A network of small landers on MarsThis paper describes a class of small landers that could form part of a global network of scientific instrumentation on Mars. Two types of landers are considered: penetrators that implant instruments a few meters beneath the surface, and rough landers that may hit the surface at speeds up to tens of m/sec and survive through the use of impact-limiting techniques. Because some scientific objectives, such as seismic and meteorological investigations, require durations of months and years lander designs giving long lifetimes in the Martian environment are needed. This paper describes both past and more recent work at JPL toward this goal.
Document ID
19910025411
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Burke, James D. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Mostert, Robert N. (JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)