Overview of the NASA entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis Studies for large robotic-class missions

Thomas A. Zang, Alicia M. Dwyer Cianciolo, Mark C. Ivanov, Ronald R. Sostaric, David J. Kinney

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

NASA senior management commissioned the Entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis Study in 2008 to identify and roadmap the Entry, Descent and Landing technology investments that the agency needed to make in order to successfully land large payloads at Mars for both robotic and human-scale missions. This paper summarizes the approach and top-level results from Year 2 of the Study, which focused on landing 1-4 mt on Mars for robotic missions. Two separate studies were conducted in Year 2: the Mars Science Laboratory Improvement Study, which determined technology development program needs to support increases in landed payload and landed altitude beyond the Mars Science Laboratory capability using an Atlas V launch vehicle and the Exploration Feed-Forward Study, which examined a potential precursor mission using a Delta IV-H launch vehicle with landed payload in the 2-4 mt range that would demonstrate key technologies needed for later human missions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAIAA SPACE Conference and Exposition 2011
PublisherAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc.
ISBN (Print)9781600869532
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes
EventAIAA SPACE Conference and Exposition 2011 - Long Beach, CA, United States
Duration: Sep 27 2011Sep 29 2011

Publication series

NameAIAA SPACE Conference and Exposition 2011

Conference

ConferenceAIAA SPACE Conference and Exposition 2011
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityLong Beach, CA
Period09/27/1109/29/11

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