MEDA, THE NEW INSTRUMENT FOR MARS ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS FOR THE MARS 2020 MISSION

摘要

The Mars 2020 rover mission is part of NASA's MarsrnExploration Program, a long-term effort of roboticrnexploration of the red planet. Designed to advancernhigh-priority science goals for Mars exploration, thernmission will address key questions about the potentialrnfor life on Mars. The mission will also providernopportunities to gather knowledge and demonstraterntechnologies that address the challenges of futurernhuman expeditions to Mars.rnThe Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA)rnis an integrated full suite of sensors designed to addressrnthe Mars 2020 mission objectives of characterization ofrndust size and morphology and surface weatherrnmeasurements.MEDA system consists of one control unit and 10rnseparated sensor enclosures distributed in differentrnpositions along the Mars 2020 rover. MEDA isrncomposed of an ARM-based control computer with itsrnflight software application, two wind sensors includingrnmixed ASICs inside, five air temperature sensors, onernsky pointing camera complemented with 16 photodetectorsrnlooking up and around, one thermal infraredrnsensor using five measurement bands, one relativernhumidity sensor, one pressure sensor and the harnessrnthat interconnects all of them. It is a complex systemrnintended to operate in one of the harshest environmentsrnpossible, the Mars surface, for many years to come.rnThis will become a short term reality thanks to therncombination of a strong international science teamrndriving the science and system requirements workingrntogether with a powerful industrial organization torndesign and build the instrument. The instrument isrnbeing built right now, with its Critical Design Reviewrnat the end of 2016, and the flight model to be providedrnin 2018.rnThis paper summarizes the main scientific objective ofrnthe MEDA instrument, the links between the Missionrnand the MEDA science objectives, and the challengingrnenvironmental Mars requirements. It will then focusrnon the engineered definition of the instrument, showingrnthe overall architecture of the instrument and itsrnsensors, including a discussion of the heritage from REMS.