ExoMars Dosing Station prototype
Date: 02 June 2011
Depicts: Placing the top carousel in the vacuum chamber
Copyright: ESA - A. Pacros
The ExoMars dosing station, a part of the Sample Preparation and Distribution System (SPDS) which is designed to transport Martian soil samples collected by the drill to the instruments inside the ExoMars rover, was tested in conditions simulating Martian gravity during a parabolic flight campaign that ran from 7 to 9 June 2011.
The experiment consists of a vacuum chamber (0.6 m in diameter and 0.55 m in height), a vacuum pump and the related electronics system mounted on a rack (1.5 m in length, 0.63 m in height and 0.66 m in width).
The experiment comprises a carousel system and the ExoMars dosing station prototype. The feeding system (top carousel) includes 30 sample carrier tubes and the bottom carousel includes 60 sample receiving tubes (with each tube carrying 5ml) so that two tubes could be used in each parabola; one for receiving the test sample and one for collecting the remaining powder from the dosing station cleaning process before the following parabola.
This photograph shows the top carousel being installed in the vacuum chamber, in Novespace laboratory facilities in Bordeaux, France, during the preparation week before testing. This carousel simulates the crushing station of the ExoMars rover.
