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Schiaparelli EDM

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 82.52.128.134 (talk) at 23:00, 17 October 2016 (If Beagle 2 was British then Schiapparelli is Italian. With nearly 40% of the funding, Italy is the promoter of Exomars and has the leadership role in the project. Schiapparelli is built in Turin (Italy).). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Schiaparelli EDM lander
Model of Schiaparelli lander at the 2013 Paris Air Show
Mission typeMars lander / technology demonstrator
OperatorESA · Roscosmos
COSPAR ID2016-017A
SATCAT no.41388
Websiteexploration.esa.int/mars/46124-mission-overview/
Mission durationPlanned: 2 to 8 sols[1]
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerThales Alenia Space
Launch mass600 kg (1,300 lb)
DimensionsDiameter: 2.4 m (7.9 ft)
Height: 1.65 m (5.4 ft)
Start of mission
Launch date14 March 2016, 09:31 (2016-03-14UTC09:31) UTC
RocketProton-M/Briz-M
Launch siteBaikonur Site 200/39
ContractorKhrunichev
Mars lander
Landing datePlanned: 19 October 2016
Landing sitePlanned: Meridiani Planum
 

Schiaparelli EDM lander is Italian[2] Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) of the ExoMars project.[3] It is intended to provide the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia's Roscosmos with the technology for landing on the surface of Mars.

It was launched together with the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) on 14 March 2016 and will land on 19 October 2016. The lander is equipped with a non-rechargeable electric battery with enough power for 2 to 8 sols (Mars days).

Overview

After a 7-month cruise, Schiaparelli separated from the orbiter on 16 October 2016,[4] three days before it arrives at Mars, and will land at Meridiani Planum in 19 October 2016. It will use a heat shield, parachute and retrorockets to slow its descent. Meanwhile, the TGO (orbiter) will enter Mars orbit and it will undergo several months of aerobraking to adjust its speed and orbit, with actual science activities beginning in late 2017.[5] The TGO will continue serving as a relay satellite for future landed missions until 2022.[6]

Schiaparelli will provide ESA and Roscomos with the technology for landing on the surface of Mars with a controlled landing orientation and touchdown velocity; key technologies for the 2020 ExoMars rover mission.[7]

The lander's name refers to 19th century astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, best known for describing the surface features of Mars. He was also the first astronomer to determine the relationship between comet debris and yearly meteor showers.[3]

Launch

The 600 kg descent module Schiaparelli and orbiter completed testing and were integrated to a Proton-M rocket at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in mid-January 2016.[8] The launch occurred at 09:31 GMT on 14 March 2016.[9] Four rocket burns occurred in the following 10 hours before the descent module and orbiter were released.[10] A signal from the orbiter was received at 21:29 GMT that day, confirming that the launch was successful and the spacecraft is functioning properly.[11]

Shortly after separation from the probes, the Briz-M upper booster stage exploded a few kilometers away, without damaging the orbiter or lander.[12] The spacecraft, which houses the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander are underway to Mars and are in working order.

Entry and landing

The red star denotes the intended landing site for the ExoMars Schiaparelli EDM lander: Meridiani Planum, close to where the Opportunity rover landed.

The Schiaparelli lander separated from the TGO orbiter on 16 October 2016, three days before arrival at Mars, and entering the atmosphere at 21,000 kilometres per hour (13,000 mph; 5.8 km/s).[5] After slowing its initial entry through the atmosphere, the module will deploy two parachutes and will complete its landing by using a closed-loop guidance, navigation and control system based on a Doppler radar altimeter sensor, and on-board inertial measurement units. Throughout the descent, various sensors will record a number of atmospheric parameters and lander performance.[13] The final stages of the landing will be performed using pulse-firing liquid-fuel engines or retrorockets. About two meters above ground, the engines will turn off. The platform will land on a crushable structure, designed to deform and absorb the final touchdown impact.[7][13]

The landing will take place on Meridiani Planum[7] during the dust storm season, which will provide a unique chance to characterize a dust-loaded atmosphere during entry and descent, and to conduct surface measurements associated with a dust-rich environment.[14] Once on the surface, it will measure the wind speed and direction, humidity, pressure and surface temperature, and determine the transparency of the atmosphere.[14] It will also make the first measurements of electrical fields at the planet's surface. A descent camera is included in the payload.

Initially, Roscosmos offered to contribute a 100 watt radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) power source for the EDM lander to allow it to monitor the local surface environment for a full Martian year,[15][16] but because of complex Russian export control procedures, it later opted for the use of a regular non-rechargeable electric battery with enough power for 2 to 8 sols.[1][17]

Payload

The lander's surface payload is the meteorological DREAMS (Dust Characterization, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface) package, consisting of a suite of sensors to measure the wind speed and direction (MetWind), humidity (MetHumi), pressure (MetBaro), surface temperature (MarsTem), the transparency of the atmosphere (Optical Depth Sensor; ODS), and atmospheric electrification (Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor; MicroARES).[18][19]

The DREAMS payload will function for 2 to 8 Mars days as an environmental station for the duration of the surface mission after landing.[7][13] DREAMS will provide the first measurements of electric fields on the surface of Mars (with MicroARES). Combined with measurements (from ODS) of the concentration of atmospheric dust, DREAMS will provide new insights into the role of electric forces on dust lifting, the mechanism that initiates dust storms. In addition, the MetHumi sensor will complement MicroARES measurements with critical data about humidity; this will enable scientists to better understand the dust electrification process.[19]

In addition to the surface payload, a camera called DECA (Entry and Descent Module Descent Camera) on the lander will operate during the descent. It will deliver additional scientific data and exact location data in the form of images.[20] DECA is a reflight of the Visual Monitoring Camera VMC of the Planck mission.

Originally, the EDM lander was planned to carry a group of eleven instruments collectively called the "Humboldt payload",[21] that would be dedicated to investigating the geophysics of the deep interior. But a payload confirmation review in the first quarter of 2009 resulted in a severe descope of the lander instruments, and the Humboldt suite was cancelled entirely.[22]

Specifications

Diameter 2.4 m (7.9 ft)[23]
Height 1.8 m (5.9 ft)
Mass 600 kg (1,300 lb)
Heat shield material Norcoat Liege
Structure Aluminium sandwich with carbon fiber
reinforced polymer skins
Parachute Disk-gap-band canopy
12 m (39 ft) diameter
Propulsion 3 clusters of 3 hydrazine pulse engines
(400 N each)[7]
Power Non-rechargeable battery
Communications UHF link with the
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Schiaparelli science package and science investigations. ESA. 10 March 2016.
  2. ^ "The European probe to Mars takes off today from Turin Airport". La Stampa. 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ a b Patterson, Sean (8 November 2013). "ESA Names ExoMars Lander 'Schiaparelli'". Space Fellowship.
  4. ^ Malik, Tariq (16 October 2016). "European Mars Lander Separates From Mothership, Takes Aim at Red Planet". Space.com. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b Aron, Aron (7 March 2016). "ExoMars probe set to sniff out signs of life on the Red Planet". New Scientist. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  6. ^ Allen, Mark; Witasse, Olivier (16 June 2011), "2016 ESA/NASA ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter", MEPAG June 2011, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PDF)
  7. ^ a b c d e "Schiaparelli: the ExoMars Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module". ESA. 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  8. ^ "ExoMars 2016 Schiaparelli Module in Baikonur". ESA. SpaceRef. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  9. ^ Jonathan Amos (14 March 2016). "Mars methane mission lifts off". BBC. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  10. ^ Elizabeth Gibney (11 March 2016). "Mars launch to test collaboration between Europe and Russia". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.19547. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  11. ^ "ExoMars on its way to solve the Red Planet's mysteries". ESA. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  12. ^ King, Bob (24 March 2016). "ExoMars Mission Narrowly Avoids Exploding Booster". Universe Today. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Vago, J; et al. (August 2013). "ExoMars, ESA's next step in Mars exploration" (PDF). ESA Bulletin magazine. No. 155. pp. 12–23.
  14. ^ a b "Entry, Descent and Surface Science for 2016 Mars Mission". Science Daily. 10 June 2010.
  15. ^ Amos, Jonathan (15 March 2012). "Europe still keen on Mars missions". BBC News.
  16. ^ Morring, Jr., Frank (14 February 2012). "NASA Units Hope For Robotic Mars Mission In 2018". Aviation Week.
  17. ^ de Selding, Peter B. (5 October 2012). "Russian Export Rules Force ExoMars Mission Changes". Space News.
  18. ^ F. Esposito, et al., DREAMS for the ExoMars 2016 mission: a suite of sensors for the characterization of Martian environment" (PDF). European Planetary Science Congress 2013, EPSC Abstracts Vol. 8, EPSC2013-815 (2013)
  19. ^ a b "EDM surface payload". European Space Agency (ESA). 19 December 2011.
  20. ^ Ferri, F.; Forget, F.; Lewis, S.R.; Karatekin, O. (16–22 June 2012), "ExoMars Atmospheric Mars Entry and Landing Investigations and Analysis (AMELIA)" (PDF), ExoMars Entry, Descent and Landing Science, Toulouse, France {{citation}}: |format= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. ^ "The ExoMars Instruments". European Space Agency. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ Amos, Jonathan (15 June 2009). "Europe's Mars mission scaled back". BBC News.
  23. ^ "ExoMars". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 22 October 2013.

External links

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