2012 January 20

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), known as Curiosity, has been launch the November 26th 2011.

The MSL is a rover which mission is to determine the “habitability” of the red planet and to achieve its goal is equipped, among others, with the REMS (Rover Environmental Monitoring Station). REMS will provide journal reports of the atmospheric conditions of the Mars regions in which the vehicle will be. The station is equipped with a control unit and multiple sensors to measure parameters such as the atmospheric pressure, humidity, ultraviolet radiation of sun, wind speed and direction (including vertical movements) and air and soil temperature.
Crisa, led by the Astrobiology Centre (INSA-CDIC), is the prime contractor for REMS. This instrument was born from the cooperation between the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To communicate with the Earth, Curiosity is equipped with the High Gain Antenna System (HGAS), capable of concentrating the energy in a single direction. Being directional it can aim by itself, so the vehicle doesn’t need to move and saves energy. This way, scientific data of the different instruments and information about the rover status will be communicated, as well as the necessary instructions will be received, all of it without orbiters. De design of the antenna is based on the technology of radiators in X-band developed by CASA Espacio, already tested in satellites as Spainsat, Envisat and Galileo.

SENER has contributed to the mission by developing the aim mechanism HGAG (High Gain Antenna Gimbal) of the high gain antenna, which will permit a direct bidirectional communication between rover and Earth. The HGAG is a two degrees of liberty aim mechanism, elevation on azimuth, which is integrated on the rover’s platform to properly aim.
Each liberty degree moves individually by an actuator to achieve the speeds and precisions required. The mechanism counts also with an in launch mooring system, which will be liberates once the rover will be on Mars.

In the Earth, the three space complexes of NASAS’s Deep Space Network, Madrid, Camberra and Goldstone, will work together to enable a continuous communication with the rover, allowing in such a way the correct development of the mission. The operation, management and maintenance of the Madrid Centre, MDSCC, is responsibility of INSA.