SPACE EXPLORATION SYMPOSIUM (A3) Mars Exploration - Science, Instruments and Technologies (3B) EXOMARS MISSION 2016 PLANETARY PROTECTION IMPLEMENTATION

摘要

The ExoMars 2016 mission is an ESA lead mission scheduled for a 2016 launch by a Roscosmos supplied Proton-M/Breeze-M rocket. The system consists of a Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) which accommodate scientific instruments and an Entry Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) that will land in a non-special region of Mars. Thales Alenia Space Italy (TAS-I) is the ExoMars Industrial Prime Contractor, and responsible of the Planetary Protection Implementation to ESA. Landing on Mars requires the implementation of a stringent Planetary Protection plan to ensure that thee level of bioburden contamination to be brought to Mars surface will comply with COSPAR regulation. The project has been categorized by ESA as COSPAR Planetary Protection Category III for the Orbiter, and Planetary Protection Category IVa for the EDM. Planetary Protection requirements are applied according to the mission category. The implementation of the planetary protection requirements for ExoMars comprises restrictions on impact probabilities for flight hardware not intended to directly contact Mars and biological contamination control for the other parts of the spacecraft. On these elements, specific levels of maximum bioburden contamination were allocated to fulfill the PP requirements. The way to be compliant with the allocated values assigned at the bioburden controlled elements was to apply to these flight H/W elements bioburden reduction (sterilization by Dry Heat Microbial reduction) and/or cleaning processes, work in bioburden controlled environments while implementing a well-defined recontamination prevention plan during the AIT/ AIV, and tests campaign and launch site activities until the launch. As the DHMR process could change the material properties and the required functions of the equipment/subsystems comprising materials or combination of them, qualification tests campaign were performed to evaluate their compatibility with the DHMR at the beginning of the project. Planetary Protection activities have begun with the start of flight system manufacturing and assembly. The S- CDR has been successfully closed in October 2014 and the proto-flight model is now under environmental test campaign in TAS test facilities.