Tool For Collecting Rocks Installed on Perseverance Rover for July Launch to MarsBy Paul Scott Anderson, on March 23rd, 2020
The new nameplate for Perseverance, attached to the rover’s robotic arm. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech(...) The two components – the Adaptive Caching Assembly and the Bit Carousel – were integrated into the rover last week. The electrical wiring for both the Adaptive Caching Assembly and Bit Carousel were installed and tested on March 11, 2020. (...)
“With the addition of the Adaptive Caching Assembly and Bit Carousel, the heart of our sample collection system is now on board the rover,” said Matt Wallace, deputy project manager of the Mars 2020 mission at JPL. “Our final but most crucial elements to install will be the sample tubes that will contain the first samples that will be brought from another planet back to Earth for analysis. We will keep these pristine until we integrate them in a couple of months.”
The samples obtained by Perseverance are crucial in its $2.6 billion mission to search for evidence of possible past life on Mars, at least microbial. Like with Curiosity, those samples will be analyzed in the rover’s onboard laboratory, but, unlike Curiosity, will also be stored for return to Earth at a later date, for much more comprehensive study. (...)
Curiosity has also found tantalizing clues, including organics and methane, that may be evidence for martian life, but more study is needed, and Curiosity is designed to focus more on geology and past habitable environments rather than looking for life itself.
Why Mars?https://www.americaspace.com/2020/03/23/tool-for-collecting-rocks-installed-on-perseverance-rover-for-july-launch-to-mars/NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover Gets Its Sample Handling SystemMARCH 20, 2020
(...) Last week, Perseverance's assembly, test and launch operations team integrated two components that will play key roles in the acquisition, containment and eventual return to Earth of humanity's first samples from another planet: the Adaptive Caching Assembly and the Bit Carousel.
The Bit Carousel contains the nine drill bits Perseverance will use to sample Martian rock and dust. Attached to the top front of the rover on March 7 and resembling a flying saucer, it also is the gateway for the samples to move into the belly of the rover for assessment and processing by the Adaptive Caching System.
Installed on March 3, the Adaptive Caching Assembly consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored.
The installation and testing of the electrical wiring for both the Adaptive Caching Assembly and Bit Carousel were completed on March 11.
"With the addition of the Adaptive Caching Assembly and Bit Carousel, the heart of our sample collection system is now on board the rover," said Matt Wallace, deputy project manager of the Mars 2020 mission at JPL. "Our final but most crucial elements to install will be the sample tubes that will contain the first samples that will be brought from another planet back to Earth for analysis. We will keep these pristine until we integrate them in a couple of months."
Currently, the coronavirus has not impacted the Mars Perseverance rover launch schedule. Launch preparations are continuing. (...)
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7620
Wątek: Mars Rover 2020 Perseverance (Przeczytany 629836 razy)