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SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES 2008-01-2001

Thermal Design of the Mars Science Laboratory

Powered Descent Vehicle
Anthony D. Paris, Melanie L. Fisher, Frank P. Kelly, Brenda J. Hernandez,
Brenda A. Dudik, Robert J. Krylo, and Pradeep Bhandari
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

38th International Conference

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Thermal Design of the Mars Science Laboratory
Powered Descent Vehicle
Anthony D. Paris, Melanie L. Fisher, Frank P. Kelly, Brenda J. Hernandez, Brenda A. Dudik,
Robert J. Krylo and Pradeep Bhandari
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Copyright © 2008 SAE International
ABSTRACT
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission will use a
Powered Descent Vehicle to accurately and safely land
a roving, robotic laboratory on the surface of Mars. The
precision landing systems employed on this vehicle are
exposed to a wide range of mission environments from
deep space cruise to atmospheric descent and require a
robust and adaptable thermal design. This paper
discusses the overall thermal design philosophy of the
MSL Powered Descent Vehicle and presents analysis of
the active and passive elements comprising the Cruise,
Entry, Descent, and Landing thermal control systems.
INTRODUCTION
Scheduled for launch in September 2009, NASA’s Mars
Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is the latest in a
series of mobile robotic probes dedicated to traversing
the planet Mars and seeking past signs of water and
possible life. NASA’s two preceding rover missions,
Mars Pathfinder and the twin Mars Exploration Rovers,
demonstrated a landing technique which used an
encapsulating aeroshell, supersonic parachute, solid
rocket engines, and airbags to slow the descent of the
spacecraft through the atmosphere and cushion the
impact of landing. The present Mars Science Laboratory
mission strives to land a rover in excess of 900 kg within
a tighter landing ellipse than the previous missions and
these requirements have resulted in an Entry, Descent,
and Landing (EDL) approach with marked differences
from preceding landed exploration missions .
[1]
The Mars Science Laboratory mission has six distinct
phases: pre-launch, launch, deep space cruise, Mars
exo-atmospheric entry, atmospheric entry, and surface
operations. During the first three phases of the
mission—throughout which the MSL spacecraft resides
in its cruise configuration—the primary mission objective
is to deliver the entry vehicle and science payload to the
vicinity of Mars. The two phases defining the Entry,
Descent, and Landing portion of the mission (exo-
atmospheric and atmospheric entry) involve a process of
shedding and deploying hardware that results in the safe
2008-01-2001
delivery of the MSL Rover vehicle to the surface of the
planet.
This paper will present an overview of just a portion of
the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft thermal
design—specifically, that which concerns the hardware
systems responsible for the touchdown landing of the
spacecraft on Mars. Collectively, these landing systems
are referred to as the MSL Powered Descent Vehicle.
The thermal design of those systems and components
designed specifically for other mission phases (such as
the Cruise Stage module, Aeroshell, or Rover) are
beyond the present scope of this paper and will be
presented elsewhere. Although the critical operational
phases for the MSL Powered Descent Vehicle are the
Mars exo-atmospheric and atmospheric entry phases,
the thermal control of these components throughout
each mission phase will be discussed.
The thermal design of the MSL Entry, Descent, and
Landing systems is complicated by the fact that these
components are exposed to a wide range of
environmental conditions throughout the course of the
mission. At various points in time, the hardware will be
exposed to a free-convection dominated terrestrial
atmospheric environment (pre-launch), a radiation
dominated high vacuum environment (cruise), and a
forced convection dominated Mars atmospheric
environment (EDL). While optimal operation of the
Powered Descent Vehicle systems is required only
during the descent and landing phases, the thermal
design of the spacecraft must be robust to all modes of
thermal energy transport and severity of environmental
temperatures.
THERMAL DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION - As with previous NASA Mars
landed missions, the Mars Science Laboratory
spacecraft features a collection of components
cocooned within larger structures. Depictions of the
stacked nature of the MSL spacecraft during the launch
and cruise phases of the mission are found in figures 1
and 2. At the center of the stack is the MSL rover with
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its mobility systems and other deployable components
stowed to occupy minimum volume. The MSL rover is
powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric
Generator (MMRTG) located at the back end of the
Rover chassis opposite the suite of science instruments.
The Rover is attached to the primary structure of the
MSL Descent Stage (DS) via three hard mounts
equipped with pyrotechnic separation devices and three
bridle attachment locations. The bridle serves as a
mechanical tether to control the separation of the
Descent Stage and Rover during final deployment on the
Mars Surface. When co-joined, the Rover and Descent
Stage are referred to collectively as the Powered
Descent Vehicle (see figure 3).
Figure 1. Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft
component stack (Cruise phase configuration)
Figure 2. Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft
(Cruise phase configuration)
To both survive aerothermal heating effects from
atmospheric entry and slow the entry body to subsonic
speeds, the Powered Descent Vehicle is surrounded by
an aeroshell subsystem equipped with a supersonic
parachute. The Aeroshell is hard mounted to the top of
the Descent Stage by six pyro-separation bolts but
otherwise makes no physical contact with the DS or
Rover. Due to seals which prevent the inflow of
superheated gases during atmospheric entry, the
Aeroshell also serves to completely encapsulate the
vehicle during the launch and cruise phases of the
mission. In the pre-launch environment, waste heat
from the MMRTG must be removed from within the
sealed Aeroshell interior while the spacecraft resides in
the launch payload faring.
The Descent Stage is a structural platform which hosts
an integrated monopropellant (Hydrazine) chemical
propulsion system and distributed components
comprising the guidance and navigation, power, and
avionics subsystems. The purpose of this hardware is to
reduce the velocity of the Powered Descent Vehicle from
approximately 160 m/s to less than 1 m/s while
exercising closed-loop guidance control. After
deployment of the MSL Rover at touchdown, the
Descent Stage will undertake a flyaway maneuver to
safely dispose of the excess EDL hardware and allow
the landing site to remain undisturbed.
Separated
Backshell
Powered
Descent Vehicle
Figure 3. Powered Descent Vehicle, depicted during
final descent to Mars with visualization of thruster
exhaust plumes (from Reference 1).
The topmost component in the spacecraft stack is the
Cruise Stage. Similar in purpose to the Descent Stage,
the Cruise Stage is essentially a propulsion and
guidance module that conveys the Aeroshell and
Powered Descent Vehicle stack from Earth to Mars.
The Cruise Stage is attached to both the Aeroshell and
the launch vehicle by an adapter structure that has
pyrotechnic separation bolts on both sides of the
interface. At the end of launch phase, one set of
separation mechanisms frees the spacecraft from the
Launch vehicle, while the second set separates the
Cruise Stage from the Aeroshell just prior to Mars exo-
atmospheric entry.
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Figure 4. Entry, Descent and Landing worst case
timeline assumptions for purposes of thermal
design
Figure 4 shows an annotated timeline of the Entry,
Descent, and Landing phase, complete with graphical
representations of when each component is employed
and discarded. The actual timeline for EDL that will be
followed during flight will depend upon a number of
factors yet to be determined (such as the particular
landing site). The timeline shown in figure 4 is a
representative bounding timeline for the thermal design
as it maximizes exposure to several extreme thermal
boundary conditions.
SPACECRAFT ENVIRONMENTS - The thermal
environment of the Powered Descent Vehicle is largely
defined by the Cruise and EDL phases of the mission.
Although the pre-launch environment presents several
challenges from a thermal management perspective, a
ground-based thermal environmental control system will
maintain the spacecraft components within allowable
flight temperature ranges. A detailed discussion of the
design and performance of these ground-based thermal
control systems is reserved for other publications as the
focus in this paper is the performance of the spacecraft
thermal design in flight.
Cruise Phase - The cruise phase of the MSL mission
does not have an Earth orbiting or inner planet gravity
assist trajectory, thus the majority of cruise is spent
traveling away from the sun. For the first sixty days of
cruise, the spacecraft may be as close as 0.975 A.U.
from the sun and will have a range of permissible off-sun
angles (with respect to the spacecraft’s solar array) from
0 to 80 degrees. The combination of minimum solar
distance and maximum solar flux establish the worst
case hot conditions for the spacecraft during the cruise
phase. A worst case solar flux of 1440 W/m2 can range
from fully incident upon the Cruise Stage solar array
(zero degree off-sun) to normal with the exposed portion
of the Aeroshell (fifty-three degrees off-sun). Due to the
extreme permissible off-sun angle range in early Cruise,
the first sixty days of the mission also contain the worst
case cold conditions for the Cruise Stage solar array and
the Aeroshell’s parachute hardware. This set of worst
case cold conditions occurs at a solar range of 1.075
A.U. and an off-sun angle of 80 degrees.
After the first sixty days post-launch, the permissible off-
sun angles are constrained to between 0 and 45
degrees off-sun. The worst cold case for the majority of
the Powered Descent Vehicle components occurs very
late in the cruise phase when the solar flux is weakest.
The maximum solar range requirement for the thermal
design is 1.63 A.U. and this corresponds to a minimum
2
incident solar flux of approximately 516 W/m . Due to
variations in launch vehicle performance and uncertainty
in spacecraft mass, there are a range of possible arrival
dates at Mars for the MSL mission. The minimum solar
range requirement associated with Mars arrival is 1.5
A.U. and this establishes the worst case hot conditions
just prior to Entry, Descent, and Landing. Figure 5
shows the variation in the solar range of the spacecraft
for three predicted arrival dates at Mars. It should be
noted that mission plans do not call for a nominal twelve
month cruise phase, but rather extreme trajectories were
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chosen to determine bounding thermal design and exposure timeline were selected as a basis for
requirements. design requirements (see figure 6).

Although atmospheric thermophysical properties do

influence the trajectory during the Descent phase, for the
Spacecraft to Sun Range (A.U.)

purposes of bounding the thermal design requirements,

0-45q off-sun
maximum values were assumed for CO2 density (0.02
3
Cruise/EDL Worst kg/m ) and thermal conductivity ( 0.007 W/m˜K) and a
Cold Case
EDL Worst
minimum value was assumed for temperature (-100qC).
Hot Case Both the maximum velocity and maximum exposure
timelines assume the same values for these properties.
Cruise Worst Cold Case
0-80q off-sun
For Parachute Hardware

Cruise Worst Hot Case 200

Entry Vehicle Velocity (m/s)

Maximum Velocity Profile
2 4 6 8 10 12
150
Cruise Duration (months)

100
Figure 5. Worst case solar range assumptions for
Maximum Timeline Profile
the cruise phase thermal design
50
Entry, Descent, and Landing Phase - Prior to the EDL
phase, the MSL spacecraft will jettison the Cruise Stage
and perform a final turn-to-entry maneuver (see figure 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
4). The maximum off-sun angle for this final turn-to-
Time After Heatshield Separation (seconds)
entry has been established as 76 degrees from the
spacecraft’s +Z axis. The maximum timeline Figure 6. Worst case atmospheric descent velocity
requirement from Cruise Stage jettison to touchdown is profiles used in the PDV thermal design
25 minutes and this duration constrains all transient
thermal events on the entry body. During Entry, TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS - Due to the size
Descent, and Landing, the spacecraft encounters an and complexity of the MSL Powered Descent Vehicle,
environmental heating load on the external surfaces of there are a large number of individual hardware
the Aeroshell which can subsist for upwards of 140 components with unique allowable flight temperature
seconds. The Aeroshell is equipped with both ablative (AFT) requirements. Maximum and minimum Allowable
and non-ablative protective coatings to survive this Flight Temperatures for each component are derived by
heating event. For readers interested in the design of adding margin to the temperature range over which the
the Aeroshell thermal protection system, reference [2] components have been qualified for performance. As
summarizes the aerothermodynamic definition analysis standard practice, 15qC is added and 20qC is subtracted
and TPS development for the MSL project. For the from the minimum and maximum qualification
purposes of evaluating the Powered Descent Vehicle temperatures, respectively, to arrive at a more narrow
thermal design, the performance of the Aeroshell TPS is allowable flight temperature range. Rather than
assumed to meet its minimum design requirements and consider each component in detail, this paper will focus
maintain the Aeroshell interior surface below +150qC. on common groupings of components which share
similar AFT ranges. Figure 7 shows an annotated view
Following the aerothermal heating event, the entry body of the Descent Stage with callouts for propulsion,
parachute is deployed and the vehicle is reduced to a avionics, telecommunication, and guidance and
subsonic velocity. Upon activation of a mach trigger, navigation subsystems. The Descent Stage propulsion
the forebody of the Aeroshell (i.e. the Heatshield) is system can be divided into six general components:
jettisoned. At this point in the descent phase, the propellant tanks, pressurant tanks, pressurant lines,
Powered Descent Vehicle is exposed to the cold Martian propellant lines, propellant control plates, and thrusters.
atmosphere for the first time and some forced A simplified propulsion system schematic is shown in
convective cooling can occur. Worst cold case analyses figure 8 for clarity. Figure 9 shows a similar annotated
must assume a combination of vehicle velocity, view for the Rover, with callouts for components that are
atmospheric thermophysical properties, and exposure of interest during the Cruise and EDL phases.
time to assess the maximum heat loss due to forced
convection. To properly bound the environmental Table 1 lists the minimum and maximum allowable flight
requirements for this phase of the mission, EDL temperatures for a subset of the Powered Descent
performance simulations for various candidate landing Vehicle components. Of these components, the
sites were conducted by the Flight System design team propulsion system has the highest minimum allowable
and worst case descent trajectories for vehicle velocity temperatures. All wetted propulsion components are
required to remain well above the freezing point of the
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Hydrazine fuel (+2qC), and the +15qC minimum
requirement provides adequate margin (albeit slightly
less that standard practice would dictate). The Mars
Lander Engines used on the Descent Stage are qualified
to operate with fuel temperatures as low as +10qC, so
the minimum allowable temperature limit was raised to
+25qC. The Rover external components have an
allowable minimum limit of -128qC, owing to the fact that
the Mars atmosphere on the surface can reach these
low temperatures during winter nights.
In addition to allowable flight temperature ranges,
several components have additional temperature
constraints. The Descent Inertial Measurement Unit has
a temperature ramp rate requirement of 1qC/min or less
of temperature drift during operation. For the Descent
Stage propellant tanks, an internal diaphragm separates
the pressurized gas (Helium) from the fuel, and in order
to minimize propellant migration through this diaphragm
over the nine months of cruise a temperature gradient is
required upon the tank surface. The ullage (i.e. gas-
side) is required to maintain, on average, a temperature
10qC warmer than the fuel side of the tank.

Table 1. Allowable Flight Temperatures for selected

PDV components

AFT Range (qC)

Component Min Max
Telecom
Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier -20 +55
Small Deep Space Transponder -35 +50
Avionics -40 +50
GNC
Figure 7. Descent Stage Components
Terminal Descent Sensor -30 +50
Descent Inertial Measurement Unit -9 +35

Pressurant Control Assy

Power
Thermal Batteries -40 +35
Baseload Resistor Assembly -50 +60
Propulsion
Fuel Control Assy Pyrovalve Plate Pyrovalve
Plate Fuel Tanks +25 +45
MLE Lines/Plates/Thruster Valves +25 +45
RCS Lines/Plates/Thruster Valves +15 +50
Reaction Control System (RCS) Mars Lander Engines (MLE)

Pressurant Tanks/Lines +15 +50

Rover
Figure 8. Descent Stage propulsion schematic
External Components -128 +50
MMRTG +65 +185

POWER DISSIPATION – A majority of the avionics and

Guidance, Navigation, and Control components used
during the EDL phase are dormant for the vast majority
of cruise. As discussed previously, the EDL phase lasts
for mere minutes and afterwards the Descent Stage
hardware is discarded and no longer used during
surface operations. Thus, these components are either
unpowered or minimally powered for months of cruise
and then experience a brief period of intense activity
during EDL. Table 2 lists the power dissipation
requirements for the PDV components for both the
Cruise and EDL phases and also details the minimum
Figure 9. Rover Components component masses assumed in our thermal analysis.
For the components that have a variable power
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dissipation during EDL, the values in the table represent external environments that are either not well
a time-weighted average consistent with total energy characterized or are known to vary widely during the
dissipation. The actual power dissipation profile for course of the mission. Where passive thermal control
these components during EDL is shown in figure 10. could not be employed, redundancy of active thermal
elements was required. Both passive and active thermal
Table 2. Component power dissipation hardware was integrated into the total system design.
requirements and minimum mass assumptions Survival heaters were sized with 20% excess capacity to
ensure that operation duty cycles do not eclipse 80% on-
Component Mass Cruise EDL time. Finally, when assessing temperature margins from
(kg) (Watts) (Watts) allowable flight temperatures, thermal environments
were stacked to produce worst case analyzes. In
Avionics
addition to these general principles, there were three
Power and Analog Module, A 5 43 45 (avg) significant design constraints which shaped the overall
Power and Analog Module, B 5 34 34 thermal design of the MSL Powered Descent Vehicle.
Motor Controller Assembly 10 13 48 (avg)
MMRTG THERMAL MANAGEMENT While
Power Assembly 4 32 92 (avg) Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators have flown on
Baseload Resistor Assembly 1.5 0 105 several previous deep space exploration missions, most
Guidance, Navigation, & Control
of the previous spacecraft have used direct or indirect
views to deep space to radiate away waste heat. For
Descent Inertial Measurement 2.5 0 34 landed missions such as MSL and NASA’s Viking
Unit missions of the mid-1970s, the RTG power sources are
Terminal Descent Radar, Digital 1.9 0 21 (avg) shaded from direct views to space by the presence of
the protective Aeroshells designed to shield against
Terminal Descent Radar, RF 2.5 0 18 (avg)
aerothermal heat loads upon entry. The thermal design
Telecom of the Viking Landers did allow for rejection of the waste
Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier 1.6 85 85 heat from their RTGs by passively radiating the heat
through their Aeroshell, largely because the waste heat
Small Deep Space Transponder 1.5 17 17 load was modest (1350 Watts total) and distributed (two
[3]
Rover RTGs, each on opposite sides of the spacecraft bus) .
Rover Internals 128 150 156 A passive thermal approach for MMRTG waste heat
MMRTG 20 2000 2000 removal cannot be employed on the MSL mission
because the RTG waste heat load is large at 2000 Watts
and concentrated in a single unit. The effective view
90 270 blockage provided by the Powered Descent Vehicle
DPAM A
240
within the Aeroshell creates a concentrated radiative
Power (W) DMCA and DPA ONLY

75
DPAM B
TDS Digital
heat flux on the Aeroshell and Descent Stage in the
Cruise Stage 210
TDS RF
Separation Event
vicinity of the MMRTG and can produce high
60
DPA
DMCA Entry
180 temperatures on the MMRTG housing and a large
Power (W)

Entry
Event
Event 150
spatial temperature gradient on the Aeroshell. Utilizing
45 thermal conduction paths through the spacecraft
120
structure to reject the waste heat was also not possible,
30 90 since the MMRTG must be thermally isolated from the
60
Rover chassis to maintain internal Rover components
15 within a moderate temperature range. Based on these
30
design constraints, it was concluded that active thermal
0 0:00 0:01 0:02 0:03 0:04 0:05 0:06 0:07 0:08 0:09 0:10 0:11 0:12 0:13 0:14 0:15 0:16 0:17 0:18 0:19 0:20 0:21 0:22 0:23 0:24 0:25 0:26 0:27 0:28 0:29 0:30 0:31
0 control elements were necessary to remove waste heat
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (Minutes) from the MMRTG and transfer it to the Cruise Stage
where it can be rejected to space.

Figure 10. EDL power dissipation profiles for EDL THERMAL TRANSIENT – The EDL phase of the
Descent Stage avionics and GN&C components. mission presents not only widely varying thermal
environments for the MSL spacecraft, but also entails
THERMAL DESIGN APPROACH the largest power dissipation from active components.
The one aspect of EDL that is favorable for the thermal
In developing the overall thermal control design for the design is that it occurs quickly (less than 25 minutes).
MSL Powered Descent Vehicle, a few overarching Rather than attempt to actively compensate for changes
design principles were observed in accordance with in environments and power dissipation levels, the
institutional best practices. In terms of overall design approach of the EDL Transient thermal design is to
philosophy, a passive thermal design was preferred with minimize design complexity by relying on thermal mass
an emphasis on minimizing temperature sensitivity to
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to moderate temperature excursions during this phase of
the mission.
ELECTRICAL SURVIVAL HEATER POWER - As
previously described, the Descent Stage propulsion
system is very large and has minimum allowable
temperature requirements more stringent than most
other components on the spacecraft. As a result, the
largest share of survival heater power on the spacecraft
is devoted to this system. The simplest thermal design
implementation for the propulsion system as a whole
would be to use the MSL Aeroshell as a thermal cavity
and maintain the entire PDV at a temperature within the
range required by the propulsion components.
However, the size of the MSL Aeroshell (4.5 meters in
diameter) and the thermally conductive mechanical
1
connections to the Cruise Stage preclude this approach
from being feasible. It was determined that over 500
Watts of survival heater power would be needed at the
end of the Cruise phase to maintain temperatures above
+25qC throughout the Aeroshell cavity. Instead, the
direction of the thermal design for the Descent Stage
propulsion system was to minimize survival heater
power by thermally isolating the propulsion components
from the Descent Stage structure and applying direct
local heating to component surfaces.
THERMAL DESIGN DESCRIPTION
CRUISE HEAT REJECTION SYSTEM - In order to
reject the waste heat from the MSL Rover MMRTG
during the cruise phase of the mission, a single-phase
mechanically-pumped cooling loop was designed and
implemented. Similar in concept to the cooling loops
employed on NASA’s Mars Pathfinder[4] and Mars
Exploration Rover[5,6] missions, the loop circulates liquid
CFC-11 between heat exchangers near thermally
dissipating components within the Aeroshell and radiator
panels populating the Cruise Stage. The heat rejection
system allows for removal of several hundreds of watts
of steady-state waste heat during both the launch and
cruise phases. At the onset of the Entry, Descent, and
Landing phase, the CFC-11 is vented to space and the
evacuated aluminum tubing running between the Cruise
Stage and PDV is cut prior to the separation of the
Cruise stage from the entry vehicle. A description of the
preliminary design and development of the Cruise HRS
system may be found in references [7] and [8]. The
discussion here is limited to the form and functionality of
the mechanically-pumped loop system.
Figure 11 shows an exposed view of the approximately
40 meters of Cruise HRS tubing on the MSL spacecraft.
A series of ten radiator panels—painted white and with
double passes of tubing on the backside—ring the
circumference of the Cruise Stage and provide an
unobstructed view to deep space. In the launch pad
1
The separation fittings between the Cruise Stage and
Descent Stage constitute primary mechanical load paths
for the spacecraft and are not amenable to thermally
isolating materials or structural design
environment, directed flows of cooled air onto these
radiators afford similar amounts of heat rejection. An
integrated mechanical pump assembly is located on the
Cruise Stage and produces a flow rate of up to 1.5 liters
per minute within the loop. The cooled fluid exiting the
last radiator is routed to a series of heat exchanger
plates on the Cruise Stage, Descent Stage, and Rover
to remove waste heat from components that are
powered during the cruise phase of the mission. For the
Powered Descent Vehicle, these components include
the Descent Stage Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier
(TWTA), Small Deep Space Transponder (SDST),
Descent Power and Analog Modules (DPAMs), and
Descent Power Assembly (DPA).
Integrated Pump
Assembly
Cruise
Stage
Radiators
MMRTG Heat
Exchanger
Heat
Exchanger
Tubing Runs
Figure 11. Cruise Heat Rejection System (CHRS)
components
The CHRS interface with the Rover occurs on the
MMRTG Heat Exchanger plates which flank the sides of
the MMRTG. Their primary purpose is to capture
radiative waste heat from the MMRTG during the
Surface phase of the mission and use it to warm the
Rover internals. The MSL Rover has a separate
mechanically-pumped fluid loop (Surface Heat Rejection
System) to transfer heat from the MMRTG Heat
Exchangers to the Rover. During the cruise phase of
the mission, the Surface Heat Rejection system serves
the dual purpose of moving waste heat from the inside of
the Rover to these plates. Thus, the MMRTG heat
exchanger plates effectively serve as another heat load
on the CHRS system during cruise. Figure 12 shows a
picture of the Cruise and Surface HRS tubing running
side-by-side on the Rover MMRTG Heat Exchanger
Plates.
The overall capacity of the CHRS system to reject waste
heat at the designed operational temperature range is
approximately 3000 Watts. The 2000 Watts of steady
heat load from MMRTG dominates this capacity with
environmental back loading from solar absorption on the
CHRS radiators contributing up to 400 Watts and
spacecraft loads contributing less than 710 Watts. As a
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result, the fluid temperatures within the CHRS vary by
only a moderate amount (less than 50qC) as the MSL
spacecraft journeys from Earth to Mars. Figure 13
shows the predicted changes in fluid temperatures at
various locations in the CHRS loop.
Figure 12. Rover Heat Exchanger Plates. Tubing
from both the Cruise and Surface Heat Rejection
Systems run side-by-side on the exterior surfaces.
Cruise HRS Radiators
Min: +32qC Min: -20qC
Max: +80qC Max: +21qC
Min: -10qC
Rover Heat CS/DS Heat
Max: +43qC
Exchanger Exchangers
~1200 Watts ~700 Watts
MMRTG ~800 Watts Parasitic
Figure 13. Predicted CHRS fluid temperatures
during the cruise phase of the mission. Heat loads
are for worst hot case conditions.
EDL TRANSIENT THERMAL MASS - The primary
objective of the Powered Descent Vehicle thermal
design for the EDL phase of the mission is to use
existing or added thermal mass to dampen thermal
transients. The relatively short durations of the EDL
sequence (less than 25 minutes), aerothermal heating
event (60 to 145 seconds), and exposure to convection
within the Mars atmosphere (75 to 260 seconds) serve
to constrain large temperature swings to only those
components with either large self-heating rates or a
combination of large exposed surface area and low
mass. For components that meet these criteria, the
goal of the thermal design is to shield these components
from the environment where possible and add additional
mass to their mounting interfaces.
As previously described, each of the active components
on the Powered Descent Vehicle experiences an
elevated or maximum power dissipation during the EDL
phase of the mission. To complicate matters, the Cruise
HRS system is vented prior to EDL and components that
were once cooled by this system can experience an
accelerated rise in temperature.
The majority of the power dissipating components on the
Descent Stage and Rover also have appreciable mass.
A simple isolated lumped-mass analysis (using full
component masses) indicates that the majority of the
components would experience a temperature ramp rate
of less than 1qC per minute. These include the DPAMs,
the DPA, DMCA, TDS, SDST and the Rover internals.
Since each component is bolted to primary or secondary
structure, additional thermal mass is available to
moderate the temperature rise to some degree.
Likewise, for the brief exposure period to the Mars
atmosphere, the mass of the components and their own
internal dissipation greatly decrease the probability of
sharp temperature decreases due to convective cooling.
For each of these components, the thermal design is
passive and relies solely upon thermal mass to
moderate temperature changes. Another detail of the
thermal design for the Descent Stage avionics suite
located directly above the MMRTG is that a MLI blanket
is used to block radiative heating from the MMRTG to
the avionics. Due to the large amount of waste heat, the
MMRTG does rapidly warm during EDL. However, its
large maximum allowable AFT (+185qC) allows even a
large temperature rise to occur without violating its
requirement.
There are three active components on the Descent
Stage (DIMU, BLRA, and TWTA) that do not have
enough thermal mass from their packaging to remain
within their allowable temperature range during EDL.
The Baseload Resistor Assembly (BLRA) is used to
stabilize the power bus by drawing a constant load
which grows to be a sizable heat source (105 Watts)
during EDL. This component is located on one of the
main structural panels used to hold the Mars Lander
Engines. Due to the mass of this panel (4 kg of
aluminum) and the fact that no other power dissipating
components are nearby, the effective thermal mass of
the coupling is large enough to moderate the
temperature rise of the BLRA.
The DIMU is also located on one of these structural
panels (see figure 7) and has a lower power dissipation
than the BLRA. However, this component must be
operated for hours before the onset of EDL to allow time
for calibration. It was determined that the operational
time for the DIMU required a steady-state thermal
design and the structural panel was painted white to
serve as a radiator. To ensure the DIMU is kept above
its minimum allowable temperature even when powered
down, survival heaters and mechanical thermostats
were installed on the structural panel to maintain the
interface temperature. In addition to the AFT range, the
DIMU also has a temperature ramp rate requirement of
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1qC per minute or less. Although not an issue during
cruise, this requirement is problematic for the worst cold
case environmental conditions during atmospheric
descent. To isolate the structural panel and DIMU
housing from convection during descent, the front and
back sides of the structural panel will be covered with a
single layer of reinforced black Kapton sheeting. A
structural covering or “cowl” has also been designed to
encapsulate the DIMU housing and serve as a
windbreaker. The purpose of both material additions is
to create a thermally isolating gas gap between the
surfaces of the panel and DIMU and the cold airstream.
Both of these materials are designed to have high
emissivity so that radiative heat exchange can still occur
during cruise. To summarize, the final design (shown in
figure 14) uses radiation to dump heat, a gas gap to
insulate against convection, and thermal mass to
modulate temperature transients.
White Paint
Kapton Film
Heaters
Outrigger
Panel
DIMU
Thermostats
Figure 14. Descent Inertial Measurement Unit
thermal design depiction (with Kapton sheets and
wind cowl removed).
The Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) is a
telecom component which is mounted to a Cruise HRS
heat exchanger plate located on the Descent Stage (see
figure 15). During cruise, the 85 W of waste heat from
the TWTA is managed capably by the CHRS, but once
the system is vented, the TWTA rises sharply in
temperature. To mitigate this rise, approximately 1 kg of
high specific heat material was installed on the backside
of this plate. The additional thermal mass serves to
spread the heat from the high heat flux collector head of
the TWTA as well as directly absorb thermal energy.
DESCENT STAGE PROPULSION - Aside from the
Cruise and Surface Heat Rejection Systems, the largest
and most complex thermal control system on the MSL
Spacecraft belongs to the propulsion subsystem. The
Powered Descent Vehicle contains the majority of the
propulsion hardware on the spacecraft with three
propellant tanks, two pressurant tanks, four component
plates, sixteen thruster engines, and over 30 meters of
fuel line length. The thermal design approach chosen
for the PDV propulsion system is similar to the design
employed on the Mars Exploration Rover Cruise Stage
propulsion system and has four major aspects:
1. Thermal isolation of all propulsion components from
the spacecraft structure via low thermal
conductance mounts
2. Encapsulation of all tanks, plates, and lines with
multi-layer insulation
3. Use of film heaters and layers of heat spreading
aluminum tape to apply survival heating directly to
propulsion components
4. Grouping of components into discrete control zones
with dedicated temperature sensors
The MSL Descent Stage propulsion system is divided
into thirty-four heater zones: eight tank zones, five plate
zones, and twenty-one propellant line zones. The only
zones that are controlled by mechanical thermostats are
two of the tank zones (the Helium pressurant tanks) and
one of the plate zones. The remainder use flight
Platinum Resistance Thermometer (PRT)
measurements and flight software commands to control
the heater circuits. Although flight software control
heaters require more system resources (each zone has
redundant temperature sensors, cabling, and power
switches), the advantage of this approach is the
flexibility afforded by thermal control set points that may
be altered after system testing or during the mission.
TWTA Power
Supply
SDST
TWTA
Figure 15. Descent Stage Telecom Plate
Eight thermal control zones are used to control the five
propellant tanks on the MSL Powered Descent Vehicle.
The three Hydrazine propellant tanks each have two
separate thermal control zones—one to control the
wetted bottom half of the tank and the other to control
the top ullage half. Figure 16 shows a representation of
a Descent Stage propellant tank with film heaters and
PRT sensors for each zone.
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line zones is as follows: six for Mars Lander Engine

feed lines, five for fuel tank interconnects, five for
Mount Ullage Heater Inner Struts Outer Reaction Control System thruster feed lines, two for
Heater Struts pressurant feed lines, and three for service fill and drain
lines. Figure 18 shows the location of each propellant
line zone within a top down view of the Descent Stage
structure.

Film Heaters

Flow control
components
Ullage PRT

Fuel Heaters Fuel PRT

Figure 16. Descent Stage Propellant Tank with
thermal hardware

The DS propellant tanks are attached to the primary

structure through three mounting tabs and a series of
inner and outer struts. The longer inner struts are made
of stainless steel while the shorter outer struts are PRTs
mainly a titanium alloy to afford greater thermal isolation.
The entire surface of the tank will be covered with a Figure 17. Descent Stage Fuel Control Assembly
multi-layer insulation blanket. The outer struts and the Plate with thermal hardware
first few inches of the inner struts will also be blanketed
to reduce parasitic heat leaks. The thermal design for
the DS pressurant tanks is similar, but there is only one
thermal control zone per tank and the heaters are
controlled by mechanical thermostats located near the
mounting strut locations. 1 2
12 13
8 # MLE Lines
The thermal design for the various Descent Stage
20 21 5
propulsion flow control components (valves, filters, 19 # Fuel Inter-
11 connect
pressure transducers, pressure regulators) is divided
10 RCS Lines
into five thermal control zones—one for each of the 18 #
17
Pressurant Control Assembly, Fuel Control Assembly, 7 # Pressurant
16 Lines
Fill and Drain Assembly, and the two Pyrovalve plates.
9 # Service
Each of the plates is thermally isolated from the Descent Lines
Stage primary structure with spacers made from low 6
thermal conductivity materials (polyamide-imide resins
and titanium). Rather than size individual film heaters 14
for each component, two or three film heaters are 15 4 3

attached to the plates along with redundant flight PRTs

to maintain the entire plate assembly above the
minimum allowable flight temperature of any flow control Figure 18. Descent Stage Propellant Lines –
component. The plates are aluminum with a minimum Thermal Zones
thickness of two millimeters and black anodized to
ensure that the survival heat from the film heaters is
The thermal design for each of the line control zones is
distributed along the plates and can both conduct and
similar. The lines are thermally isolated from the
radiate from the plates to the components. The entire
Descent Stage primary structure with structural mounts
front and back side of the plates is covered with MLI to
made from titanium alloy and polyamide-imide resin
create an insulated enclosure and minimize thermal
materials and are individually wrapped with conformal
gradients between components. Figure 17 shows a
MLI blankets. The DS propulsion lines vary in outer
depiction of the Fuel Control Assembly Plate with
diameter (the largest being approximately 32 mm) and
locations for the three plate film heaters and PRTs.
many of the lines have welded in-place elbow or three-
way fittings. The majority of the tubes are thin-walled
A majority of the thermal control zones on the Descent (less than one millimeter thick), stainless-steel tubing,
Stage are used for the thermal design of the Propulsion although some small lengths have thicker walls. The
lines. The apportionment of the twenty-one propellant
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average line length within a single thermal control zone performance of the thermal control system for the MSL
is approximately one meter in length and all zones have PDV.
at least one line mount tied to structure. As an example,
figure 19 shows the propulsion tubing, fittings, and
mounts of the ninth thermal control zone.

The combination of large radiative surface area, discrete

locations for parasitic losses (i.e. mount locations), and
low axial thermal conductance due to the thin-walled
stainless steel tubing creates a potential problem of
excessive thermal gradients within a given line zone.
Large thermal gradients can lead to over sizing survival
heater power and complicate the task of locating a a) b)
temperature control sensor within a zone. To minimize
potential axial temperature gradients, an approach is
taken to increase axial conductance as well as apply low
heat flux survival heating over the majority of the line
surface area. Prior to application of the heaters, the
tube portions of the line zones will be covered with two
layers of aluminum tape totaling 0.25 mm in thickness.
For a typical 19 mm outer diameter stainless steel tube,
the aluminum tape will increase the axial conductance
by more than a factor of three. The survival heaters will c) d)
be hot-formed, spiral-wound Kapton film heaters which
vary in width from 6 to 16 mm and in pitch from 14 to 42
Figure 20. Descent Stage Propellant Line Thermal
mm, depending on the line diameter size. Due to the
presence of tube fittings and the need for higher heat Hardware: a) bare tubing, b) Aluminum tape, c) heaters
fluxes near mount locations, each propulsion line and PRTs d) MLI wrapping
thermal control zone will consist of multiple film heaters
wired in a combination of series and parallel MSL Spacecraft Cruise Subsystem
configurations. Figure 20 shows photographs of a
mocked-up propulsion line thermal control zone at
various stages of this process.

Descent Rover
Maximum
Predicted
Temperature

PRT
Location

Figure 21. MSL System Level Thermal Model

SYSTEM LEVEL THERMAL MODELING - A system

Figure 19. Example Descent Stage Propellant Line
Thermal Control Zone
DESIGN PERFORMANCE
Assessment of the performance of the MSL Powered
Descent Vehicle thermal design has been achieved by
engineering analysis and thermal modeling. The
performance of the flight system will be unique to the
final assembly of hardware, and empirical validation of
the overall thermal system design will not be possible
until system level thermal balance tests (scheduled for
late 2008). The following paragraphs describe the
analytical techniques used to assess the designed
level thermal model of the Cruise and EDL configuration
of the MSL spacecraft was created to assess the
performance of the thermal design in the deep space
environment. The geometric model of the Powered
Descent Vehicle was created with the Siemens AG NX I-
deas software package and is shown in figure 21. The
thermal solver used in conjunction with this element
mesh was the TMG Thermal code from MAYA Heat
Transfer Technologies, Ltd.
Although an attempt was made to simplify the number of
geometric elements wherever possible, the cruise
configuration spacecraft model is quite large with over
10,000 individual elements. While certain areas of the
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model, such as the Rover chassis and mobility systems, representation of the Descent Stage propellant tanks
do not require high spatial resolution due to small and heaters along with worst case cold temperature
potential for thermal gradients during cruise, other areas predictions.
like the MMRTG, CHRS radiators, and Descent Stage
Propulsion systems were given a larger apportionment
of elements. The characteristic length of the elements
on the PDV model range from 5 to 25 cm and allow for +28°C
resolution of spatial temperature gradients of as high as +50°C
2.5 qC/cm on the MMRTG and 0.5 qC/cm on the
+30°C
remainder of the spacecraft.

In addition to the previously described environmental

parameters, a number of assumptions were made in
construction of the system thermal model in order to +30°C
define the stack-up of worst hot and cold case
+38°C
conditions. For the worst cold case, all external white
painted surfaces were assumed to possess beginning-
of-life properties (0.1 to 0.3 solar absorptance, 0.8 to 0.9 +35°C
infrared emissivity) throughout the mission. Additionally,
separation fittings between the Descent and Cruise
Stages and bolted joints at component interfaces were
assumed to have thermal conductances at the upper
range of expected values (1.5 W/qC). MLI blankets were -25°C
assumed to have effective emittances (H*) at the upper
expected range (0.05 for large blankets, up to 0.15 for Figure 22. Worst hot case Powered Descent Vehicle
Prop line blankets). A similar stack up was performed temperature predictions (early Cruise, 0.975 A.U.,
for the worst hot cases, with optical properties biased to propulsion tanks shown with MLI covering)
induce greatest environmental heat loading and large
conductive couplings to high temperature sinks. For
power dissipating components, a low value of thermal
conductance (0 to 1 W/qC) was used for pinned or bolted -27°C
joints to bound the temperature rise due to self-heating. +50°C

-5°C
CRUISE PHASE TEMPERATURE PREDICTIONS -
Figures 22 and 23 show annotated temperature contour
maps of the worst hot and cold modeling cases,
respectively, for the Powered Descent Vehicle. The
temperature gradient along the structure is primarily due
-15°C
to the approximately 800 W of waste heat radiating from +0°C
the MMRTG. For the worst hot case, few of the Descent
Stage avionics components are dissipating power in
early cruise, so these results reflect a steady-state -11°C
thermal balance between the Cruise Stage and
Aeroshell (warmed by the sun) and the Descent Stage.
In this hot case, the Cruise HRS fluid varies between
+21 and +80 qC, and both the telecom plate and
avionics plate are maintained in the +30 to +35qC range. -50°C
The worst cold case shows a greater thermal gradient
due to the falloff in absorbed solar energy on the
spacecraft. The primary sources of heat within the Figure 23. Worst cold case Powered Descent
Aeroshell are the waste heat from the MMRTG and the Vehicle temperature predictions (late Cruise, 1.63
survival heater power from the propulsion thermal A.U., propulsion tanks shown without MLI covering)
control system. The Cruise HRS fluid varies between -
20 and +32qC, and both the telecom plate and avionics Temperature predictions for selected PDV components
plate are maintained between -10 and -15qC. are listed in Table 3. Each shows at least three degrees
of temperature margin from the minimum or maximum
allowable requirement. The Rover externals show a
In addition to providing predictions for an overall thermal
balance, the system level thermal model was also used large degree of margin (over 80qC) from the minimum
to size the propulsion system survival heaters and locate requirement. As mentioned previously, the Mars surface
the placement of the temperature control sensors for environment is the thermal design driver for the MSL
each zone. Figure 24 shows the system model Rover and the cruise environment is benign to the extent
that finely detailed thermal analysis was not necessary.
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40.3 C Max 1. Cruise HRS Venting: All thermal links between the
Film CHRS fluid were disconnected, simulating the
Heater
Elements venting of the fluid from the system

2. Cruise Stage Separation: The spacecraft model

spin rotation was set to zero (down from 2 rpm
during cruise) and the elements belonging to the
31.2 C Min Cruise Stage were removed from the model solution.
a)
The solar vector was changed to reflect the
b)
maximum 76 degree off-sun angle post turn-to-entry
maneuver with the direction pointing on the MMRTG
Figure 24. Worst cold case DS Propellant Tank side of the Aeroshell.
temperature predictions (late Cruise, 1.63 A.U.): a)
location of film heater model elements b) prediction of 3. Aerothermal Heating: Rather than model the
tank surface temperature gradients absorption of the aerothermal heat flux and ablation
of the TPS, maximum Aeroshell bondline
Table 3. Cruise phase temperature predictions for temperature requirements were assumed to bound
worst hot and cold analysis cases the analysis. The Heatshield (+250qC), Backshell
(+150qC), and Parachute Cone (+185qC) maximum
Component Cruise/EDL WCC Cruise WCH AFTs were all set as imposed temperature boundary
conditions.
Min Predict Max Predict
AFT AFT
4. Post-Aerothermal Heating Phase: Imposed
Telecom Aeroshell temperature boundary conditions were
TWTA -20 -15 +55 +37 removed from the model and the Aeroshell
temperature was allowed to relax during the
SDST -35 -14 +50 +30 remainder of the transient run.
Avionics
5. Heatshield Separation: To bound the worst hot case
DMCA -40 -24 +50 +38
temperature warm-up, convective cooling was
DPAM -40 -12 +50 +42 neglected. Instead, the Heatshield (facing the DS
DPA -40 -14 +50 +41 and Rover) was set to -30qC to reflect a maximum
Mars atmospheric temperature radiative heat sink
BLRA -50 -31 +60 +26 and effectively remove the Heatshield from the
Guidance, Navigation, & Control model.
TDS RF/HW Stack -30 -27 +50 +28
Figure 25 shows a predicted temperature contour map
DIMU -9 -5 +35 +20 of the Powered Descent Vehicle at the end of the EDL
Propulsion transient analysis. Interface temperatures for most of
the Descent Stage avionics and GN&C components
Fuel Tanks +25 +31 +50 +41
remain well below their maximum allowable flight
MLE Lines +25 +31 +45 +34 temperature limit (+50qC). The thermal mass beneath
Rover the TWTA was sized to meet requirements (+55qC max
AFT) under a stack-up of worst case conditions, so no
Rover External -128 -34 +50 +40
excess margin is present in that design.
MMRTG +65 +111 +185 +148
FORCED CONVECTION ANALYSIS – The system level
EDL TEMPERATURE PREDICTIONS – The system thermal model was not used to predict temperature
level thermal model was also used to asses the drops due to exposure to the Mars atmosphere during
temperature rise in components during the EDL phase. the final portion of Descent and Landing. Due to the
The model was first run in a steady-state mode to very short duration of atmospheric exposure, large scale
determine the worst hot case thermal balance at the system level effects are insignificant when compared to
start of EDL. Model parameters for this run were biased local changes in temperature. Instead, the requirements
in the same manner as the Cruise worst case hot and assumptions for the fluid flow in the atmospheric
analysis but the solar flux was reduced to reflect the 1.5 environment were used with empirical correlations to
A.U. solar range. arrive at convective heat transfer coefficients pertaining
to individual components. These coefficients were then
To reflect the changing EDL thermal environment as used with simple thermal mass models or geometric
depicted in figure 4, a sequence of changes were made sub-models to bound the maximum expected
to the system level model during the transient solution. temperature decrease on a component-by-component
They were as follows: basis.
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TDS: 10°C propulsion components. The small margins for these

DIMU: BLRA:
+60°C components owe more to the control set points of the
29°C 29°C propulsion survival heaters than any large effect from
convective cooling. The large mass of Hydrazine
propellant (over 380 kg divided between the three tanks)
and the high flow rates through the Propellant lines
during powered descent overpower all convection
Telecom losses.
Plate: 33°C

+25°C

TWTA: DIMU Wind Cowl

55°C DIMU

Structural
DMCA: Single Kapton layer
Panel
46°C DPAM:
35°C
-15°C

Figure 25. Worst hot case Powered Descent Vehicle

temperature predictions (end of EDL, 1.5 A.U.)

The empirical correlation for an averaged convective

heat transfer coefficient is of the form[9]:

hd # C*k/d*(Red)m*(P*Cp/k)1/3
Figure 26. Thermal sub-model of the Descent
where d is a characteristic length for the exposed Inertial Measurement Unit with wind shielding
component, Red is the Reynolds number based upon a thermal hardware.
characteristic length, and viscosity, P; specific heat, Cp;
and thermal conductivity, k are evaluated for the carbon Table 4. Temperature predictions accounting for
dioxide atmosphere at temperature. The empirical convection in the Mars atmosphere during descent.
coefficients C and m are selected based upon the Both possible bounding trajectories (maximum timeline
general planform shape of each component (cylindrical, and maximum initial velocity) are presented.
rectangular, planar, etc.) and the average expected flow
direction (parallel or cross-flow). The resultant average
Component Min AFT Max Max
heat transfer coefficients range from moderately low
qC Time Velocity
(~15 W/m2˜K or commensurate with free convection on
Earth) to very low (less than 1 W/m2˜K just prior to Predict Predict
qC qC
Landing). Thermal analysts for the Mars Viking[3] and
Phoenix[10] missions used convective heat transfer DIMU -9 -5 -4
coefficients in the range of 0.5 to 8 W/m2˜K for their
DIMU – Temp Gradient -1 C/min -0.5 -1 C/min
atmospheric convection analysis which is consistent with C/min
our approach.
DMCA -40 -8 -5
For the Descent Inertial Measurement unit, a more BLRA -50 -13 -11
detailed analysis approach was used to refine the
DPAM/DPA -40 -1 0
design. A geometric sub-model (see figure 26) was
created for the structural mounting panel, the DIMU TDS Digital/RF -30 -10 -7
component, and the shielding provided by the Kapton Telecom Plate -20 -1 +1
film layers and wind cowl. The model was run in
transient mode with distinct heat transfer coefficients MLE Lines +25 +25 +27
applied to the Kapton layers and the wind cowl. The DS Fuel Tanks +25 +31 +31
temperature ramp rate requirement applies at the
mounting interface of the DIMU, so this model was used
to predict the change in the structural panel temperature The intent of the modeling and analysis of the Powered
just below the DIMU mount. Descent Vehicle thermal design was to assess the
robustness of the thermal control system. At this stage
Table 4 shows a summary of the temperature in the design process, this level of verification shows that
predictions based on this convection analysis. A there are no major issues with the overall design
majority of the components show robust margins from approach and all temperature requirements are being
their minimum AFTs with an exception being the met. It is expected that the forthcoming system level
 Downloaded from SAE International by Swinburne Univ Of Technology, Thursday, August 09, 2018
thermal vacuum tests will allow an opportunity to refine
and correlate the system level model and verify the
functionality of the implemented thermal hardware.
CONCLUSION
This paper presented an overview of the thermal design
philosophy of the MSL Powered Descent Vehicle and
described in detail only a limited number of components
involved in the Cruise and Entry, Descent, and Landing
phases of the mission. The precision landing systems
employed on the MSL spacecraft will be exposed to a
wide range of mission environments from deep space
cruise to atmospheric descent. The main objectives of
the MSL Powered Descent Vehicle thermal design are to
manage large amounts of component waste heat,
minimize electrical survival heater power, and safeguard
hardware against harsh and somewhat unpredictable
thermal environments. The resulting design utilizes and
adapts thermal control technologies and analysis
methodologies from previous Mars landed missions with
the additional technical challenge of extending this
thermal design over a much larger, more complex, and
more integrated spacecraft system. The results of
system level thermal modeling and analysis indicate a
robust thermal design approach and it is expected that
the Mars Science Laboratory Powered Descent Vehicle
will possess a thermal control system capable of
maintaining all spacecraft components within allowable
temperature ranges.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work described in this paper was performed at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of
Technology, under a contract with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors
wish to acknowledge the many engineers and scientists
collaboratively working on the Mars Science Laboratory
project, of which the thermal subsystem is only a part of
the greater whole. Specific acknowledgement is
extended to members of the MSL Thermal, Mechanical,
Propulsion, and Flight System teams who contributed in
many ways to the work presented here: Jackie Lyra,
Gaj Birur, Mark Duran, Keith Novak, Gordy Cucullu,
Rebecca Mikhalov, Brian Carroll, Jamie Piacentine,
Dave Bame, Dan Klein, Tom Rivellini, Ben Thoma, Andy
Etters, Mark Rober, Dan Coatta, Robert Usiskin, Carl
Guernsey, Morgan Parker, Frank Picha, Ray Baker, Ron
Carlson, Al Chen, Beth Dewell, Keith Comeaux, among
others. Gary Kinsella and Siu-Chun Lee are specially
acknowledged for their diligent and detailed work on the
integrated thermal design of the MSL Reaction Control
Thruster interface.
REFERENCES
1. Prakash, R. et al., “Mars Science Laboratory Entry,
Descent, and Landing System Overview”, IEEE
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A.D., Novak, K., Pauken, M., “Pumped Fluid Loop
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CA, March 16, 2006.
8. Bhandari P., Birur G., Pauken, M., Paris, A.D.,
Novak, K., Prina, M., Ramirez, B., and Bame, D.,
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Architecture,” Proc. of 35th International Conference
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9. Incropera, F.P. and DeWitt, D.P., “Introduction to
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CONTACT
Dr. Anthony D. Paris
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
M/S 125-109
4800 Oak Grove Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
Phone: (818) 393-6732
Fax: (818) 393-6682
E-mail: Anthony.D.Paris@jpl.nasa.gov
DEFINITIONS, ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS
AFT: Allowable Flight Temperature
BLRA: Baseload Resistor Assembly
BUD: Bridle Umbilical Device
CHRS: Cruise Heat Rejection System
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DIMU: Descent Inertial Measurement Unit PDV: Powered Descent Vehicle

DMCA: Descent Motor Controller Assembly PRT: Platinum Resistance Thermometer
DPA: Descent Power Assembly RCS: Reaction Control System
DPAM: Descent Power and Analog Module Rover: Mars Science Laboratory Rover
DS: Descent Stage SDST: Small Deep Space Transponder
EDL: Entry, Descent, and Landing SHRS: Surface Heat Rejection System
GN&C: Guidance, Navigation, and Control TDS: Terminal Descent Sensor radar
MLE: Mars Lander Engine TPS: Thermal Protection System
MLI: Multi-layer Insulation TWTA: Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier
MMRTG: Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric
Generator
MSL: Mars Science Laboratory
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration