Design Overview of the Strengthened Mars 2020 Parachute Assembly

摘要

The Mars 2020 rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. This paper describes the design analysis methodology, system fabrication and test results for the Mars 2020 Strengthened Parachute Assembly. This effort was initiated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design and develop a strengthened version of the Viking heritage Disk-Gap-Band parachute for use on the Mars 2020 mission. This strengthened parachute assembly increases design margins and expands the envelope for potential landing sites for both Mars 2020 and future missions. The strengthened parachute assembly has undergone considerable design analysis with a focus on increasing the robustness of the parachute canopy to localized high stresses generated during a rapid supersonic inflation. The parachute assembly was subjected to numerous mortar deployment tests, as well as subsonic wind tunnel structural testing, and high altitude supersonic inflations. This paper provides an overview of the testing approach and objectives as well as a top-level assessment of the results and their influences on the final parachute assembly design.