THE MANY FACES OF THE MARS SAMPLE RETURN MISSION ARCHITECTURE

摘要

As far back as the 1960's, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has studied the idea of sending a robotic mission to Mars for the purpose of retrieving and bringing back to Earth samples of the Martian environment. The purpose of such a mission would be to take advantage of the capability to study Mars to the level of detail only possible in Earth laboratories. With the most recent discoveries by a small fleet of robotic spacecraft currently exploring the red planet in-situ, this idea of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission is once again at the forefront of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. With an earliest launch date set for late 2013, current MSR studies still face a long list of mission architecture options and technology challenges. This paper will attempt to summarize some of the Guidance and Control challenges, even if it succeeds in only scratching the surface.