example scenario

2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D

Reg. Dust Storm Season Reg. Reg. Dust Storm Season Reg.

N Winter N Winter

Earth to Mars Spiral Down Low Mars Orbit (Relay) RDV and Contain Spiral Up Mars to Earth

Earth to Mars Surface*

Conj

MAVEDL

MOI

OS

EES

Conj

26-26-31

SRL

ERO

SFR

M2020

*See zoomed diagram for surface phases

Mars Sample Return

SRL Cruise and EDL


Transfer to MarsEarth LaunchEntry

Descent

Landing

-1½ Rev Transfer-2 year cruise-Arrive at Ls=0

Divert

TRN

All subphases have direct MSL/M2020 heritage

Mars Arrival



MAVEDL

SRLSFR

M2020

More detail on surface activities in the next section

Mars Sample Return

ERO Cruise and Mars Operations


Transfer to Mars

Capture at Mars and Spiral Down Low Mars Orbit

Launch from Earth-EP Thrusting-Ariane 6.4

-Mars Orbit Insertion (CP)-Drop CP stage-Spiral to LMO (EP)

-Relay support for SRL starts around 1000 km

-Relay support for SRL/SFR/M2020



MOI EES

ERO

Mars Sample Return

Earth Return Orbiter Contractor Selected:

Airbus (Toulouse)

6

(CP)

(EP)

For planning and discussion purposes only.

Mars Sample Return

ERO Rendezvous and OS Capture


Orbit Matching

OS Capture Break-the-Chain

MAV Launch -ERO receives MAV telemetry-SFR/M2020 film MAV ascent

-ERO camera acquires OS-ERO matches OS orbit-SFR/M2020 playback

-Sterilize or contain all external Mars material



MOI EES

ERO

Mars Sample Return

ERO Earth Return and EES Delivery


Transfer to Earth

EES Release

Leave LMO

-EES entry → lands at UTTR-ERO avoids Earth → heliocentric orbit

-EP Thrusting-EP Spiral to Escape

EES Landing

Atmospheric Entry

Descent

Impact Landing

UTTR

Celebrate



MOI EES

ERO

Mars Sample Return

Surface Mission Activities


Mars Sample Return

Reference M2020 Scenarios:

Three Qualitatively Different Options


M2020 Prime-Only ScenarioSeveral strategic paths M2020 could

explore in the prime mission

depending on landing spot,

productivity, and science discovery.

N JEZ ScenarioAn alternate extended mission in the

event that: the crater rim climb is not

possible or JEZ science is even more

interesting than expected.

MDW Primary Reference ScenarioM2020 proceeds towards MDW after

completing the prime mission at JEZ.

Strongly preferred by the science

team/community

Expected M2020

location at end

of prime mission

JEZ = M2020

Landing Site

MDW = former M2020 candidate

site (shown for reference only)

Mars Sample Return

• A depot is a benign patch of terrain ~40m diameter where sample tubes are

deposited by M2020 for potential collection and return by MSR

• Tubes are deposited ~5-10m apart to facilitate autonomous localization and

acquisition of multiple tubes per sol by SFR

What is a Depot?


• Depot FAQ:

– Q: Are tubes placed in a pile?

– A: Tubes are not placed in a pile

A few meters of separation

simplifies the tube pickup problem

because each tube is decoupled

from the others

– Q: How does SFR figure out

where the tubes are?

– A: M2020 will collect imagery of

the depot generally and each

tube after it is dropped

The tubes will not move or

become completely buried by dust

after M2020 drops them

Mars Sample Return

• In-situ science is not the primary objective

• MSR has a required landing site (JZW)

and it is already well-characterized

– Pro: ability to design for a specific site

– Con: inability to choose an easier site

• Binary-ish Mission Success

– There is limited “partial credit” opportunity -

if the MAV is not launched, MSR has failed

MSR: Differences from Previous

Mars Surface Missions


Full HiRISE Stereo Coverage

• Available timeline is already maxed out:

– SRL and ERO already optimized for maximum available surface timeline

– Ls≈0 to Ls≈180 avoids northern winter and dust storm season

• Common conclusion: MSR has a significantly better understanding of its

likely surface mission operations than previous missions at this maturity

Mars Sample Return

Two Potential Tube Delivery Vehicles:

SFR and M2020


SRL Landing

Spot

M2020

SFR

Depot • Using multiple

delivery vehicles

offers redundancy

• M2020 offloads risk

by depoting tubes for

SFR retrieval

• M2020 can directly

deliver most recent

samples to SRL

Mars Sample Return

SRL Touchdown


Picking up where we left off in the previous section…

Mars Sample Return

SRL EDL - Extended Divert


8 km Parachute Deploy Ellipse

• SRL will carry enough propellant to fly out the backshell separation

ellipse and land at a specific spot (~±20m accuracy)

• Enables landing at a specific site scouted by Mars 2020 ahead of time

Powered Descent

Landing Spot

Mars Sample Return

Campaign Timeline Overview


*Illustrates an example scenario


Reg. Dust Storm Season Reg. Reg. Dust Storm Season Reg.

N Winter N Winter



Conj

MAVEDL

MOI

OS

EES

Conj

26-26-31

SRL

ERO

SFR

M2020

*See zoomed diagram for surface phases

CPLA and Egress

Tube Pickup

Tube Transfer

Tube Transfer

MAV Launch

Relay Phase for RDV

Operational

Margin

(surface elements)

Campaign

Margin

(between ERO and surface

elements)

Siesta

SRL Surface Activities (~13 months) is a busy time and campaign coordination is critical

Ls0 30 60 90 120 150 180

Mars Sample Return

SFR Operations


Egress

a few meters

Traverse to Depot

Tube Pickup

Return Traverse

Park in Tube Transfer Zone

up to 36 tubes



MAVEDL

SRLSFR

M2020

Depot

SRL Landing

Spot

Mars Sample Return

M2020 Operations


Transfer Tubes from M2020Traverse to SRL-M2020 drops tubes into tray-Tray placed on lander-Tubes picked up from tray-Tubes loaded into OS

(example scenario only)



MAVEDL

SRLSFR

M2020

SRL Landing

Spot

M2020

Mars Sample Return

OS Loading and MAV Preparation


Transfer Tubes from SFR-STA moves each tube from SFR rack to SRL

Prepare for MAV Launch Launch MAVGNC Calibrations

Heat MAV to AFT

Checkout Comm

Insert tubes into OS

Assemble OS Closeout MAV



MAVEDL

SRLSFR

M2020

Mars Sample Return

Sample Tube Transfer from SFR


Mars Sample Return

25

MAV Launch with VECTOR

For planning and discussion purposes only.

MSR Timeline and Concept of Operations MSR M… · Tube Collection & Depot Retrieve OS Earth Return...

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