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Article: Good to the core.(MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY)(Mini-Corer rugged slide bushing from Honeybee Roboics Ltd.)
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 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)
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Looking for a rugged slide bushing? Then consider the flanged bushing under development for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory mission. To be space qualified, it must not only withstand the 62 g produced by takeoff, but also vacuum, vibration, fine Martian dust, and temperatures down to -70[degrees]C.
The bushing is part of a device called the Mini-Corer, which will drill into the Martian surface to collect soil and rock samples for chemical analysis. It will account for 85 percent of all the science the Mars Science Laboratory will perform.
The Mini-Corer itself consists of a fist-size box of motors, gears, and bearings. It sits inside a shoebox-size ...