Mars Exploration Rover

Science Goals

•Determine whether Life ever arose on Mars

•Characterize the Climate of Mars

•Characterize the Geology of Mars

•Prepare for Human Exploration

In some sense, the rovers´ parts are similar to what any living creature would need to keep it "alive" and able to explore. The rover has:

a body:   a structure that protects the rovers´ "vital organs"brains:   computers to process informationtemperature controls:   internal heaters, a layer of insulation, and more “neck” and “head”:  a mast for the cameras to give the rovers a human-scale vieweyes and other “senses”:  cameras and instruments that give the rovers information about their environmentarm:  a way to extend its reachWheels and legs:  parts for mobilityenergy:  batteries and solar panelscommunications:  antennas for "speaking" and "listening"

Size

Rover Parts

Solar panels

Mast

Navigation and Panorama Cameras

Antennas

Arm

The Panoramic Camera (Pancam)

Pancam is a high-resolution color stereo pair of CCD cameras that will be used to image the surface and sky of Mars. The cameras are located on a "camera bar" that sits on top of the mast of the rover.

Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES)

Mini-TES is an infrared spectrometer that can determine the mineralogy of rocks and soils from a distance by detecting their patterns of thermal radiation. All warm objects emit heat, but different objects emit heat differently. This variation in thermal radiation can help scientists identify the minerals on Mars.

Thermal Emission (Infrared) Image

Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT)

The Rock Abrasion Tool is a powerful grinder, able to create a hole 45 millimeters (about 2 inches) in diameter and 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) deep into a rock on the Martian surface. It is located on the Rover arm.

The Microscopic Imager

The Microscopic Imager is a combination of a microscope and a CCD camera that will provide information on the small-scale features of Martian rocks and soils. It will complement the findings of other science instruments by producing close-up views of surface materials.

Mössbauer Spectrometer (MB)

Many of the minerals that formed rocks on Mars contain iron, and the soil is iron-rich. The Mössbauer Spectrometer is an instrument that was specially designed to study iron-bearing minerals.

Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)

The APXS is designed to study the alpha particles and x-rays emitted by rocks and soils in order to determine their elemental chemistry. Alpha particles are emitted during radioactive decay and X-rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation, like light and microwaves.