Mars Exploration Rover Heat Shield Recontact Analysis

The twin Mars Exploration Rover missions landed successfully on Mars’ surface in January of 2004. Both missions used a parachute system to slow the rover’s descent rate from supersonic to subsonic speeds. Shortly after parachute deployment, the heat shield, which protected the rover during the hypersonic entry phase of the mission, was jettisoned using push-off springs. Mission designers were concerned about the heat shield recontacting the lander after separation, so a separation analysis was conducted to quantify risks. This analysis was used to choose a proper heat shield ballast mass to ensure successful separation with a low probability of recontact. This paper presents the details of such an analysis, its assumptions, and the results. During both landings, the radar fortuitously locked onto the heat shield and measured its distance, as it descended away from the lander. This data is presented and is used to validate the heat shield separation/recontact analysis.