How NASA Mars Lander's 'Steampunk' Claw Will Work (Video)

How NASA Mars Lander's 'Steampunk' Claw Will Work (Video)

How NASA Mars Lander's 'Steampunk' Claw Will Work (Video)







It sounds like something from a nineteenth-century science fiction novel: a Mars robot with a five-finger metal claw driven by the fusion of the wax.



	

	But that robot is very real: it's from NASA. InSight Mars lander, which was launched towards the red planet in early May and is scheduled to land on November 26.

		The mission of InSight aims to provide a detailed view of Structure and interior composition of Mars.. The lander carries two primary scientific instruments: an excavator heat probe called the Physical Properties and Heat Flow Package (HP3) and the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), a set of superprecise seismometers. (InSight will also use its on-board communications equipment to conduct a radio-science experiment that should shed more light on the bowels of Mars.)

The[[Mars InSight: the mission of NASA to probe the core of the red planet (Gallery)]

		Both HP3 and SIX must be placed on the Martian surface, at a decent distance from the body of the lander, to collect high-quality data. And SIX should also be covered with a specially designed shield to protect it from wind and thermal extremes.





						


Team members of the NASA InSight mission test an engineering version of the robotic arm of the lander in a Mars-like environment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The five-finger claw at the end of the robotic arm lifts the Wind and the Heat Shield, a protective cover for the InSight seismometer. The test is being carried out under the "red lighting of Mars" to simulate activities on the Red Planet.

            						    Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech 


		That's where the InSight steampunk claw comes in, which is at the end of the 1.8m (5 meters) robotic arm of the lander. It will trap and place these three elements, work never done before by a robot in another world. said mission team members.

		"The robotic arm has to fit everything perfectly," Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, team leader for the operations of InSight's instrument deployment system at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, said in a statement. California. "But we like a challenge."

		Each of the three elements to be deployed has been equipped with a knob for the claw to grip. When the time comes to deal, the InSight handlers will start heating the paraffin wax inside the claw. When the wax melts, it will expand, pushing a small rod. The bar will then press a spring, opening fingers, explained NASA officials.

		When the claw is in position, the heater will turn off. The wax will cool and the fingers will contract, closing on the button.

		If this description conjures images of claw-machine arcade games in your head, well, you're not the only one.   

		"We rode a lot on InSight's robotic arm, so we've been practicing our version of the claw game dozens of times," InSight project manager Tom Hoffman, also of JPL, said. the same statement. "The difference, of course, is that, unlike claw machine designers, our robotic arm team works hard to allow us to win every time."

		The fusion wax system may sound low-tech, but the InSight team chose it knowingly.

		"It's actually a fully tested technology," said Nicolas Haddad, a member of the InSight team, a mechatronics engineer at JPL, in a "Crazy Engineering" at JPL. video about the claw of the mission. "It's used in space applications like the InSight claw, but also [been] used for decades on things like our car's thermostats and our home appliances. "

		"InSight" is the abbreviation of "Inner exploration using seismic investigations, geodesy and heat transport". The data collected by the Mars lander should help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of rocky planets in general, NASA officials said.



	Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life. "Out there, "will be published on November 13 by Grand Central Publishing. Follow it on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published in Space.com.

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