Rover Technology Development and Infusion for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory Mission

This paper provides an overview of the rover technology development, integration, validation, and mission infusion process now being used by the NASA Mars Technology Program. Described are the relevant mission scenarios of long range traverse and science instrument placement, along with the enabling algorithmic components for them. These are being integrated into the CLARAty robotics research software environment for demonstration and component validation, and then infused into the MDS spacecraft flight software environment for system level validation. As discussed, these components come from the ongoing 2003 rover mission, funded MTP research, and other complementary sources.