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November 16th, 2015

Professor E. Carlin
Josh Pillitiere
Ever Advancing Technology in Space Travel.

Can the Mars Curiosity Rover Be Outdone?

NASA has repeatedly pushed beyond the boundaries of space and tested the limits of complex
technology, time and time again. There is no surprise that it is happening once more. On No-
vember 26, 2011, NASA launched the Mars exploration rover known fittingly as, Curiosity.
Launched from Cape Canaveral, Curiosity endured nearly 9 months of cosmic treachery in the
unfathomably vast emptiness we call space. Programmed to make small corrections to main-
tain flight path, Curiosity finally reached the surface of Mars on August 6th, 2012; flawlessly.
This marked a huge milestone for not only the scientific community, but for the entirety of
mankind. With wheels on the ground on Mars, scientists are able to collect and scrutinize data
supplied by Curiosity. From the data, scientists have been able to confirm the existence of wa-
ter on the Red Planet, determine the composition of the Martian soil, and supply numerous pic-
tures of Mars' surface. However, in the growing world of space travel, there is still a need to im-
prove already extremely complex machines, including Curiosity. But you might ask, "How can
we improve an already complex system, all the way on Mars?". The answer? Mars 2020. Us-
ing information supplied by NASA and other scientific affiliations, I will explore the capabilities
and design features of 2020, expand on them, and compare them to those of Curiosity.

Curiosity was outfitted with numerous technologically advanced tools to help it complete it's
mission while on Mars. It was equipped with a massive imaging tool, a large magnifying glass,
a descent imager, and many other state of the art diagnostic tools. Not only that, but Curiosity
was designed with an incredible descent system, one that will most likely be mirrored on Mars
2020.

After the space race started, NASA always had a vision of putting humans on Mars. The only
problem was, we knew nothing about the planet. Enter, the Mars Rover. It all started back in
1960, with the original Mars Rover. The program was started after a Mars probe failed to make
it to the Red Planet. It wasn't until 1965 that a rover made it to Mars with Mariner 4. That was
also the the mission that collected the first pictures of Mars. However, the first rovers to actually
land on Mars were Viking 1 and Viking 2. After that, there were many other probes and rovers
sent to Mars for data collecting. Year after year, each Mars mission robot was upgraded and
improved, producing better results than the last.
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With each successful mission, we are getting closer and closer to discovering everything we
need to determine Mars' sustainability for life. It's the rovers and probes that NASA engineers
design, build, and launch, that are helping us expand our knowledge about Mars, as well as the
millions of other cosmic masses in space. Prior to Curiosity, two other rovers were put on Mars;
Spirit and Opportunity. Each rover was designed with a specific mission. However, each rover
was designed differently to better increase mission capabilities. Curiosity, the most recent Mars
rover, has been the most effective and capable rover yet.

To start, I'm going to delve into the system that got Curiosity on Mars' surface. Now, the rocket
used to launch the Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), because thats technically what it
is, was an Atlas V-541 booster. This is a powerful rocket designed with a 5 meter payload fairing
or nose cone, 4 solid rocket boosters, and a one-engine Centaur upper stage. This is what is
used to get the rover out of Earth's orbit and onto its correct course to Mars. Once the journey
is complete and the module is orbiting Mars, another system takes over for the rest of the de-
scent. Unfortunately for NASA, the landing could not be watched live due to the 154 million mile
distance between Mars and Mission Control. Because of this, there is a 14 minute delay in re-
sponse time from any data transmitted by the rover, but it only takes 7 minutes for the descent
procedure to take place. That means once but the descent is started, Mission Control with lose
contact with Curiosity for 14 minutes. Curiosity will have already been on Mars' surface for 7
minutes when NASA regains contact. The seven minutes it takes to land became known as Cu-
riosity's "Seven Minutes of Terror".

This descent process in controlled by a system known as the entry-descent-landing system, or

EDL. The most interesting part about this entire system is that it's completely autonomous. The
rocket and transport system was designed from top to bottom to make the entire journey AND
landing, all on its own. As the vehicle begins to descend to Mars' surface, the different stages of
descent take place. The first stage is the initial drag phase. The rover is protected in a module
shaped like a Hershey's kiss. It enters Mars' atmosphere at a whopping 13000 miles per hour.
The large surface area of the bottom of the module acts like a giant wall and drastically slows
the descent. This '' heat shield'' also protects the rover from the harsh event of entering Mars',
thin, but treacherous atmosphere.

However, the large, broad face of the heat shield isn't enough to slow it down to the correct
speed. This is when a giant supersonic parachute is deployed. From cable to chute, it's 50m
long and 16m wide. This parachute is capable of being deployed at Mach 2.2 and can generate
up to 65k pounds of drag force. It slows the descent speed from 900mph to 200mph. After
chute deployment, the heat shield drops off the bottom of the module so that the radar can be-
gin surveying the surface and determine altitude.
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Unfortunately, because Mars' atmosphere is too thin, the 700mph decrease in speed isn't suffi-
cient enough for landing. At this point, another descent control system is activated; rockets.
This system is comprised of 4 rockets, known as Mars Lander Engines (MLE), that extend out
and generate thrust so to slow the module down even further to a nice and calm 1.7mph. These
boosters help stabilize the vehicle so the next and final stage can take place; the "Sky-Crane
System".

Once enough data has been collected to determine an accurate altitude, the Sky-Crane System
is initiated. As the entire vehicle hovers only 20 meters above Mars' surface, Curiosity is low-
ered on cables the rest of the way down. The reason the rockets don't allow for complete de-
scent to the surface is because of the risk of contamination and damage by the massive dust
cloud that would be created from the thrust of the rockets. The 20 meters gives the rover a little
more room to breath without risk of damaging any critical components. Once the rover has
been safely lowered to the surface, the rockets and Sky-Crane system blast off to another area,
out of the way, so that the rover is undamaged by the rockets or dust particles. Finally, thanks
to a completely autonomous and expertly designed system, the Seven Minutes of Terror are
over and touchdown on Mars is successful.
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