Mars 2020 Mission Design and Navigation Overview

Abstract: Following the exceptionally successful Mars Science Laboratory mission which placed the Curiosity rover in the interior of Gale Crater in August 2012, NASA will launch the next rover in the 2020 Earth to Mars opportunity arriving to the Red Planet in February 2021 to explore areas suspected of former habitability and look for evidence of past life. This paper details the mission and navigation requirements set by the Project and how the final mission design and navigation plan satisfies those…