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MEDLI2 Flight Heat Flux Sensor Environment and Planetary Protection TestingMars 2020 will fly the Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation II (MEDLI2) sensor suite consisting of a total of seventeen instrumented thermocouple sensor plugs, eight pressure transducers, two total heat flux sensors, and one radiometer embedded in the thermal protection system (TPS). Of the MEDLI2 instrumentation, eleven instrumented thermocouple plugs and seven pressure transducers will be installed on the heatshield of the Mars 2020 vehicle while the rest will be installed on the backshell. The goal of the MEDLI2 instrumentation is to directly inform the large performance uncertainties that contribute to the design and validation of a Mars entry system. A better understanding of the entry environment and TPS performance could lead to reduced design margins enabling greater payload mass-fraction and smaller landing ellipses. The MEDLI2 total heat flux sensors and radiometer are new instruments that were not flown on the Mars Science Laboratory mission. These sensors directly measure the surface heat flux and radiation at specific backshell locations. The total heat flux sensors use a Schmidt-Boelter sensing element. The radiometer version uses a sapphire window placed over the Schmidt-Boelter sensing element to separate the radiative component of the total heat flux. MEDLI2 recently planned and executed protoflight environmental testing as well planetary protection measures on the flight and flight-spare total heat flux sensors and radiometers. This testing is required to provide confidence in the performance of the flight-lot sensors when exposed to flight-like environments, and to reduce the risk of biological contamination on the planet of Mars with microbes from Earth.
Document ID
20190027144
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Swanson, G. T. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Miller, R. A. (Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Oishi, T. (Jacobs Engineering Group (World Headquarters) Dallas, TX, United States)
Santos, J. A.
Rutherford, G. N. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Liles, K. A. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Kuhl, C. A. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Schreck, D. E. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
White, T. R. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Wright, H. S. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
July 11, 2019
Publication Date
July 8, 2019
Subject Category
Instrumentation And Photography
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN66433
Meeting Information
Meeting: IPPW 2019 - International Planetary Probe Workshop
Location: Oxford
Country: United Kingdom
Start Date: July 8, 2019
End Date: July 12, 2019
Sponsors: European Space Agency, NASA Headquarters, University of Oxford
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA15BB15C
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA16BD26C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Technical Review
NASA Peer Committee
Keywords
MEDLI2 FLIGHT HEAT FLUX SENSOR ENVIRONMENT AND PLANETARY PROTECTION TESTING

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