By Bill Lydon, Editor
Doug McCuistion, former Director of the Mars Exploration Program for NASA, gave an excellent keynote at the Siemens 2013 Automation Summit, held June 24-27, 2013 in New Orleans, LA. McCuistion described the challenge that the Mars Exploration Program presented and how they took a “project-by-project” approach to achieve one of the most monumental space exploration feats of the century. This article highlights some engineering lessons that I extracted from his discussion about overcoming their obstacles.
The Mars Exploration program and the recent Mars Curiosity programs were major noteworthy achievements of NASA. To design and build the Mars Rover “Curiosity,” the engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory used Siemens PLM software for design and simulation to work out engineering issues using “virtual reality” before committing to prototypes.
Engineering Lessons
Iteration
The Mars exploration program was built on multiple engineering efforts over time. The Mars exploration program started with the 2001 Mars Odyssey, a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. Its mission was to use spectrometers and electronic imagers to detect evidence of past or present water and volcanic activity on Mars. Odyssey was launched on April 7, 2001 on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and reached Mars orbit on October 24, 2001. By December 15, 2010, it broke the record for longest serving spacecraft at Mars, with 3,340 days of operation.
There were 5 major programs between 2001 and 2013, which culminated in Odyssey. At each step they used experiential learning to improve engineering. Landings progressed from 10 kilograms (22 lbs) to the 900 kilograms (2,000 lbs) Mars Rover “Curiosity,” a mobile chemistry laboratory. The engineering lesson is that doing new things is likely to take multiple iterations rather than one big step. Rather than taking on the “ultimate” full feature project, smaller steps can be far more productive.
Some will argue that there is efficiency in doing the full project in one big effort but this avoids experiential learning that can only be gained by doing.
Technology & Engineering
McCuistion made a point that it is important to recognize the difference between technology and engineering challenges. Sometimes you are trying to use engineering to overcome gaps in technology. It is import to recognize the difference so you can avoid wasting effort. The Odyssey program had to develop totally new geared actuators to perform under the strenuous conditions on Mars. Your challenges may not be as big but you may need to look for a better technology to solve a problem rather than trying to application engineer your installed solution to achieve the desired results.
In many cases, looking beyond the suppliers you regularly use leads to new innovative technology.
Thinking Outside of the Box
The landing method for Mars Curiosity is a great example of thinking outside of the box and looking past the obvious. To NASA, the landing is known as “the 7 minutes of terror.” By using a combination of parachute, retrorockets and flying crane platform, they overcame multiple obstacles. This video describes the engineering challenges and solutions: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror
Modeling/Simulation
The Mars program made extensive use of modeling and simulation to work out engineering thoughts and designs before creating physical prototypes. This modeling and simulation saved a significant amount of time and money. This also makes it easier to try out a wider range of ideas and ultimately create richer solutions.
Mars Curiosity Science Laboratory
The Curiosity is an amazing and inspiring application of technology. NASA describes Curiosity as having parts similar to what any living creature would need to keep it "alive" and able to explore. It really is loaded with technology that you can learn about in detail at the NASA website .
About
Doug McCuistion
McCuistion has held positions in Earth and Space Science at NASA headquarters, the Goddard Space Flight Center, and the U.S. Navy. At headquarters, he was the Director of Flight Programs for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. At Goddard, he worked on the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, Geosynchronous Operations Environmental Satellite, Landsat, NEXUS (a James Webb Space Telescope precursor), and as a Deputy Director in the Information Systems engineering division.
McCuistion has been recognized with the rank of Meritorious Senior Executive and awarded two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, and various NASA, Navy, as well as other-Agency individual and group achievement awards.
