Archimedes is an automated Mars mission that has been the focus of attention for our colleagues in the Mars Society Deutschland. Now at an advanced stage, with Earth-based testing largely completed, plans are underway to ensure Archimedes undertakes its planned mission in the near future.

Archimedes is a small interplanetary space probe designed as a helium balloon ten metres in diameter. The onboard suite of scientific instruments is primarily geared towards the analysis of the atmospheric conditions on Mars. The device follows a payload proposal by the German Mars Society for a ride on AMSAT’s P5-A Mars orbiter.

During interplanetary cruise and hypersonic flight, the gondola and its instruments will be protected by a nose cap assembly that is jettisoned once the vehicle's speed has dropped below the sound barrier. The vehicle will be deployed in space, pass the outer atmospheric layers multiple times (two to nine passes are predicted) before final entry, and eventually descend to the ground in about 90 minutes.

The name ARCHIMEDES is an acronym derived from the set of onboard instruments and means: Aerial Robot Carrying High Resolution Imaging, a Magnetometer Experiment and Direct Environment Sensors. Accordingly the ARCHIMEDES instrument pod will comprise three main devices:

• A high resolution camera able to achieve a resolution of up to 20 centimetres per pixel at a distance of seven kilometres from the surface
• A magnetometer designed to analyse the planet’s magnetic field as well as the interaction between the solar wind and the Martian atmosphere
• An atmospheric sensor package provided by the Finnish Meteorological Institut

In addition to these experiments, there are two more sets of instruments, which are intended to become operational prior to and during atmospheric entry. The heating and flow field experiment COMPARE will measure thermal loads and pressure during entry. Acceleration sensors will gauge the deceleration of ARCHIMEDES in the upper atmosphere. These instruments will be built into the nose cover assembly, which will protect the instrument pod and its sensors from the hypersonic environment. During entry and descent, the P5-A orbiter will use its radio ranging equipment to track the inflated balloon. This data will later serve to complement the deceleration data and thus provide a detailed profile of the atmospheric conditions at high altitudes.

Find out more about this innovative project by visiting the Archimedes project pages.

 

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