Northrop Provides Navigation System for NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Mission

Northrop Grumman will be the provider of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to support an expedition to Mars when NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Perseverance Mars Rover launches between July 30 and August 15.

It will land at Mars’ Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. The mission’s four major scientific objectives include studying the planet’s habitability, seeking biosignatures of past life, collecting core samples of the surface, and testing oxygen production in the planet’s atmosphere.

Northrop Grumman’s LN-200S IMU will be mounted deep inside the Rover, providing data during the ground mission. The LN-200S is lightweight IMU featuring three fiber optic gyroscopes and three silicon Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometers.

As the Perseverance Mars Rover traverses the surface of Mars, the LN-200S will provide the attitude and acceleration information used by the Rover’s computer for guidance. The LN-200S has been used on all previous Mars Rover missions including 2003’s Spirit and Opportunity, and 2012’s Curiosity, which is still operating almost eight years beyond its initial two-year mission.

The LN-200S underwent vigorous testing to validate its extended life capability for the Perseverance Mars Rover mission, which is expected to last 1.5 Mars years, or about 1,071 Earth days.