Rover and Subsystems
The rover will be deployed by the robotic arm and set down next to the lander. The scientific objective of the rover is to investigate the geologic and climatic history of the ancient highlands of Mars. The objectives will be met by color stereo imaging of the martian surface, identification of elemental and mineralogic composition of martian rocks, determination of the fine-scale textural properties of surface material, location of rocks and soils likely to preserve evidence of ancient martian life, and collection and storage of samples. The rover has a mass of 45 kg, made up of a .53 x .76 meter platform mounted on 6 individually-driven wheels. The wheels extend out beyond the platform on all sides, giving a wheelbase of .60 by 1.04 meters. A mast extends up from the front of the rover and can be extended up to 198 cm above the ground. The rover will cover about 50 meters/hour, with a top speed of 6 cm/sec. It is equipped with a warm electronics box, a panoramic camera mounted on the mast 121 cm above the ground, wide-angle navigation cameras (Pancam) mounted at the top of the mast, a small thermal emission spectrometer (mini-TES) mounted at the bottom of the mast, a coring tool, a rock sample storage box, and a 0.8 m long robotic instrument arm. On the instrument arm are mounted a microscopic imager, an alpha-proton-X-ray spectrometer (APXS), and a Mossbauer spectrometer. Collected samples may be stored for collection and return to Earth by a later mission. Solar panels will provide 200 Watt-hrs of energy during the day in summer, decreasing to about 100 during southern mid-winter. Rover operations are expected to continue for one earth year, during which time the rover will cover up to 100 km.