Microwave Components for Mars Missions
The possibility of life on Mars is one of the outstanding questions of our time, one that human exploration of the Red Planet seeks to answer. Following dramatic climate change, the Martian atmosphere was transformed. It once had a much denser atmosphere which supported the presence of liquid water on the surface. It is likely that Mars once had a large ocean that covered more of the planet's surface than Earth's own ocean does now.
Thales is proud to have contributed to mankind’s ever expanding knowledge of this mysterious planet.
Exo Mars
ExoMars will deploy ‘the Pasteur payload’, a mobile surface rover equipped with instruments dedicated to exobiology and geology analysis. The rover can drill up to 2 deep and it will travel around searching for signs of life (both past and present), collecting and analysing samples from surface rocks and the subsurface.
Thales has supplied two X band Traveling Wave Tubes in the 60 watt power range (TH4704C) for the spacecraft’s communications system.
MAVEN
On September 22, 2014, MAVEN reached Mars and used its propulsion system to enter an elliptical orbit around the planet. The spacecraft's instruments take measurements during a full Earth year (half a Mars year). MAVEN also will dip to an altitude 80 miles above the planet to sample Mars' entire upper atmosphere. The spacecraft may be used to provide communications relay support for missions on the surface.
The antenna is a 2.1-meter diameter dish with a dual-reflector X-Band system to achieve downlink data rates of up to 550kb/s. Thales provided TWT amplifiers (TH4300C) with 100 Watt power range to generate strong signals that can be picked up on Earth.
Mars Orbiter Mission
The mission’s technological objectives include the conception and production of a Mars orbiter with a capability to survive and perform complicated maneuvers, and the achievement of deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.
However, the mission also follows scientific objectives such as the exploration of Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments.
Thales S band Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TLA2240) with 250 Watt RF power range are aboard the spacecraft.
MSL
The mission comprises of a wheeled vehicle with scientific instruments to study the martian surface. The rover is equipped with state-of-the-art tools for acquiring information about the geology, atmosphere, environmental conditions, and potential biosignatures on Mars.
X band TWTs (TH4300C) were supplied by Thales to enable communications with Earth.
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Thales was at the heart of this mission, providing X band TWTs (TH3908) enabling the mission control to track the spacecraft.
Mars Express
As well as its science objectives, Mars Express also provides relay communication services between the Earth and landers deployed on the surface by other nations, thus forming a centre piece of the international effort in Mars exploration.
The Beagle 2 lander was an exciting opportunity for Europe to contribute to the search for life on Mars. After coming to rest on the surface, Beagle 2 was intended to perform exobiology and geochemistry research. However, no signal from Beagle 2 was ever received and Beagle 2 was discovered partially destroyed on the martian surface in January 2015 about 11 years after it has been lost.
Thales provided X band Traveling Wave Tubes (TH4300C) with 100 watt power range which enable the satellite to communicate with Earth.