Mission architecture for Mars exploration based on small satellites and planetary drones

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the study of an innovative unmanned mission to Mars, which is aimed at acquiring a great amount of detailed data related to both Mars’ atmosphere and surface.

Design/methodology/approach

The Mars surface exploration is conceived by means of a fleet of drones flying among a set of reference points (acting also as entry capsules and charging stations) on the surface. The three key enabling technologies of the proposed mission are the use of small satellites (used in constellation with a minimum of three), the use of electric propulsion systems for the interplanetary transfer (to reduce the propellant mass fraction) and lightweight, efficient, drones designed to operate in the harsh Mars environment and with its tiny atmosphere.

Findings

The low-thrust Earth-Mars transfer is designed by means of an optimization approach resulting in a duration of slightly more than 27 months with a propellant amount of about 125 kg, which is compatible with the choice of considering a 500 kg-class spacecraft. Four candidate drone configurations have been selected as the result of a sensitivity analysis. Flight endurance, weight and drone size have been considered as the driving design parameters for the selection of the final configuration, which is characterized by six rotors, a total mass of about 6.5 kg and a flight endurance of 28 minutes. In the mission scenario proposed, the drone is assumed to be delivered on the Mars surface by means of a passive entry capsule, which acts also as a docking station and charging base. Such a capsule has been sized both in terms of mass (68 kg) and power (80 W), showing to be compatible with 500 kg-class spacecraft.

Research limitations/implications

As a general conclusion, the study shows the mission concept feasibility.

Practical implications

The concept would return incomparable scientific data and can be also be potentially implemented with a relatively low budget exploiting of the shelf components to the larger extent, small identical spacecraft buses and modular low-cost drones.

Originality/value

The innovative mission architecture proposed in this study aims at providing a complete coverage of the surface and lowest atmospheric layers. The main innovation factor of the proposed mission consists in the adoption of small multi-copter UAVs, also called “drones,” as remote-sensing platforms.

Digital imagery analysis of unusual Martian surface features

Image processing results in support of ongoing research into the origin of a collection of unusual surface features on Mars are presented. The focus of the investigation is on a mile long feature in the Cydonia region of Mars which resembles a humanoid face that was imaged by Viking orbiter in 1976. While the face has been dismissed as a trick of light and shadow by some, there remains considerable interest in this feature, which others believe was sculpted into the form of a humanoid face, and several nearby polyhedral objects which appear to be spatially aligned with it. Image enhancements of the face show it to be a bisymmetrical object having two eyes, a nose, and a mouth; fine structure in the mouth suggesting teeth are apparent in the enhanced imagery as well as crossed symmetrical lines on the forehead. Facial features are also evident in the underlying 3-D surface which was reconstructed using a single image shape-from-shading technique. Synthetic images derived from the 3-D model by computer graphics techniques suggest that the impression of facial features evident in the original Viking imagery are not a transient phenomenon; i.e., they persist over a wide range of illumination and viewing conditions.