The European Space Agency, together with Italian scientists, is creating a robotic arm that will help deliver soil samples from Mars to Earth.
This is reported by the BBC.
The robotic arm has a large range of motion and is human-like, with shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. At the same time, it is equipped with cameras and sensors that act as eyes and brain. The arm is 2.5 m long and can operate autonomously where possible.
She will collect soil sample tubes from the Perseverance rover, put them all in a container, place it on the vehicle that will return to Earth, and close the lid.
Developers hope to have a robotic arm join Perseverance on Mars in 2025, and samples of Martian soil to arrive on Earth by 2033.
"Handling precious Martian samples and preparing them for delivery on an extraordinary journey from Mars to Earth is an amazing feat," informed ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker.
- On February 18, 2021, the Perseverance rover landed on Mars in the Jezero crater. After landing, he took several photos and recorded the sound. On February 22, NASA showed a video of Perseverance landing. Soon the rover began to send panoramic photos and recordings, and on April 5, it successfully landed the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, thereby starting its flights.
- On December 16, Perseverance found the oldest rocks on the surface of the planet, and later took a sample of one of them.
- On July 13 of this year, the Perseverance rover collected the 10th soil sample on Mars as part of its mission.