Curiosity manipulator can continue next week Bashny.Net

Due to the short-circuit likely some limitations in future operations
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Photo of 4 March 2015 in the position at which the rover was forced stood a few days. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Team members Curiosity сообщают the possible inclusion of robotic arm unit after a short circuit next week. Analysis of the problems will continue.

Career "Kyuriositi" more than a week is under threat: Problems with arms began in late February. The system of protection against short circuits disconnected rover during processing of rock samples on February 27 this year at 911 hydrochloric mission. The unit will automatically stop its work and requested further instructions from Earth. Since then, the rover team avoided the movement of the device and its robotic arm, and the engineers have concentrated efforts on diagnostic tests. Scientific work with the equipment on the head-mast and weather station.

This week to try to find unsuccessful: Now experts nasovskoy Jet Propulsion Laboratory believe that the most likely cause was a short circuit in the hammer mechanism drill on the rover's manipulator. Tools on the manipulator "curiosity" bite into rocks on the Martian surface using both the rotation of the drill and percussion movements. Then crushed samples collected and analyzed inside the rover.

The closure of February 27 occurred during the recess of stone chips and transfer it in the mechanism that measures the weeds out and crushed powder. At the time of short-circuit worked hammer mechanism, brushing bit from rock sample. In this Tuesday March 5 engineers received test results: closing again occurred during the third out of 180 repetitions of the movement. The length of the jump was less than one-hundredth of a second, but it was enough to re-protection system.




The device rover's robotic arm "Kyuriositi." NASA / JPL-Caltech em>

The following actions engineers will further testing systems "Kyuriositi" with other provisions of the manipulator, then the sample is in the robotic arm will transfer to the laboratory setting inside the rover for analysis. After these operations, the rover will continue to climb on the гору Sharpe . Movement of the manipulator can next week.

Analysis of the state of the rover will clarify how to use the unit for future drilling. The coil, which is short-circuited, могут disable , and in this case for further work will have to choose the softer rock samples. Find these in the current study area easily, says the head of the project "Kyuriositi" Jim Erickson. It is possible that the impact mechanism will continue to be used if the current peaks are not so great. Ultimately, functionality may suffer "Kyuriositi" but it's better than a total loss of the unit 2, 5-billion space program.

Curiosity - the rover is the third generation to be used in the framework of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory. The device was launched on November 26, 2011 and parachuted to the surface of the red planet August 6, 2012. One of the aims of the expedition is to search for possible traces of life on Mars.

Source: geektimes.ru/post/246924/