NASA outlines path to Mars

Tracking Capability for Entry, Descent and Landing and its support to NASA Mars Exploration Rovers

1. INTRODUCTION In January 2004, the two NASA Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) – also known as Spirit and Opportunity-arrived at Mars. Before they could start their scientific investigation looking for traces of water and evidence of possible life in the past, the two rovers had to pass through a dangerous stage of entry, descent and landing (EDL). Each rover had to safely enter and descend throug...

Comparing NASA and ESA Cost Estimating Methods for Human Missions to Mars

To compare working methodologies between the cost engineering functions in NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and ESA European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), as well as to set-up cost cngi~iccri~~g ciipbiiiiies fur future manned Mars projects and other studies which involve similar subsystem technologies in MSFC and ESTEC, a demonstration cost estimate exercise was organize...

Advanced Robotics Technology Infusion to the Nasa Mars Exploration Rover (mer) Project

This paper presents four new technology developments and their infusion into the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. These technologies were not ready for infusion prior to the launch of this mission. Three of these new capabilities are designed to increase the level of autonomy for the operations, i.e., fewer ground-in-the-loop steps for executing commands. One of the new capabilities is des...

Cardiac Outlines

NASA Systems Engineering Research Consortium: Defining the Path to Elegance in Systems

The NASA Systems Engineering Research Consortium was formed at the end of 2010 to study the approaches to producing elegant systems on a consistent basis. This has been a transformative study looking at the engineering and organizational basis of systems engineering. The consortium has engaged in a variety of research topics to determine the path to elegant systems. In the second year of the co...