The Materials Adherence Experiment (MAE) was a material science experiment conducted between July 4, 1997 and August 12, 1997 during NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission. [1] This was a joint experiment between NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology [2] that consisted of a small module mounted to Pathfinder's rover Sojourner that examined the effects of Martian surface dust on solar cells. [3] [4]
Using solar power on the Martian surface is challenging because the Martian atmosphere has a significant amount of dust suspended in it. [3] In addition to blocking sunlight from reaching Mars's surface, dust particles gradually settle out of the air and onto objects. As Pathfinder was NASA's first Mars surface mission to be solar-powered, the effect of Martian dust settling on solar cells was not well understood before the mission. [3] It was predicted at the time that dust particles in the Martian atmosphere would settle on the solar cells powering Pathfinder, blocking sunlight from striking them and slowly causing Pathfinder to lose power. Since knowing how the settling of dust out of Mars's atmosphere would affect solar cell performance would be critical to subsequent solar-powered missions on Mars, the MAE was included aboard the Sojourner rover to measure the degradation in performance of a solar cell as dust settled. [3]
The MAE, which was located on the front left corner of the solar array, [1] consisted of a small gallium-arsenide solar cell mounted underneath a removable glass cover plate. As the mission progressed, atmospheric dust would settle on the glass cover plate, blocking increasingly more sunlight from striking the solar cell, causing it to produce less power. Throughout the mission, the glass cover plate was occasionally rotated away from the solar cell, removing the light-blocking effects of the dust. Sensors measuring the difference in power output of the solar cell before and after the cover plate was removed indicated how quickly the solar cell was losing its ability to produce power, and by extension, how quickly dust was collecting on the cover plate. [3]
The rotating actuator used to move the glass cover plate away from the solar cell marked the first use of a multi-cycle shape memory alloy in a space application. [3]
Due to the high level of UV radiation on the surface of Mars, it was important that the glass that covered the solar cell would not darken. For this purpose Suprasil was chosen.
The MAE recorded a 2% obscuration due to dust on its first day of operation, probably caused by dust kicked up locally by Pathfinder's airbag being retracted. [4] Measurements taken by the MAE at local noon for the first 24 days of Pathfinder's operation on Mars showed that atmospheric dust obscured the test solar cell at a rate of 0.28% per day. [3] This degradation rate was about the same regardless of whether Sojourner was moving or stationary. [3] [4] Measurements taken at local 2pm showed a slightly higher obscuration rate over the first 20 days of the mission, at 0.33% per day. These findings were consistent with the decline in power output of the solar cells on Sojourner and the Pathfinder lander, which indicated a dust accumulation rate of 0.29% per day, and fairly close to the value predicted before Pathfinder landed (0.22% per day). [3]
Geoffrey Alan Landis is an American aerospace engineer and author, working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, solar power and photovoltaics. He holds nine patents, primarily in the field of improvements to solar cells and photovoltaic devices and has given presentations and commentary on the possibilities for interstellar travel and construction of bases on the Moon, Mars, and Venus.
Mars Pathfinder is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight, 10.6 kg (23 lb) wheeled robotic Mars rover named Sojourner, the first rover to operate outside the Earth–Moon system.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rovers to explore the Martian surface and geology; both landed on Mars at separate locations in January 2004. Both rovers far outlived their planned missions of 90 Martian solar days: MER-A Spirit was active until March 22, 2010, while MER-B Opportunity was active until June 10, 2018.
Spirit, also known as MER-A or MER-2, is a Mars robotic rover, active from 2004 to 2010. Spirit was operational on Mars for 2208 sols or 3.3 Martian years. It was one of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Spirit landed successfully within the impact crater Gusev on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity (MER-B), which landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover got stuck in a "sand trap" in late 2009 at an angle that hampered recharging of its batteries; its last communication with Earth was on March 22, 2010.
Opportunity, also known as MER-B or MER-1, is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 until 2018. Opportunity was operational on Mars for 5111 sols. Launched on July 7, 2003, as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover program, it landed in Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004, three weeks after its twin, Spirit (MER-A), touched down on the other side of the planet. With a planned 90-sol duration of activity, Spirit functioned until it got stuck in 2009 and ceased communications in 2010, while Opportunity was able to stay operational for 5111 sols after landing, maintaining its power and key systems through continual recharging of its batteries using solar power, and hibernating during events such as dust storms to save power. This careful operation allowed Opportunity to operate for 57 times its designed lifespan, exceeding the initial plan by 14 years, 47 days. By June 10, 2018, when it last contacted NASA, the rover had traveled a distance of 45.16 kilometers.
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Yogi Rock is a rock on Mars that was discovered during the Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997, and named by Geoffrey A. Landis. The rocks found on the mission were named after famous icons and figures, and Yogi Rock was thought to resemble the head of a bear looking away from the spacecraft. As a result, it was named for the famed cartoon character Yogi Bear.
In space exploration, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) is the practice of collection, processing, storing and use of materials found or manufactured on other astronomical objects that replace materials that would otherwise be brought from Earth.
A Mars landing is a landing of a spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Of multiple attempted Mars landings by robotic, uncrewed spacecraft, ten have had successful soft landings. There have also been studies for a possible human mission to Mars, including a landing, but none have been attempted. Soviet Union’s Mars 3, which landed in 1971, was the first successful Mars landing. As of 2023, the Soviet Union, United States and China have conducted Mars landings successfully.
MESUR, the Mars Environmental SURvey was a NASA program designed to explore the planet Mars in preparation for human follow-up missions of the Space Exploration Initiative. The only mission of the program that was completed was MESUR Pathfinder.
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Martian dust devils are convective atmospheric vortices that occur on the surface of Mars. They were discovered from data reported by NASA's Viking probes, and have been photographed by orbiting satellites and surface rovers in subsequent missions.
A cleaning event is a phenomenon whereby dust is removed from solar panels, in the context of exploration and science rovers on Mars, supposedly by the action of wind. The term cleaning event is used on several NASA webpages; generally supposing that Martian winds have blown dust clear off the probes on Mars, including the solar panels which power them, increasing their energy output. The nature of the cleaning events is not known, but the assumption is that wind blows the dust off the panels. Cleaning events were discovered in 2004 when several times power levels increased by 5% overnight, in contrast to the expectation they would decrease—the added power allowed the missions to continue beyond their expected lifetime. One theory is that wind currents in craters aid in cleaning events, and also if the rover is sloped, this is speculated to help remove dust.
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Mars:
The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) is an instrument on board the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover that will characterize the dust size and morphology, as well as surface weather. Specifically, the information obtained will help address future human exploration objectives, as dust sizes and shapes, daily weather report and information on the radiation and wind patterns on Mars, that are critical for proper design of in situ resource utilization systems. MEDA is a follow-on project from REMS, of the Curiosity rover mission. MEDA has an increased scope, with greater data collection on Mars dust which contributes to overall Mars program objectives and discovery goals.
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