MSL Radar Undergoes Extensive Testing

Next year will see the launch of the American space agency's latest rover mission to the Red Planet. Scheduled for arrival on Mars in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will be one of the most advanced robotic explorers ever constructed, and sent to other worlds. It will be powered by a nuclear engine, which will ensure that it won't have to rely on solar energy across the planet. But, in order to land the one ton machine on Mars, huge engineering challenges need to be overcome. One of them is setting the rover down, and this is where a new radar system comes in.

Researchers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, are currently performing extensive tests on the system that will ensure the MSL is safely placed on Mars. The rover will be carried by a revolutionary robot called the Sky Crane. This approach to landing has never been tested before, and so experts don't really know what to expect. Basically, what happens is that the MSL robot, called Curiosity, is carried by a platform outfitted with rocket engines. Once it approaches the ground, the platform fires its thrusters, ensuring a steady altitude. The machine is then lowered on the surface, and gets separated from its carrier. The Sky Crane then flies away, and crashes some distance away.

In order for the system to function, it needs to know where it's located at all times. This is the job of the radar system. To ensure that the device functions properly, experts at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center conducted a series of helicopter experiments in May, replicating the conditions that the MSL mission would encounter after entering the Martian atmosphere. The tests were conducted over the deserts above the Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), where the Dryden facility is located.

The engineering team measured how the radar behaved when a replica of the MSL was lowered via a tether from the helicopter. Descent-speed determinations are critical for the success of the landing stage, and so the radar needs to be calibrated in such a manner that it can compensate for all unexpected scenarios that may occur. The investigations were low-altitude test, but the team plans to conduct higher-altitude, higher-velocity assessments later this year. When completed, the data obtained will be used to make the MSL radar more suited for carrying out the complex task drawn out for it.