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It sounds like something from a 19th century science fiction novel: A Mars robot with a five-fingered metal claw powered by melting wax.
But this robot is real: it's the NASA Mars InSight lander, which was launched to the Red Planet in early May and is expected to land on November 26th.
The mission of InSight aims to provide a detailed overview of the structure and composition of Mars. 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 embedded communication equipment to perform a science-science experiment that should better understand the insides of Mars.) [Mars InSight: NASA’s Mission to Probe Red Planet’s Core (Gallery)]
HP3 and SEIS must both be deposited on the Martian surface, at a decent distance from the lander's body, in order to collect high quality data. And SEIS must also be covered with a screen specially designed to protect it from wind and extreme temperatures.
Members of NASA's InSight mission team are testing an engineering version of the robotic arm of the LG in an environment similar to that of Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 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.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
This is where the InSight steampunk claw, which sits at the end of the robot's 1.8-meter-long lander arm, enters the scene. It will capture and place these three elements – work never done before by a robot on another world, said the members of the mission team.
"The robotic arm needs to fit everything perfectly," said Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, head of InSight's InSight instrument deployment system operations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, in a statement. "But we like challenges."
Each of the three elements to be deployed has been equipped with a button to grab by 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 will be off. The wax will cool and the fingers will contract by closing on the button.
If this description conjures up pictures of arcade-claw machine games in your head, well, you're not the only one.
"We have a lot on the robotic arm of InSight, so we practiced our version of the claw game dozens of times," said Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Leader, also in JPL, in the same release. . "The difference, of course, is that, unlike the claw machine designers, our team of robotic arms is working hard to help us win every time."
The wax melting system may not seem technological, but the InSight team chose it wisely.
"It's actually a proven technology," said Nicolas Haddad, a mechatronics engineer at JPL, in a video of JPL "Crazy Engineering" on the mission's claw. "It's used in space applications like the InSight grapple, but it's also [been] used for decades in devices like our car thermostats and our home appliances. "
"InSight" is an 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.
Mike Wall's book on the quest for 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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