NASA plans to launch its next exploration mission to Mars in the last quarter of 2011,el Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). Along with the United States, Russia, Canada, France, Germany andSpain, which will provide two devices: a meteorological sensor station (REMS, acronym forRover Environmental Monitoring Station) and a high-gain communications antenna. The project will try to determine thepast or present ability of the red planet to support life.
It is a rover or off-road vehicle equipped with ten instruments, the most powerful scientific equipment ever sent into space to carry out arobotic scanning. To analyze the biological potential of a target area, yet to be determined, the roverrecord atmospheric data and collect soil and dust samples-to characterize its geology and geochemistry- throughout the Martian year of the mission, equivalent to about two Earth years. During the exploration phase, this vehicle will connect daily with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) station, located in California, from where a group of scientists will direct the operations to be carried out on this mission.
The Spanish Minister of Science and Innovation, Cristina Garmendia, stressed today during the signing of the cooperation agreement that the collaboration will open new lines of business in the manufacture of telecommunications satellites and in the design of environmental monitoring systems. In addition, he has pointed out that the environmental measurement station is only the beginning, sinceSpanish technology will return to Mars in 2013providing a high precision spectrometer to analyze the composition of the terrain.
REMS station and antenna
TheREMS instrumentva ameasure wind speed and direction, soil and air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, and ultraviolet radiationthat reaches the surface of Mars. Its objective is to contribute to the knowledge of the environmental conditions of the red planet and its capacity to host life forms.
The Astrobiology Center (CAB) has led this project in collaboration with EADS-CRISA and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and various Spanish companies in the aerospace sector have also participated in it. Likewise, the Finnish Meteorological Institute has collaborated, which has contributed to the development of humidity and pressure sensors. REMS has been a great challenge for the engineers and scientists who have participated in its development, since it must have the ability to operate at temperatures that can drop down to -130ºC, with a minimum power consumption of the order of 10 watts, and a total weight that has not exceeded 1.5 kg.
For its part,antena de alta ganancia o High Gain Antenna (HGA)will be used to establish thedirect rover communications with Earthfrom Mars. The system consists of a pointing mechanism and the antenna itself. Its main mission is to send to Earth, without the need for intermediate links (orbiters), the scientific data generated by the different instruments, and information about the state of the rover itself. In addition, you will also be able to receive the instructions from the JPL center station that the vehicle needs to carry out its mission. As it is steerable, it will be able to send a “beam” of information pointed directly at the Earth and without the need for the vehicle to move, which contributes to energy savings.
The total cost of the Spanish contribution reaches 23.5 million euros, of which the CDTI has contributed 14.8 million euros (63%), the National R + D + i Plan 1.9 million euros ( 8%) and the CAB (INTA-CSIC) has contributed scientists and engineers dedicated to the project for a value of 6.8 million euros (29%).
