This software allows science and mission operations to view graphs of geometric overflights of satellites and landers within the Mars (or other planetary) networks. It improves on the MaROS Web interface within any modern Web browser, in that it adds new capabilities to the MaROS suite.
The profile for an overflight is an important element for selecting communication/overflight opportunities between the landers and orbiters within the Mars network. Unfortunately, determining these estimates is very computationally expensive and difficult to compute by hand. This software allows the user to select different overflights (via the existing MaROS Web interface) and specify the smoothness of the estimation.
Estimates for the geometric relationship between a lander and an orbiter are determined based upon the orbital conditions of the orbiter at the moment the orbiter rises above the horizon from the perspective of the lander. It utilizes 2-body orbital equations to propagate the trajectory through the duration of the view period, and returns profiles that represent the range between the two vehicles, and the elevation and azimuth angles of the orbiter as measured from the lander’s position. The algorithms assume a 2-body relationship with an ideal, spherical planetary body, so therefore can see errors less than 2% at polar landing sites on Mars. These algorithms are being implemented to provide rough estimates rapidly for the geometry of a geometric view period where more complete data is unavailable, such as for planning purposes.
While other software for this task exists, each at the time of this reporting has been contained within a much more complicated package. This tool allows science and mission operations to view the estimates with a few clicks of the mouse.
This work was done by Michael N. Wallick, Daniel A. Allard, Roy E. Gladden, and Corey L. Peterson of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
This software is available for commercial licensing. Please contact Daniel Broderick of the California Institute of Technology at
This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
Mars Relay Lander and Orbiter Overflight Profile Estimation
(reference NPO-47722) is currently available for download from the TSP library.
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Overview
The document is a report summarizing the work and experiences of Corey Peterson during a summer internship at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as part of the Space Grant program. The focus of the internship was on the Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS), a project aimed at enhancing communication and data transfer between Mars orbiters and landers.
The report outlines the objectives and background of the MaROS project, which includes automating the visualization of communication periods and facilitating data transfer through standardized channels. Traditionally, many of these visualizations were created manually, and the project aims to streamline this process for mission scientists.
Corey’s contributions involved developing key software features for visualizing data trends related to the Mars Relay Network. Upon starting the internship, Corey familiarized himself with the MaROS project and the development environments, primarily Flash Builder 4 for user interface components and Eclipse for Java programming. His initial task was to implement a visual representation of data transmission rates from orbiters, which helped him understand the data request and plotting processes.
As the internship progressed, Corey transitioned to the back-end development, where he worked on programming that handled user requests, queried databases, and performed complex mathematical calculations to compute various data trends. This involved rigorous validation of the code against sample data to ensure accuracy. He also implemented features allowing users to customize the number of data points plotted and set limits for visualizations.
By the end of the internship, Corey had nearly completed a trending tool that provided a range of configuration options for visualizing different data sets. Although not all features were fully implemented, the groundwork laid during the internship was significant for future development.
The report concludes with acknowledgments to mentors and team members who supported Corey throughout the internship, emphasizing the collaborative nature of the project. Overall, the experience not only contributed to the MaROS project but also enhanced Corey’s programming skills and understanding of software development in a professional setting. The tools developed are expected to remain integral to the MaROS project for its operational lifetime, benefiting future mission planning and execution.
