Surface deposition of molecular contaminants in the mars 2020 rover wake

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Mars 2020 rover has very strict contamination control requirements as it will cache samples on the surface of Mars for possible future return. It is known that the rover will outgas a minor amount of molecular contaminant on the surface of Mars, and numerical simulations using STAR-CCM+ are performed in order to predict the magnitude of the contaminant deposition to the Martian surface in the vicinity of the rover. Outgassing from the Rover Warm Electronics Bay (WEB) is predicted to be the dominant source of contamination for this scenario, and is therefore considered in this work. A flat terrain (i.e., no local topography) and a nominal rover orientation (i.e., no rocks under rover wheels, etc.) is also assumed. This analysis is performed in order to determine whether or not the M2020 rover WEB could self-contaminate a potential sampling site if the rover were to remain in the same location for an extended period of time. Simulations are performed under a variety of surface wind conditions, and it is determined that the predicted level of molecular contaminant deposition to the surface near the rover due to WEB outgassing and the model considered could be a maximum of 9 ng of organic contaminant in one specific location near the rover if the rover were to remain stationary for 100 sols.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalPlanetary and Space Science
Volume168
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2019

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