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This looks like a science fiction novel from the nineteenth century: a Mars robot with a five-fingered metal claw powered by melting waxes.
But this robot is real: NASA Mars InSight lander, which was launched to the Red Planet in early May and is scheduled to land on November 26th.
The mission of InSight aims to provide a detailed overview of the inner structure of Mars and composition. The LG is equipped with two scientific instruments: a terrifying thermal probe called Heat Flow and Physical Properties Set (HP3) and Seismic Experience for Inside Structure (SEIS), a suite of ultra-precise seismometers . (InSight will also use its on-board communication equipment to perform a radio-science experiment that should further illuminate the bowels of Mars.) [Mars InSight: NASA’s Mission to Probe Red Planet’s Core (Gallery)]
HP3 and SEIS should be placed on the Martian surface at a decent distance. of the body of the LG, to collect high quality data. SEIS must also be covered with a shield specially designed to protect it from wind and extreme temperatures.
Members of the NASA InSight mission team test an engineering version of the robotic arm of the LG in an environment similar to that of Mars at Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA. The five-finger grapple at the end of the robotic arm lifts the Wind and Thermal Shield, a protection for the InSight seismometer. The test is performed under red "Mars lighting" to simulate activities on the red planet.
Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Therein lies the InSight steampunk claw, located at the end of the 5.9 foot race of the LG. A long robotic arm (1.8 meters) enters. He will capture and place these three elements – a job never done before by a robot in another world, said the mission team members.
"The robotic arm needs to fit everything perfectly" Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, team leader for the InSight instrument deployment system at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. communicated. "But we like challenges."
Each of the three objects to be deployed was equipped with a button to grab for the claw. At the moment of grappling, the InSight attendants initiate the heating of paraffin inside the claw. When the wax melts, it will spread by pushing a small stem. The rod will then press a spring, opening the fingers, explained NASA officials.
When the claw is in position, the heater is off. The wax will then cool and the fingers will contract by closing on the button.
If this description evokes images of clawed arcade games in your head, well, you're not the only one.
"We have a lot of things on the robotic arm of InSight, so we practiced our version of the claw game dozens of times," said InSight project manager Tom Hoffman, also of JPL, in the same press release. "The difference, of course, lies in the fact that, unlike the claw machine designers, our team of robotic arms is working hard to help us win every time."
The melting wax system may seem low-tech, but InSight
"It's actually a proven technology," said Nicolas Haddad, a member of the team InSight, a mechatronics engineer at JPL, in a video of JPL's "engineering madness" about the mission claw. "It's used in space applications such as the InSight grapple, but it's also been used for decades in devices like our car thermostats and home appliances."
"InSight" is the abbreviation of "Indoor Exploration Using Seismic Surveys, Geodesy". and heat transport. "The data collected by the lander on Mars should help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of rocky planets in general," NASA officials said.
The book of Mike Wall on the Search for an Extraterrestrial Life, "Out There," will be published on November 13 by Grand Central Publishing Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall Follow Us @Spacedotcom or Facebook Originally posted on Space.com
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