Status of the French Mars Exploration Program

Details Status of the French Mars Exploration Program Status of the French Mars Exploration Program

Jan 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002iaf..confe.681b&link_type=abstract

IAF abstracts, 34th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, The Second World Space Congress, held 10-19 October, 2002 in Houston, TX, USA.,

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The French Mars exploration initiative named PREMIER (Programme de Retour d'Echantillons Martiens et Installation d'Expériences en Réseau) is a long term, multiform co- operative program including as its two main components : - the development with a consortium of European partners (Finland, Germany, Belgium) and the deployment of a network of 4 small Mars ground stations for performing geophysical measurements (NetLander project) ; - a participation to the future Mars Sample Return mission (MSR) in cooperation with NASA including the development and the operation of the orbiter vehicle of this mission. Its additional elements are : - instrument contributions to ESA's Mars Express mission ; - payload contributions to the orbiters and landers &rovers of the future missions to Mars, and especially to NASA's "smart lander" mission dedicated to in situ investigations. This program wants to ensure the complementarity between its three poles : (i) global investigations from the orbit, (ii) landed science with both network science (NetLanders) and in situ investigations, and (iii) sample return. A major step in the PREMIER program will be the 2007 orbiter mission ; this precursor vehicle developed by CNES and launched by Ariane 5 in September 2007 will first deliver the 4 NetLanders at Mars and then will be inserted in Mars orbit. This orbiter will perform technological tests aiming at preparing the future Mars Sample Return mission, it will ensure a telecommunication relay function for the NetLanders and it will be used for an additional orbital science mission. While the NetLanders will study the internal structure of Mars and its climate, with the goal to operate a full Martian year, the primary objectives of the orbital science mission will be complementary of those of the NetLanders, with an emphasis on the study of the Martian atmosphere. In a first phase, the orbiter will be on a 500 km x 500 km circular, near polar, Sun-synchronous orbit around 12 am local time, which is optimal for the NetLander relay. In a second phase, the orbit will be lowered around 350 km for the benefit of the orbital science. A very low periapsis phase (170 km x 1000 km) is foreseen for some experiments. The nominal mission will end in September 2011, with the hope of an extended mission beyond this date.

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