Advanced communications, navigation and technology concepts for a Mars 2018 orbiter

Recently, JPL mission designers have been investigating prospects for a Mars 2018 mission. The possibility of such a mission is being examined, at the request of NASA HQ, in the wake of NASA's departure from ESA's ExoMars missions, as well as to support general Mars program replanning. The idea is to create a mission concept, with a 2018 launch, that would be relevant to: eventual Mars sample return for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the Planetary Decadal Survey; human exploration for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD); and technology development for NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT). The conceptual mission studies described in this paper consider only a Mars orbiter. However, it should be noted that possibilities for a stationary lander or rover have not been ruled out. High bandwidth communications and advanced navigation would be likely elements of an orbiter mission. If a 2018 Mars orbiter were approved, it could spur the implementation of enhanced Deep Space Network (DSN) capabilities that could in turn benefit many future missions.