SEAS Researchers Analyze Atmosphere on Mars and Reconstruct Trajectory of Mars Rover "Spirit"

SEAS researchers associated with NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, are playing a major role in the Mars Exploration Rover mission by studying atmospheric entry and trajectory data from the rover “Spirit.” Spirit successfully landed on Mars on January 4 after seven months of space travel.

SEAS researchers at Langley, previously part of the GW/NASA Joint Institute for Advancement of Flight Sciences (JIAFS), analyzed accelerometer and gyro readings from Spirit’s trip through the Martian atmosphere and found NASA’s temperature predictions for the Martian atmosphere to be “right on track.” The researchers are continuing to reconstruct the trajectory of Spirit to compare it with NASA’s planned trajectory and study what made Spirit’s entry, descent, and landing on Mars so successful.

“We are studying the parameters that made the Spirit landing successful in hopes of duplicating conditions the second time around, as well as comparing actual and predicted temperature measurements of the Martian atmosphere,” said Bob Blanchard, lead research scientist in the SEAS group. “These are two very significant tasks; obviously getting Spirit and now Opportunity safely on Mars is critical to the Mars Exploration Rover mission.”

The phase of the Mars Exploration Rover mission that SEAS researchers are involved in is called the entry, descent, and landing portion of the mission. This phase begins when the spacecrafts reach Mars’ atmosphere at approximately 80 miles above the surface of the planet and ends when the landers are safely on the surface of Mars. The descent through the Martian atmosphere takes approximately six minutes, during which time the spacecraft slows from approximately 12,000 to zero miles per hour.