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Mars Exploration Rover Dust Covers
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08/11/2006
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| During and after landing on Mars surface, it’s crucial to protect
sensitive instruments and optics from the gritty red Martian dust. Alliance
designed and fabricated dust shields for the Mars Exploration Rovers “Spirit” and “Opportunity” that
have been at work on the surface of Mars since early 2004. The Microscopic-Imager
(MI) Dust Cover mechanism covers the lens of the MI protecting it from
dust and incidental contact while the instrument is not in use. The
cover opens when the MI is positioned over a target and closes after a
series of images have been taken. Design for 90 cycles, or one cycle per
day for the original 90 day mission, the covers have worked flawlessly
for over 2 ½ years on the Martian surface. |
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Last Updated ( 08/20/2006 )
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Applications 