Robust, affordable, semi-direct Mars mission

ESA's Mars Express Mission – Europe on Its Way to Mars

Introduction In the broad context of planetary science, Mars represents an important transition between the outer volatile-rich, more oxidised regions of the accretion zone of the terrestrial bodies (asteroid belt) and the inner, more refractory and less oxidised regions from which Earth, Venus and Mercury accreted. Its size, the degree of internal activity, the age of its surface features, and...

Group Collaboration for Mars Rover Mission Operations

AbsfractGroup collaboration capabilities have been developed for Internet-based Mars rover mission operations. Internet-based operations enables scientists to participate in daily Mars rover mission operations from their home institutions. Group collaboration enables geographically separated users to collaboratively analyze downlinked data and plan new activities for the rover. The motivation f...

Mars global surveyor mission: overview and status.

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft achieved a 45-hour elliptical orbit at Mars on 11 September 1997 after an 11-month cruise from Earth. The mission is acquiring high-quality global observations of the martian surface and atmosphere and of its magnetic and gravitational fields. These observations will continue for one martian year.

Robust Thruster Fault Diagnosis : Application to the rendezvous phase of the Mars Sample Return mission

This paper addresses robust fault diagnosis of the chaser’s thrusters used for the rendezvous phase of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. The MSR mission is a future exploration mission undertaken jointly by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The goal is to return tangible samples from Mars atmosphere and ground to Earth for analysis...

The first viking mission to Mars.