Mars Exploration Rovers Launch Contingency Efforts

摘要

On 10 June 2003 at 1:58 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and 7 July 2003 at 11:18 p.m. EDT, two separate spacecraft/rovers were successfully launched to Mars atop a Delta II 7925 and Delta II 7925H, respectively. Each spacecraft/rover carried eight Light Weight Radioisotope Heater Units (LWRHUs) for thermal conditioning of electronics during the cold Martian nights. As a part of the joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration/U. S. Department of Energy safety effort, a contingency plan was prepared to address the unlikely events of an accidental suborbital reentry or out-of-orbit reentry. The objective of the contingency plan was to develop and implement procedures to predict, within the first hour, the probable Earth Impact Footprints (EIFs) for the LWRHUs or other possible spacecraft debris after an accidental reentry. No ablation burn-through of the heat sources' aeroshells was expected, as a result of earlier testing. Any predictions would be used in subsequent notification and recovery efforts. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, as part of a multi-agency team, was responsible for prediction of the EIFs, and the time of reentry from a potential orbital decay. The tools used to predict the EIFs included a Three-Degree-of-Freedom (3DOF) trajectory simulation code, a Six-Degree-of-Freedom (6DOF) code, a database of aerodynamic coefficients for the LWRHUs and other spacecraft debris, secure links to obtain tracking data, and a high fidelity special perturbation orbit integrator code to predict time of spacecraft reentry from orbital decay. This paper will discuss the contingency plan and process, as well as highlight the improvements made to the analytical tools. Improvements to the 3DOF, aerodynamic database, and orbit integrator and inclusion of the 6DOF have significantly enhanced the prediction capabilities. In the days before launch, the trajectory simulation codes were exercised and predictions of hypothetical EIFs were produced. The contingency efforts, while not exercised for the two successful launches, still contributed to mission safety and demonstrated cooperation among multiple agencies.