Advances in guidance, navigation, and control for planetary entry, descent, and landing systems

Planetary entry, descent, and landing has been performed successfully at Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Titan, and the moon, producing a wealth of in situ data not available from in-space remote-sensing platforms. To achieve such success, entry, descent, and landing systems have been designed to accommodate a wide variety of mission scenarios and environments, from the thin atmosphere of Mars to the thick atmosphere of Venus, from atmospheric entry velocities as low as 4 km/s at Mars to nearly 48 km/s at Jupiter. The history and development of the complex systems necessary to successfully execute entry, descent, and landing is summarized and discussed, with a focus on guidance and control strategies. Improvements to inertial navigation systems and interplanetary approach navigation techniques are highlighted. Mission requirements that drive entry, descent, and landing system design are identified. Lastly, future challenges and goals for entry, descent, and landing systems are enumerated and current technology development efforts are discussed.