|
|
Article: ASI delivers robotic arm for NASA'S Mars Phoenix.(Alliance Spacesystems Inc)
- Article from:
- Quality
- Article date:
- June 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
PASADENA, CA -- A new robotic arm destined to dig deep into Mars' polar crust has been completed by Alliance Spacesystems Inc. (ASI), and delivered--one month early--to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for integration onto the Mars Phoenix lander, due for launch to the Red Planet next year.
It will be the first trenching device to visit Mars, and has a different capability than the robotic arms ASI built for the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, says Rend Fradet, ASI president and CEO. "The robotic arm for Phoenix works like a mini-backhoe and is designed to dig a two-foot deep trench in Mars' north-polar region," Fradet says. The long-lived robotic arms on the ...