Article Posted on : - May 14, 2011

The heat shield for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory is the largest ever built for a planetary mission. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON (BNS): NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) aeroshell and cruise stage has been delivered to Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

An Air Force C-17 transport plane delivered the Lockheed Martin built aeroshell which will encapsulate and protect the Curiosity rover during its deep space cruise to Mars, and from the intense heat and friction that will be generated as the system descends through the Martian atmosphere.

The heat shield and back shell together form the aeroshell. The cruise stage, built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will perform critical communication and navigation functions during the flight from Earth to Mars.

Recently, Lockheed Martin integrated the MSL Entry Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) onto the back of the heatshield. In October 2008, the backshell, half of the large and sophisticated two-part aeroshell, was delivered to JPL in Pasadena where it was integrated with other flight systems.

The aeroshell/heatshield is the largest ever built for a planetary mission at 4.5 meters (nearly 15 feet) in diameter. In contrast, the aeroshells/heatshields of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers measured 8.5 feet and Apollo capsule heatshields measured just less than 13 feet, a Lockheed Martin release said.

The rover Curiosity is in testing at NASA's JPL, Pasadena, California, which manages the Mars Science Laboratory project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

In August 2012, Curiosity will land on Mars for a two-year mission to examine whether conditions in the landing area have been favorable for microbial life and for preserving evidence about whether life has existed there.