Aviation Today: “The Robotic Arm and Instruments That Will Drill, Analyze and Visualize Mars”

About a month ago, NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover landed on the Red Planet.  Since then, it’s been sending back audio recordings, spotting dust devils, showing off its belly, and generally going about its important scientific mission.

 

We’re proud to have contributed to that mission by providing the rover’s robotic arm, and Aviation Today just did an in-depth article on the role that the robotic arm is playing.

 

One of the points they covered was the strength of the robotic arm, which is designed to carry a 45-kg payload.

 

“I compare it to a person, trying to hold a bag of concrete straight out, and then position that bag while holding it, [and] perform work precisely. It is not an insignificant task,” [said] Tom McCarthy, VP of business development for Motiv Space Systems

 

We’re thrilled about the data Perseverance has already sent back from the surface of Mars, and excited to see what it’ll find next.  As Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said:

 

“Perseverance is just getting started, and already has provided some of the most iconic visuals in space exploration history. It reinforces the remarkable level of engineering and precision that is required to build and fly a vehicle to the Red Planet.”

 

Check out the entire Aviation Today article.