James Webb Space Telescope amazing shots Last week, the light was pulled from Mars research, but that doesn’t mean there are no events around the Red Planet. The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected the company that will deliver the special robotic arm needed to deliver Martian soil and rock samples to Earth.

Figure 1: The special robotic arm needed to deliver Martian soil and rock samples to Earth.

Figure 1 shows thatthe Italian Leonardo, and the robot arm was a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency Mars Sample Return (MSR) It will be posted on a mission.The purpose of the MSR is to bring the samples collected by the Perseverance rover home already on site. The craft that landed last year carried 48 tubes, some filled with rocks, soil and atmospheric samples. [1]

ESA is developing another small rover to retrieve the samples and place them in an ascent vehicle that will carry the samples into orbit for retrieval and shipping back to Earth via the ESA Earth Return Orbiter.

ESA director says, “handling the precious Martian samples and getting them ready for delivery on an extraordinary trip from Mars to Earth is an amazing feat,The Sample Transfer Arm will be the helping hand that will take planetary science to a new level.”

The 2.5m-long Sample Transfer Arm will possess seven degrees of freedom of movement, mimicking a human arm with shoulder, elbow and wrist joints, according to an ESA announcement. [2]

It will be largely autonomous, using two cameras and sensors to guide itself in removing tubes of sampled material from the Perseverance rover, placing them on the ground, picking them back up, placing them in a container on the ascent vehicle and closing the lid.

The Mars Sample return mission aims to return the samples taken by Perseverance to Earth by 2033 where Earth-based labs can examine the material to learn more about the past conditions on Mars, and possibly answer whether the Red Planet ever supported life.

The Italian Space Agency (ASI) has supported the project. “Our investments allow us today to affirm the leading role that Italy will have in the exploration of Mars and, in particular, in the Mars Sample Return programmed,” said Giorgio Saccoccia.

“This contract reinforces our leadership in space robotics, an important technology for planetary exploration and orbital operations,” said Gabriele Pieralli. [3]

References:

1. https://www.campuslately.com/this-giant-robotic-arm-will-help-deliver-martian-rock-samples-to-earth/
2. https://www.independent.co.uk/space/esa-leonardo-robotic-arm-mars-b2127037.html
3. https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/07/leonardo-to-build-robotic-arm-for-mars-sample-return-mission/

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), New Robotic Arm Tested to Retrieve Samples of Martian Soil, Anatechmaz, pp.149