MSL Aeroshell Will Face Harshest Martian Landing Ever

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is the most complex ever developed for space exploration, and the aeroshell that will protect the rover Curiosity during its fiery descent through the Red Planet's atmosphere is no exception. It will face the harshest conditions of any previous mission.

At this point, the rover is scheduled to launch during a window of opportunity that extends between November 25 and December 18, 2011. After spending a few months in space, it will reach the Red Planet in August 2012.

When the time comes to enter the Martian atmosphere, the MSL will take on an angle of attack that will subject its aeroshell to the highest lift-to-drag ratio of any past rover or lander flights.

This will cause significant turbulences to form around the descending spacecraft as soon as it touches the upper layers of the atmosphere. Temperature levels will also spiral out of control, and the heat shields on the aeroshell will be only things preventing Curiosity's destruction.

Denver-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company built both the huge heat shield and back shell that together form Curiosity's defense system, the aeroshell. Engineers at the company put the shield though numerous tests before delivering it to NASA.

The backshell of the MSL was shipped out from the March Air Reserve Base, in California, alongside the cruise stage, in mid-May. An US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport plane then made a detour to the Buckley Air Force Base, near Denver.

Here, Lockheed Martin engineers loaded the heatshield onto the cargo plane, and sent it on its way. The C-17 arrived in Florida shortly after. The components now at the NASA Kennedy Space Center will be joined by the actual rover and the descent stage this month.

Curiosity is currently being tested in the High Bay 1 facility at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which has just marked 50 years of continuous activity to support space exploration. Mission managers say that everything is looking good and on schedule for a launch later this year.

There is a lot riding on the new heat shield, which is the largest and most complex ever built. It protects a $2.5 billion investment. Curiosity is powered by a nuclear engine, weighs more than a ton, and featured powerful lasers and 3D vision.

The aeroshell features several rocket nozzles, that will guide the spacecraft as it descends. The novel Sky Crane system will then ensure that the rover is safely placed on the Martian surface, Space reports.

“Work on the Mars Science Laboratory is continuing on schedule for shipping Curiosity and the descent stage to Kennedy Space Center next week and for launching the spacecraft during the Nov. 25- to-Dec. 18 period this fall,” JPL spokesman Guy Webster says.