Testing
Verification methods, facilities, and simulants used to qualify robotic hardware for environments that cannot be reproduced in full on Earth. Each page covers what the method reproduces, what it does not, the fidelity limits that have caused flight surprises, and the facilities where the work is done.
Ground qualification is checked against the flight it was predicting only rarely, and the matched cases are specific rather than general. Curiosity’s accumulated flight thermal cycles have been rainflow counted against the accelerated cycling test run on the same board design [1]. The MSL generator’s output was measured against its pre-flight prediction at three points before launch and once on the surface [2]. Mast pointing accuracy achieved on Mars was carried into the Mars 2020 requirement as an operational figure with outliers rather than as the ground expectation it replaced [3].
Facility capability parameters have almost no counterpart of that kind. Chamber base pressure, bed density and preparation state, slope, illumination and gravity offload fidelity are published as what a rig delivers to an article standing on or inside it, and none of them is re-measured on the hardware once it is working in the place the rig stood in for. A facility envelope is therefore a capability statement and not an error bar against flight, and most stated fidelity limits are arguments from physics rather than measured discrepancies.
Two thermal vacuum cases are the exception, and both are on flight vehicles. The Mars 2020 system thermal vacuum test concluded that a cruise thruster catalyst bed heater could stay on continuously from launch, which flight contradicted, because the chamber simulated no off-Sun angle flux [4]. Perseverance’s correlated thermal model inherited the 4 percent voltage loss of the ground support equipment cabling in place of the 9 percent of the flight flex cables, which produced preheat ramp rate errors above 5 C in flight until the cable loss was corrected [5]. Both are covered on thermal vacuum testing.
References
- Berger, L. N. and Bell, C. (2020). Comparing Cumulative Flight Thermal Fatigue to Ground Test Results for Memory Components on the Mars Curiosity Rover. JPL Open Repository. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{berger2020comparing, title = {Comparing Cumulative Flight Thermal Fatigue to Ground Test Results for Memory Components on the Mars Curiosity Rover}, author = {Berger, Lindsey N and Bell, Charles}, year = {2020}, booktitle = {Aerospace Testing Seminar 2020, Los Angeles, California, March 31 - April 2, 2020}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository}, url = {https://hdl.handle.net/2014/52311} } - Woerner, D., Moreno, V., Jones, L., Zimmerman, R. and Wood, E. (2012). The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) MMRTG In-Flight : a power update. JPL Open Repository. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{woerner2012mars, title = {The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) MMRTG In-Flight : a power update}, author = {Woerner, David and Moreno, Victor and Jones, Loren and Zimmerman, Robert and Wood, Eric}, year = {2012}, booktitle = {Proceedings of Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space 2013 Albuquerque, NM, February 25-28, 2013}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository}, url = {https://hdl.handle.net/2014/43175} } - Maurice, S., Wiens, R., Bernardi, P., Caïs, P., Robinson, S., Nelson, T., Gasnault, O., Reess, J.-M., Deleuze, M., Rull, F., Manrique, J.-A., Abbaki, S., Anderson, R., André, Y., Angel, S., Arana, G., Battault, T., Beck, P., Benzerara, K., Bernard, S., Berthias, J.-P., Beyssac, O., Bonafous, M., Bousquet, B., Boutillier, M., Cadu, A., Castro, K., Chapron, F., Chide, B., Clark, K., Clavé, E., Clegg, S., Cloutis, E., Collin, C., Cordoba, E., Cousin, A., Dameury, J.-C., D'Anna, W., Daydou, Y., Debus, A., Deflores, L., Dehouck, E., Delapp, D., De Los Santos, G., Donny, C., Doressoundiram, A., Dromart, G., Dubois, B., Dufour, A., Dupieux, M., Egan, M., Ervin, J., Fabre, C., Fau, A., Fischer, W., Forni, O., Fouchet, T., Frydenvang, J., Gauffre, S., Gauthier, M., Gharakanian, V., Gilard, O., Gontijo, I., Gonzalez, R., Granena, D., Grotzinger, J., Hassen-Khodja, R., Heim, M., Hello, Y., Hervet, G., Humeau, O., Jacob, X., Jacquinod, S., Johnson, J., Kouach, D., Lacombe, G., Lanza, N., Lapauw, L., Laserna, J., Lasue, J., Le Deit, L., Le Mouélic, S., Le Comte, E., Lee, Q.-M., Legett, I. C., Leveille, R., Lewin, E., Leyrat, C., Lopez-Reyes, G., Lorenz, R., Lucero, B., Madariaga, J., Madsen, S., Madsen, M., Mangold, N., Manni, F., Mariscal, J.-F., Martinez-Frias, J., Mathieu, K., Mathon, R., McCabe, K., McConnochie, T., McLennan, S., Mekki, J., Melikechi, N., Meslin, P.-Y., Micheau, Y., Michel, Y., Michel, J., Mimoun, D., Misra, A., Montagnac, G., Montaron, C., Montmessin, F., Moros, J., Mousset, V., Morizet, Y., Murdoch, N., Newell, R., Newsom, H., Nguyen Tuong, N., Ollila, A., Orttner, G., Oudda, L., Pares, L., Parisot, J., Parot, Y., Pérez, R., Pheav, D., Picot, L., Pilleri, P., Pilorget, C., Pinet, P., Pont, G., Poulet, F., Quantin-Nataf, C., Quertier, B., Rambaud, D., Rapin, W., Romano, P., Roucayrol, L., Royer, C., Ruellan, M., Sandoval, B., Sautter, V., Schoppers, M., Schröder, S., Seran, H.-C., Sharma, S., Sobron, P., Sodki, M., Sournac, A., Sridhar, V., Standarovsky, D., Storms, S., Striebig, N., Tatat, M., Toplis, M., Torre-Fdez, I., Toulemont, N., Velasco, C., Veneranda, M., Venhaus, D., Virmontois, C., Viso, M., Willis, P. and Wong, K. (2021). The SuperCam Instrument Suite on the Mars 2020 Rover: Science Objectives and Mast-Unit Description. Space Science Reviews, 47. Source
BibTeX
@article{maurice2021supercam, title = {The SuperCam Instrument Suite on the Mars 2020 Rover: Science Objectives and Mast-Unit Description}, author = {Maurice, S. and Wiens, R.C. and Bernardi, P. and Caïs, P. and Robinson, S. and Nelson, T. and Gasnault, O. and Reess, J.-M. and Deleuze, M. and Rull, F. and Manrique, J.-A. and Abbaki, S. and Anderson, R.B. and André, Y. and Angel, S.M. and Arana, G. and Battault, T. and Beck, P. and Benzerara, K. and Bernard, S. and Berthias, J.-P. and Beyssac, O. and Bonafous, M. and Bousquet, B. and Boutillier, M. and Cadu, A. and Castro, K. and Chapron, F. and Chide, B. and Clark, K. and Clavé, E. and Clegg, S. and Cloutis, E. and Collin, C. and Cordoba, E.C. and Cousin, A. and Dameury, J.-C. and D'Anna, W. and Daydou, Y. and Debus, A. and Deflores, L. and Dehouck, E. and Delapp, D. and De Los Santos, G. and Donny, C. and Doressoundiram, A. and Dromart, G. and Dubois, B. and Dufour, A. and Dupieux, M. and Egan, M. and Ervin, J. and Fabre, C. and Fau, A. and Fischer, W. and Forni, O. and Fouchet, T. and Frydenvang, J. and Gauffre, S. and Gauthier, M. and Gharakanian, V. and Gilard, O. and Gontijo, I. and Gonzalez, R. and Granena, D. and Grotzinger, J. and Hassen-Khodja, R. and Heim, M. and Hello, Y. and Hervet, G. and Humeau, O. and Jacob, X. and Jacquinod, S. and Johnson, J.R. and Kouach, D. and Lacombe, G. and Lanza, N. and Lapauw, L. and Laserna, J. and Lasue, J. and Le Deit, L. and Le Mouélic, S. and Le Comte, E. and Lee, Q.-M. and Legett, IV, C. and Leveille, R. and Lewin, E. and Leyrat, C. and Lopez-Reyes, G. and Lorenz, R. and Lucero, B. and Madariaga, J.M. and Madsen, S. and Madsen, M. and Mangold, N. and Manni, F. and Mariscal, J.-F. and Martinez-Frias, J. and Mathieu, K. and Mathon, R. and McCabe, K.P. and McConnochie, T. and McLennan, S.M. and Mekki, J. and Melikechi, N. and Meslin, P.-Y. and Micheau, Y. and Michel, Y. and Michel, J.M. and Mimoun, D. and Misra, A. and Montagnac, G. and Montaron, C. and Montmessin, F. and Moros, J. and Mousset, V. and Morizet, Y. and Murdoch, N. and Newell, R.T. and Newsom, H. and Nguyen Tuong, N. and Ollila, A.M. and Orttner, G. and Oudda, L. and Pares, L. and Parisot, J. and Parot, Y. and Pérez, R. and Pheav, D. and Picot, L. and Pilleri, P. and Pilorget, C. and Pinet, P. and Pont, G. and Poulet, F. and Quantin-Nataf, C. and Quertier, B. and Rambaud, D. and Rapin, W. and Romano, P. and Roucayrol, L. and Royer, C. and Ruellan, M. and Sandoval, B.F. and Sautter, V. and Schoppers, M.J. and Schröder, S. and Seran, H.-C. and Sharma, S.K. and Sobron, P. and Sodki, M. and Sournac, A. and Sridhar, V. and Standarovsky, D. and Storms, S. and Striebig, N. and Tatat, M. and Toplis, M. and Torre-Fdez, I. and Toulemont, N. and Velasco, C. and Veneranda, M. and Venhaus, D. and Virmontois, C. and Viso, M. and Willis, P. and Wong, K.W.}, journal = {Space Science Reviews}, volume = {217}, number = {47}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.1007/s11214-021-00807-w} } - Miller, J. R., Singh, K., Reilly, S., Novak, K. and Lyra, J. (2022). Mars 2020 System Thermal Vacuum (STV) Test Implementation and Results. JPL Open Repository. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{miller2022mars, title = {Mars 2020 System Thermal Vacuum (STV) Test Implementation and Results}, author = {Miller, Jennifer R. and Singh, Kaustabh and Reilly, Sean and Novak, Keith and Lyra, Jackie}, year = {2022}, booktitle = {51st International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES 2022)}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository}, url = {https://doi.org/10.48577/jpl.UHMV4Z} } - Cassler, B., Nelson, E. J. and Kempenaar, J. G. (2023). Thermal Performance of the Perseverance Rover During Mars Surface Operations. JPL Open Repository. Source
BibTeX
@inproceedings{cassler2023thermal, title = {Thermal Performance of the Perseverance Rover During Mars Surface Operations}, author = {Cassler, Bailey and Nelson, Emma J. and Kempenaar, Jason G.}, year = {2023}, booktitle = {ICES 2023 - 52nd International Conference on Environmental Systems}, doi = {10.48577/jpl.UAJL0T}, publisher = {JPL Open Repository} }