Landing-site Characterization and Selection

Landing-site Characterization and SelectionLanding safely on the planetary surface is a goal that all planetary and lunar lander exploration missions have in common. Since the action radius of rovers is limited (typically tens of kilometers), and planetary terrains can be highly variable in terms of topography and rock/soil composition, the landing site is one of the most deterministic elements of such exploration missions. The landing site largely determines the risk during landing, and to some extent during surface operations. The potential to fulfill the exploration and scientific goals also strongly depends on the landing site. Therefore the success of a lander mission is largely dependent on the process of landing-site characterization and selection.

References

1. J. A. Grant et al., “Selecting landing sites for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers,” Planetary and Space Science 52, no. 1-3 (January 2004): 11-21.

2. M. P. Golombek et al., “Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission and Assessment of Landing Site Predictions,” Science 278, no. 5344 (December 5, 1997): 1743-1748.

3. J. C. Bridges et al., “Selection of the landing site in Isidis Planitia of Mars probe Beagle 2,” J. Geophys. Res 108 (2003): 5001.

4. M. P. Golombek et al., “Selection of the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites,” Journal of Geophysical Research 108 (December 10, 2003): 48 PP.

5. J. R Michalski et al., “The Case for Mawrth: Rationale for Selecting the Mawrth Vallis Region as the MSL Landing Site,” in , vol. 1391 (presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX, League City, Texas, USA, 2008), 1634, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPI....39.1634M.

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