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Gumstix's Linux-based Overo IronStorm-Y module and the Caspa VL camera traveled to Mars on a pair of CubeSat "MarCO" satellites, helping to confirm the successful landing of Mars Insight's Mars Insight aircraft. NASA.
When Mars Insight lander landed on the Martian surface on November 26, the landing signal that followed the descent of the "Seven Minute of Terror" was relayed by two compact and experimental satellites. CubeSat. The Mars Cube One (MarCO) satellites are the first CubeSats to have crossed a low Earth orbit. They also probably represent the farthest distance that a Linux computer has traveled in space. The devices are equipped with a Linux-based Overo IronStorm-Y module, designed to control a Gumstix Caspa VUM camera.
MarCO in the laboratory (left) and an artistic representation of MarCO CubeSats in orbit
(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)
The CubeSat MarCOs were launched on the same rocket as the Mars Insight lander, but later separated from the spacecraft to fly on their own. Their arrival was planned so that they could fly near the landing gear during the entrance, descent and landing. This allowed a faster response than that obtained with the Mars reconnaissance orbiter (MRO). Experience shows that Mars's future interplanetary spacecraft can provide its own low-cost data relay option in the absence of a satellite in orbit.
Test image of the Caspa VL camera driven by Overo IronStorm-Y during his Mars journey (left) and the detailed view of MarCO
(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)
Developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), the solar-powered MarCO-A and B are six-unit CubeSats, each measuring the size of a briefcase (36.6 x 24.3 x 11.8 cm) . The CubeSat carries a radio capable of receiving UHF transmissions only and receiving and transmitting in X band.
The $ 185 Overo IronStorm-Y module would appear to be an auxiliary computer to the main control and navigation panel. Its main function is to control the Caspa VL camera.
The board runs Linux based on the Yocto project on a Texas Instruments Cortex-A8 DM3730 SoC up to 1 GHz. This SoC "DaVinci" includes a PowerVR SGX530 GPU and a DSP. Like other Y-brand Gumstix modules, the IronStorm-Y offers support ranging from -40 to 85 ° C. Other features include 512 MB of RAM, 1 GB of flash memory, a microSD slot and WiLink 8 Wi / BT TI module.
Overo IronStorm-Y (left) and Caspa VL camera
The MarCO-B IronStorm-Y module is equipped with the Gumstix Caspa VL add-on, which connects to the 27-pin camera connector on the module. The $ 75 Caspa VL is equipped with a CMOS Aptina MT9V032 imager capable of 752 x 480 color images, 60 fps.
MarCO experimental satellites will no longer have any role to play in the Insight mission. However, they performed their own communication and flight navigation experiments after confirming the Insight landing.
The Mars Insight lander landed on the Elysium Planitia not far from the Curiosity rover still in operation and will be operational until November 24, 2020. Mars Insight will dig into the Martian soil and deploy two main experiments: the seismic experiment for the internal structure (SEIS). ) and heat flux and physical property (HP3) instruments.
As NASA's Mars autonomous lone, Mars Insight's stationary undercarer runs on Wind River's hardened VxWorks RTOS, as reported in the November 26 Wind River blog entry. Linux computers have been used extensively by NASA in ground control systems and are also used in the Robonaut (R2) robot deployed on the International Space Station.
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