The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA is short for the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer. You may think of it as a weather station, which essentially is a set of sensors for measuring and collecting mainly the following information:
- wind speed
- wind direction
- temperature
- pressure
- humidity
- amount of dust particles
- size of dust particles
- radiation
The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA has several components and they are located in multiple locations on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover:
- on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s mast’s neck
- on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s top deck
- on the front left and right sides of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s body
- on the interior of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s body
Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will perfectly replicate the MEDA instrument’s appearance structure but there will not be any actual sensors and it is not a real weather station.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA’s sensors are air temperature sensors, radiation, and dust sensor, relative humidity sensor, thermal infrared sensor, wind sensors, and instrument control unit sensors. With these sensors, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA will be able to work as a weather station, not only to study the atmospheric condiction of Mars but also to predict Mars’s future weather. This has great meaning because one day, there is a chance humans will set foot on Mars, and they will need to know daily weather reports just like we do on Earth.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA has a mass of 5.5kg or 12 lbs. and the maximum power it will consume is 17W which depends on the scale of the measurements. Our Mars Rover Replica‘s MEDA will be half the size as the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s MEDA, but the weight is not half the weight. We aim to find materials that are strong but lightweight for that.
If you are interested in our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, you can check out [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary].