The engineering cameras (ECAMs) of the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission were re-flown on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission that launched in 2011. The upcoming Mars 2020 rover mission will introduce a new fleet of cameras called the enhanced engineering cameras (EECAMs). These EECAMs will have improved imaging capability, as the technology of the past ECAMs flown on Mars surface missions have become outdated. The EECAMs include six upgraded HazCams, two upgraded NavCams, and a single, newly-conceived CacheCam. The purposes of the HazCams and NavCams remain the same as they were for MER and MSL: to detect hazards to the front and rear of the rover, and to help in navigation across the Martian surface. The CacheCam will be used to take images of samples obtained by the rover’s Sample Caching System. This paper compares the differences in the thermal designs of the ECAMs and EECAMs, their design drivers, and their implications for the mission operations of the Mars 2020 rover.
Thermal Development of the Mars 2020 Enhanced Engineering Cameras
2017-07-16
Preprint
Keine Angabe
Englisch
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