Mars Sample Return Mars Ascent Vehicle Separation Analysis Utilizing the CLVTOPS Toolchain

A key element of the joint NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign is the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which is being developed primarily by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), in association with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Langley Research Center (LaRC). The MAV is a Mars-launched rocket that is responsible for transporting soil samples collected by the Perseverance rover from the Martian surface into orbit, where they will be captured by ESA's Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) for the return journey to Earth. The MAV design concept developed during the MAV Systems Requirement Cycle (SRC) and Preliminary Design Cycle (PDC) consisted of a two-solid-stage configuration, where the second stage is completely unguided in order to reduce vehicle and overall mission mass. The unguided second stage design presents technical challenges for the stage separation event, as the second stage trajectory and the payload’s ability to rendezvous with the ERO is extremely sensitive to disturbances during vehicle staging. The MSFC-developed CLVTOPS multibody dynamics toolchain was utilized to quickly assess multiple stage separation hardware options and to optimize the separation Concept of Operations (ConOps) in order to ensure successful near-field stage separation performance and maximize the orbital accuracy of the payload. This paper will describe how the CLVTOPS toolchain was used to assess the MAV stage separation event and help inform and optimize the MAV design and ConOps.