Category: Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Structure Components Functions

The design and engineering of the Perseverance Mars Rovers allow it to carry on the most challenging tasks on Mars. To build an ultra-detailed Perseverance Mars Rover replica, we need thoroughly understand the real one’s structure, components, and functions.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Adaptive Caching Assembly of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – part 3

Theoretically, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s sample caching process for a rock or a regolith can be described as follows.

First of all, Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will do an initial assessment on the sampling site by the science instruments on the rover. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MastCam-Z will spot a potential sampling site and identify a rock for later investigation.

Secondly, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s SuperCam will exam the rock more carefully in greater detail. After SuperCam confirms that this site or this rock is worthy of caching, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will move closer to the site. Then the abrading bit on the corer of the turret assembly will perform an initial abrasion so that PIXL and SHERLOC can do a close proximity analysis before the rock is decided to be a good potential caching target.

With our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, the users can control the rover to perform the same action as the above two steps. Although it won’t be the real scientific inspection, the movement will be the same.

Although the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL and SHERLOC instruments have different functions and look for different features, in this step, they both work as the final step and a double-check for if the location is a valuable target for sample caching.

Next, the sample caching process will start. Below are the basic steps:

  1. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s sample handling arm in the adaptive caching assembly will get an empty sample tube from the sample tube assembly. The sample tube is then transferred to the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s bit carousel’s interior door and inserted into a drill bit. The bit with the sample tube inside will then be transferred to the outer door, waiting for the turret’s corer to take it. Our Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the sample handling arm and it will be able to perform the same action as the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s sample handling arm.
  2. After the turret’s corer picks up the drill bit, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm will start the drilling process and collect a rock core or regolith. Then the robotic arm will bring the filled sample tube back to the bit carousel, and the sample is transferred to the lower door, waiting for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s sample handling arm to move it back to the adaptive caching assembly.
  3. Different from when the sample tube is moved out of the sample tube assembly, this time, the sample tube with the rock or regolith sample will be moved to the volume assessment station, the vision assessment station, the seal dispenser, and the sealing station respectively before it is brought back to the sample tube assembly for storage.

For our Mars Rover Replica, although you will see how the turret and the tools on it interact with the bit carousel, you might not see the interactions between the tubes and the stations because it will be done inside of the rover’s body. But we will still try our best to replicate the stations and the ability to move for our Mars Rover Replica just like the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s actions. If you are interested in our Mars Rover Replica, you can check out [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary].

Ideally, these tubes will be dropped to a pre-decided location for the future retrieving mission and returning to Earth.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Adaptive Caching Assembly of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – part 2

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s stations are all made from titanium because the physical characteristics of the titanium can reduce the errors due to the temperature changes on Mars from affecting the operations during the sample caching process. The titanium caching component mounting deck is the interface between all the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s stations to the rover. For the adaptive caching assembly’s station of our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, the materials are still to be determined for the stations because the stations won’t have the actual functions, but we will try our best to also use titanium.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly was designed to fit inside of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s body before launching on Mars, but after it lands, the belly pan directly below the adaptive caching assembly is dropped from the rover’s body, because the sample handling arm in the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly will need to extend around 200mm, or 7.87 inches below the rover’s bottom pan during the sample handling process. Besides that, the rover’s system will do a scan to make sure the sample handling arm will not be obstructed during the operation. For our Mars Rover Replica, the belly pan can also be dropped, but it can be put back as well. The dropping mechanism will be the same as the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s belly pan’s dropping mechanism.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s bit carousel is located on the caching component mounting deck, and a part of it extends through both the top deck on the front and front panel to allow sample tubes and drill bits to exchange easily. Our Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s bit carousel.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly interacts with the turret assembly, such as drill bit exchange, through the docking assembly, which located on the front of the bit carousel. There are a rotational bearing mechanism and a return spring mechanism to make sure the docking assembly will return to its original position and re-center after the turret undocks to prepare for the later operations. For our Mars Rover Replica, users can simulate a full interaction between our Mars Rover Replica‘s adaptive caching assembly and turret with the remote control.

Inside of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s bit carousel, there are 9 drill bits: 6 coring bits, 1 regolith bit, and 2 abrading bits, which are securely locked onto the bit holder. They not only need to survive the drop when the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover touches down on Mars but also they need to not break when the rover is driving on the bumpy Martian road. Besides these, the bit carousel will need to cooperate perfectly with the corer when each time a sample tube is inserted into the drill. If misaligned, it could be disastrous for the assembly. For our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, it is not recommended to drop it like the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is dropped on Mars, but our Mars Rover Replica can take a certain amount of impact.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Adaptive Caching Assembly of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – part 1

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly is one of the three main components of the sample caching system. The other two main components are the robotic arm and the turret assembly, which are introduced in more detail in [Robotic Arm the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover] and [Turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover].

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly is located inside of the rover and on the front of the body. There are mainly 6 sub-assemblies of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly: the sample tube storage assembly, the sample handling arm, the dispenser, volume, tube assembly, the vision station, the sealing station, and the bit carousel. For our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, we will replicate the part on the front of the body, and we will try our best to perfectly replicate the part that is inside of the rover’s body.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s sample tube storage assembly is for storing both empty sample tubes and filled sample tubes. Although they are placed together, there are sheaths to protect them from contaminating each other. There are a total of 39 sample tubes in the sample tube storage assembly.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s sample handling arm is for transferring the sample tubes to different stations in the adaptive caching assembly or for moving the sample tubes to the bit carousel so that the sample tubes are inserted into the drill bits for sample caching purposes.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s dispenser, volume, tube assembly is to calculate the number of samples collected and to reduce possible contamination. There are 3 sample tubes in the dispenser, volume, tube assembly. There are 7 seal dispensers, and each seal dispenser has 7 seals, so there are 49 seals in total, 7 of which are spares.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s vision station not only takes photos of the sample cached but also performs a second-time calculation for the amount of each sample collected.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s sealing station is to seal a sample permanently by triggering seals in the sample tubes.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly’s bit carousel is to keep all the drill bits and helps to insert a sample tube into a drill bit for sample caching.

For our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, we will try our best to perfectly replicate these 6 sub-assemblies. Although they will not have the same functions as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s adaptive caching assembly, they will be fully motorized and you can simulate the sample handling movement with the remote control.

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Science Instrument of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

MOXIE of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – part 3

The Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE runs the oxygen-making experiments autonomously and there are two challenges it is facing.

The first challenge is from the harsh Martian environment. The temperature can fluctuate for over 65 Celsius or 150 Fahrenheit during day and night, and it is yet to find out how the Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE will react to this abrupt temperature change. Moreover, in every Winter, around 30% of the Martian atmosphere vanishes and the temperature is so low that carbon dioxide solidifies and drops to the Martian surface. Ideally, the Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE should be able to operate at all times without stopping since it is designed to produce oxygen for human survival. Therefore, the record for how the Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE will respond to Mars’ harsh environmental condition will be extremely valuable data for MOXIE’s developers and researchers, so that the future MOXIE can be designed to work smoothly no matter the environmental changes. The Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE is planned to run 10 times totally during the mission under as many different conditions as possible. Our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica may or may not replicate the MOXIE instrument. If we do replicate it, it will not be able to make oxygen, and will not produce that much heat. But we may design it so that it will make the motor running sound effects.

If you are interested in our 1:2 Mars Rover Replic, you may check [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary].

The second challenge the Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE instrument faces is the byproduct generated. Theoretically, the carbon dioxide will be split into oxygen and carbon monoxide. However, scientists are still researching how to properly run the Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE instrument. If operating it too gently, the carbon dioxide will just go through the instrument and not produce enough oxygen so the oxygen conversion rate will be very low. But if operating it too heavily, not only will you get carbon monoxide, but also there will be some single carbon atoms. For now, the unwanted solid carbon is cleaned manually to avoid it from blocking the normal operation.

In the future, if humans can set foot on Mars, a much larger version of the Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE will need to make around 30,000 kg, or 66,000 lbs of oxygen to support a trip home from Mars to Earth. If the Perseverance Mars Rover‘s MOXIE is successful, this means it will save 4 to 5 trips from Earth to Mars for transferring that much liquid oxygen.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Witness Tubes of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

There are two types of sample tubes on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. The first type is the sample containers (or the sample tubes), and the second type is the witness tubes. Our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the structure appearance of the sample tubes.

There are a total of 42 sample tubes that the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover carries, and 4 of them are dedicated as witness tubes. For each Mars Rover Replica, there will be 42 sample tubes that come with it but if the customers want more as replacements, that is alright as well.  Unlike the sample tubes, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s witness tubes do not collect actual rock or soil samples, but they go through the same collecting process as the sample tubes. The purpose is to preserve the drilling condition, or the contamination knowledge, for when the samples are being drilled and filled into the sample tubes so that when the samples are analyzed in the future on Earth, scientists will know how earthly factors or even contamination from the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover itself affect the condition of the samples. The witness tubes of the 1:2 Mars Rover Replica are perfect replicas of the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s witness tubes in terms of the structure appearance including the colors, but the material might be slightly different.

Inside of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s bit carousel, there is also a witness tube assembly, which is especially for collecting the contamination knowledge for the bit carousel’s condition, so that in the future, when the witness tubes are returned to Earth, scientists will know the working environment the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s bit carousel is exposed to. For our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica, the bit carouse and the witness tube assembly might be the last structure to replicate because they are mostly inside of the rover’s body and very sophisticated.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Robotic Arm the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm is located on the front of the rover’s chassis. It has a length of 7 feet or 2.1 meters, which is the same length as its predecessor, the Curiosity rover.  Our 1:2 Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm has a length of 3.5 feet or 1.05 meters. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm wields a rotating 45kg (or 99 lbs) turret assembly, which is 15kg (or 34 lbs) heavier than the Curiosity rover’s turret assembly because it carries bigger science instruments and a bigger corer for drilling compared to the Curiosity rover. The weight of our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will not be that heavy, because the instruments on it will only be decorations (but ultra-realistic decorations), and the material we use will be lightweight.

The purpose of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm is to help with exploring the Martian surface and collecting valuable Martian samples. It mimics the human arm – it has joints at its “shoulder”, “elbow” and “wrist” for maximum degrees of freedom. Our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will also have as many degrees of freedom as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm. If the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is a human scientist, then the robotic arm is his human arm. At the end of the robotic arm, there is a turret assembly or a hand, and on the hand, there are the science instruments (SHERLOC, WASTON, PIXL), the gDRT, the Corer, and the ground contact sensor which are for Martian rock and soil sample caching. The gDRT and the ground contact sensor are introduced in [Turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Mars Rover].

There are some small motors or rotary actuators on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm, and with these actuators, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm has 5 degrees of freedom or 5 flexible joints: the shoulder azimuth joint, the shoulder elevation joint, the elbow joint, the wrist joint and the turret joint. Our Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm will also have these motors – not the same type or the same size, but the function of the motors is the same –  so that the Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm is also 5 degree of freedom. The flexibility of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm allows it to rotate the turret accurately to a location of interest so that the corer can start its initial abrading operation for the later sampling process, or for the science instruments analyzing process.

After the science team on Earth decides which rocks or regolith to sample, Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will give the robotic arm the “go” for sample caching. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm will rotate the corer to an angle that is best for the drill bit to operate. Depending on the condition of the drilling site, the drill will choose the rotary mode or the percussive mode for the sample caching. After the sample rocks or regolith are collected, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm will transfer the sample tubes to the bit carousel for the later processes. Although the Mars Rover Replica‘s robotic arm doesn’t have the function like the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, users can control the Mars Rover Replica to drive and mimic the movement of the robotic arm.

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Sample Handling System of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

Turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret is located at the end of the 2.1-meter-long, 5-degree-freedom robotic arm. It carries the science instruments SHERLOC, WASTON, and PIXL to help with the sample handling process. Besides the three instruments, there are also the gDRT(Gaseous Dust Removal Tool) and the Corer. The Corer is positioned in the middle of the instruments. SHERLOC and WASTON are by one side of the Corer, while gDRT and PIXL are on the opposite side of the Corer. Collectively, they form the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret assembly. Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the structure appearance of the Turret including the SHERLOC, WASTON, and PIXL instruments, the gDRT, and the Corer. 

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s SHERLOC, WATSON, and PIXL instruments are introduced in more detail in [PIXL of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Part 1], [PIXL of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Part 2], [SHERLOC of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover], and [WATSON of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover]. With these scientific instruments the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret carries, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is able to analyze the minerals and chemicals to study whether or not there was life or if it will be possible for humans to live on Mars by carefully and scientifically selecting the most valuable rock and soil samples to collect. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s PIXL and the tools on it won’t have the functions as the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, but the Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s PIXL replica will stimulate the movement when operating.  

After the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s robotic arm accurately transports the turret assembly to the location of interest, depending on what this specific mission’s purpose is, the corer will get one of the bits and will do an initial abrading operation. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret then will rotate and find a position for gDRT to remove dust from the surface to prevent contamination preparing for the sample caching process. The gDRT is a sophisticated tool that consists of the following 7 components:

1. A supply tank with 159g of gaseous Nitrogen

2. A gas tank, or plenum tank which fills gas before every operation

3. Two supplementary supply valves for transferring gas from the supply tank to the plenum tank

4. A valve that releases the plenum tank’s gas

5. A nozzle that will blow the gas to the target surface

6. A valve that acts as the supply tank’s switch for releasing and loading gas before launch

7. A pressure transducer for the pressure reading

In the end, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret will rotate to positions to allow SHERLOC, WASTON, and PIXL to work.

Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of the gDRT down to very fine details, but it will not have the dust-removing function or the many components. 

Other than the mentioned tools, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret assembly carries a sensor, the Ground Contact Sensor. The Ground Contact Sensor’s job is to prevent the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s turret from accidentally touching the ground by giving the robotic arm signals to stop if the turret gets too close to the ground. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of Ground Contact Sensor but it will not actually be a sensor.

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Science Instrument of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

RIMFAX of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX is short for the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment. It is a frequency modulated continuous wave radar. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX has a mass of 3 kg, or around 6.6 lbs with a dimension of 7 inches by 4.7 inches by 2.4 inches, or 196cm by 120cm by 66cm. For our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, the dimension of the RIMFAX will be 3.5 inches by 2.35 inches by 1.2 inches, or 98cm by 60cm by 33cm.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX has two main components: the antenna and the electronic unit (EU). The RIMFAX’s radar antenna is located on the lower back rear of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and facing down the cold ground. With a frequency range from 150 to 1200 MHz, the vertical resolution theoretically can go from 3 inches to 12 inches, or 15 cm to 30 cm, thick. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly the appearance structure of the antenna but it will not the actual function that the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX’s antenna has. 

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX’s EU is located inside of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s left aft tower. The environment of the EU is thermally controlled, unlike the antenna. Since this is the first radar ever sent to Mars by NASA, the underground composition is unknown. Therefore, the RIMFAX is designed to be programable after each sounding is taken. EU has three components: the DC/DC converter board, data control board, and RF(radio frequency) analog board. Because the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX’s EU is inside of the body structure, and you cannot really see it from the outside, we might not replicate it for our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, or we might replicate it after everything else is completed.  

Unlike the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE, which consumes around 30% of the Perseverance Mars Rover’s power each time it runs, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX only consumes around 5W for a normal traverse. It has two states: idle and sounding. When in the idle state, RIMFAX only communicates and receives signals. When RIMFAX is set to the sounding state, the power supply is then switched on and RIMFAX will start working. Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘ RIMFAX does not have the actual function like the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX, but we may design it so that it will have other functions such as being able to light up in the dark. Therefore, Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘ RIMFAX might also consume power.  

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX will image the shallow surface under the Martian surface while the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is traveling with an interval of 4 inches, or 10 cm to provide information about the subsurface composition of the site. By penetrating the ground surface, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s RIMFAX is able to detect ice, water, or salty water (brines) with a depth of over 30 feet, or 10 meters, but with a subsurface condition that is very good for radar wave propagation, the soundings can go deeper than 30 feet. Studying what’s beneath the Martian surface can help discover Mars’ past life (if there was any), past waters, past rock formation, and many other materials underneath the surface of the red planet.

If you are interested in our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, you may check out our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary.

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Science Instrument of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

PIXL of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Part 2

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s sensor assembly is a white box connected to the turret of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s robotic arm by 6 legs that are grouped in three pairs. The sensor assembly consists of the instrument to fire and detect X-ray, to take photos, and to measure how the target is from the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. Inside of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s sensor assembly, there is a Micro-Context Camera or MCC, There are a ring of LEDs on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s sensor assembly, called the Flood Light Illuminators (FLI), which helps with illuminating the target area for the MCC at night. There is another device called structured light illuminators (SLI) which helps with the measuring by projecting arrays of laser dots onto the target. So the MCC only takes context photos, but also takes photos of the laser dot arrays from the SLI). Although the PIXL assembly of our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover replica does not have the X-ray, micro-context camera, or the measuring feature, we will replicate their appearance structure. 

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s body unit electronics (BUE) has a weight of 3 kg or 6.6 lbs, and the base has a length of 1.41 m or 55 inches, and a width of 1m, or 39 inches. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s BUE is not located in the sensor assembly on the turret, but instead, the BUE is inside of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s body. The BUE is connected with the sensor assembly by a cable and connector combination which in total has a length of 1.91 meters. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s BUE is made of aluminum 6061 and inside of the BUE are the main electronic controls: the power board, the interface board, the control board, and the analog board. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s BUE is a sophisticated structure, but since it is inside of the rover’s body, you cannot really see it unless you open up the rover’s body. Therefore, we might replicate the BUE after the parts on our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica you can see are replicated, and again, our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s PIXL’s BUE will have functions that the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover has, but only the appearance structure. 

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s calibration target has two purposes. The first purpose is to calibrate the X-ray subsystem, and the second purpose is to help with the physical alignment of the X-ray beam – MCC and SLI. The dimension of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s calibration target is 39mm (1.53 inches) by 30mm (1.18 inches) by 8mm (0.31 inches) and has a weight of 10g or 0.35oz. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s calibration target has the following 6 features:

  1. A disk of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) for making sure the stability of the X-ray source spectrum and X-ray detection.
  2. A USGS (United States Geological Survey) basaltic standard BHVO-2 in glass form. It was made by melting and rapidly quenching power BHVO-2, and this was happening in a platinum boat.
  3. A NIST-610 glass disk. NIST is short for the National Institute of Standards and Technology).
    4. A mineral scapolite disk which was epoxied on The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s calibration target by the PIXL team.
  4.  A glass disk in the center of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s calibration target. It has a metal cross on top where one line is a chromium and the other line is nickel. It is for calibrating the location of the X-ray beam and the SLI laser beams.
  5. Black dots which are distributed randomly on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s calibration target plates, where the top plate is 5mm (0.2 inches) higher than the lower plate. The dots are for calibrating the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s sensor head location.

Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover replica will also replicate this calibration target but most likely not with the materials that the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL’s calibration target uses. We will utilize what we can get our hands on and definitely will replicate the appearance structure like the real one. But naturally, since our Perseverance Mars Rover replica‘s PIXL does not work like the real PIXL, it will not need to calibrate. 

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL will collect a huge amount of information and the operating hours often will go up to 16 hours. Therefore, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s PIXL also has to work at night when the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is resting. Although our Mars Rover replica does not process any data or information, you can use whenever you like with the remote, 

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Science Instrument of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

MOXIE of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover – part 2

Even though the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover itself cost around 2.7 billion dollars to build, the value MOXIE will produce and the experiences that will be gained are far more than that. As mentioned before, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE’s goal is not only to make oxygen for humans to breathe but also potentially to help with burning rocket fuel. This ensures that astronauts can come back to Earth from Mars (if human exploration on Mars becomes possible one day). Oxygen tanks are always the heaviest items on a spacecraft. If the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE is successful and scientists can see that in the future more and larger MOXIE instruments will make enough oxygen on Mars and store it into tanks, it will save countless resources and money for space missions.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE can produce oxygen at a rate of up to 10 g/h. To make it more realizable for us, this can support a puppy to live. But for humans, we will need the rate to go up to 20 to 30 g/h. For the time being, it only runs for one hour each time as instructed. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE is only a prototype to run trial tests to make oxygen. In the future, around 20 years from now, a full-size MOXIE is expected to be built for Mars human exploration missions, and the oxygen rate will be needed is around 2000 to 3000 g/h, which is about 200 times more than the MOXIE on Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover can so now. Even though MOXIE now cannot produce a big amount of oxygen due to lack of sufficient space and power, nor can it store the oxygen produced, needless to say, this is a necessary start.

There are three main components for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE: sensor panel assembly, scroll compressor, and the SOXE(Solid Oxide Electrolyzer) assembly. MOXIE will collect carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and then get rid of the unwanted particles by a filter. We might or might not make the MOXIE replica for our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover

Since the Martian atmosphere is around 170 times thinner compared to Earth, if letting the air at ambient pressure enter the reactive core, it won’t make enough oxygen. Therefore, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE will need to compress the air by itself in order to have a high carbon dioxide density. The compressor will compress the filtered air to a pressure level similar to Earth’s pressure. Then a process called electrolysis will split the carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon monoxide by heat and electricity at 800 Celsius, or 1472 Fahrenheit. At the same time, since the electrochemical reaction is running at such a high temperature, a very sophisticated insulating system is protecting all the equipment from being damaged by the heat. The final step is to measure the amount, the purity of the oxygen and calculate the efficiency of the system before releasing the oxygen into the Martian atmosphere.

Since the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s MOXIE instrument is located inside of the rover’s body and you cannot really it from the outside unless you open it up, we may or may not replicate it. If we do make a MOXIE replica for our 1:2 Perseverance replica in the future, we will replicate the appearance structure, but not the functions, so you won’t need to worry about it getting too hot like the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.