Wed, Nov 03, 2004
Professor Kenneth Mease Will Lead Team in Developing Advanced
Guidance Algorithms
UC Irvine Monday announced that a researcher within The Henry
Samueli School of Engineering has been awarded a contract with
NASA, through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to develop
guidance algorithms aimed at pinpointing future Mars landers within
100 meters of the desired site.
Kenneth Mease, a professor of mechanical and aerospace
engineering, is the principal investigator for the three-year
project, a collaborative effort involving his research group and
researchers at JPL.
"Pinpointing a Mars landing to within 100 meters enables science
instruments to be delivered close to gullies, rock outcrops or
canyon walls. Without pinpoint accuracy, landing near such
scientifically interesting objects would be too risky," said Mease.
"Mars missions to date have at best been capable of landing within
20-30 kilometers of a target site. Achieving pinpoint accuracy
requires automated on-board guidance during the atmospheric flight
and the terminal powered descent."
Mease's team will develop an algorithm to control a Mars
lander's flight during the "hypersonic entry phase" to compensate
for variations in atmospheric conditions and vehicle performance,
and deliver the vehicle with pinpoint accuracy to the parachute
deployment point. He is also developing a guidance algorithm that
will steer the lander during the "powered-descent phase" to
compensate for wind drift during the parachute phase. Comprehensive
real-time simulation testing of the algorithms in flight-like
processors will be conducted at JPL. The first demonstration of
pinpoint landing is under consideration for a Mars mission in
2011.
The total contract value is $679,000.
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