Lunar gravity effects on the ExoMars dosing station prototype
Date: 07 June 2011
Depicts: Lunar gravity effects on the ExoMars dosing station prototype
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.
During this campaign, Europe’s Airbus A300 Zero-G, operated by Novespace, performed a series of flights simulating for the first time lunar (0.16 g) and Martian (0.4 g) gravity conditions. Engineers from ESA's ExoMars programme carried out experiments to characterise the dosing system’s behaviour under these special conditions.
Even though the system is developed to operate in Martian gravity conditions only, the experiment also run during the lunar parabolas. This photograph shows the ExoMars dosing station after a lunar parabola. Some powder was deposited next to the dosing station due to the fact that the powder was not flowing down the feeding tubes in lunar gravity.
