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Long Cable Deployments During Martian Touchdown: Lessons LearnedThe launch of NASA/JPL's next generation Mars rover is planned for the fall of 2011. The landing scheme chosen for this rover represents a step forward in unmanned payload delivery. The rover will be lowered from a rocket powered descent stage and then placed onto the surface while hanging from three bridles. During this touchdown event, the communication between the rover and descent stage is maintained by an electrical umbilical cable which is deployed in parallel with the structural bridles. During the development of the deployment device for the electrical umbilical, many obstacles were identified and overcome. Many of these challenges were due in large part to the helical nature of the packing geometry of the umbilical cable. And although none of these issues resulted in the failure of the design, they increased both development and assembly time. Many of the issues and some of the benefits of a helical deployment were not immediately apparent during the trade studies carried out during the deployment selection process. Tests were conducted upon completion of the device in order to characterize both the deployment and separation characteristics of the cable. Extraction loads were needed for inputs to touchdown models and separation dynamics were required to assess cable-rover recontact risk. Understanding the pros and cons surrounding the deployment of a helically packed cable would most certainly influence the outcome of future trade studies surrounding the selection of cable deployment options.
Document ID
20150014697
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Shafer, Michael W.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Sell, Steven W.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 3, 2015
Publication Date
March 7, 2009
Subject Category
Ground Support Systems And Facilities (Space)
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2009 IEEE Aerospace Conference
Location: Big Sky, MT
Country: United States
Start Date: March 7, 2009
End Date: March 14, 2009
Sponsors: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Mars Science Lab
umbilical
MSL
bridle

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