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08/11/2006
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Alliance Spacesystems’ next robotic arm destined for Mars will fly aboard NASA’s Mars Phoenix Lander, scheduled for launch in August 2007. Phoenix is targeted to softly land on the northern plains of Mars in May 2007, where the robotic arm will trench the Martian surface like a mini-backhoe to uncover an expected layer of rock-hard water ice.
Endowed with four degrees of freedom and a reach of 2.3 meters, the aluminum and titanium device weighs less than 9.7 kilograms. At the business-end of the arm is a garden trowel-size scoop for trenching. A powered rasp is mounted on the scoop to penetrate, break up and retrieve the hoped-for water-ice samples for scientific examination by lander instruments. A camera is also mounted on the arm to give scientists on Earth a close-up view of sediment and ice layers in the trench wall.
The three-month mission is expected to yield new clues to the history of water on Mars and whether the environment was ever conducive to life.
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Last Updated ( 08/20/2006 )
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