ExoMars RDA – Radar Doppler for Mars landing purposes

Paper number

IAC-12,A3,3C,5,x15082

Author

Mrs. Ornella Bombaci, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Italy

Coauthor

Mr. Renato Croci, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Italy

Coauthor

Mr. Marco Iorio, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Italy

Coauthor

Ms. Elisa Pietropaoli, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Italy

Coauthor

Mr. Olivier Bayle, European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands

Coauthor

Mr. Alistair Winton, European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands

Coauthor

Mr. Giuseppe Lippolis, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Italy

Coauthor

Mr. Francesco Barletta, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Italy

Year

2012

Abstract

This paper describes the key features, design constraints and challenges of the Ka band Radar Doppler Altimeter embarked on the EXOMARS Entry Descent an Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM). The Radar Doppler will support the EDM during the landing phase on the Mars Surface. It is designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space Italia (TAS-I) under the responsibility of the  European Space Agency  (ESA). The RDA includes four Ka-band antennas, a routing network, RF transmitter and receiver together with processing electronics which will provide slant range and ground relative velocity along each antenna beam, which will allow the reconstruction of the EDM altitude and mars surface relative horizontal and vertical velocity by the EDM software. The design of the RDA is driven by challenging constraints on mass, volume, power consumption and specific operational and environment requirements related to the Mars landing conditions The scope of this paper is to present the techniques used to face the requirement envelope with a wide look at the predicted performances and the design solutions to accomplish them. The paper also provides an outlook on the performance verification activities planned for the RDA.. 
Keywords: MARS landing; radar signal on board processing; doppler analysis, Microbilogical reduction

Abstract document

IAC-12,A3,3C,5,x15082.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-12,A3,3C,5,x15082.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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