Microscopy, electrochemistry, and conductivity analyzer (MECA) payload on Mars ´07 Phoenix lander

Author

Shirbacheh, Mike ; Hecht, Michael ; Bell, Julie L. ; Mogensen, Claus

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA

fYear

2005

fDate

5-12 March 2005

Firstpage

279

Lastpage

291

Abstract

The Mars environmental compatibility assessment (MECA), originally sponsored by NASA´s Human Exploration and Development of Space Office, was planned to be launched as payload on the 2001 Mars surveyor lander which was cancelled as a result of the Mars climate orbiter and Mars polar lander failures in 1999. As originally planned, MECA was designed to analyze Martian soil for properties that might pose hazards to future astronauts. Renamed the microscopy, electrochemistry, and conductivity analyzer, MECA is now a payload on the Mars Phoenix lander, scheduled for launch in 2007

Keywords

Mars; aerospace instrumentation; electrochemistry; microscopy; planetary rovers; space vehicles; Mars climate orbiter; Mars environmental compatibility assessment; Mars polar lander; Mars surveyor lander; Martian soil analysis; NASA human exploration and development of space; Phoenix lander; conductivity analyzer; electrochemistry analyzer; microscopy analyzer; Atomic force microscopy; Ice; Mars; Optical microscopy; Payloads; Probes; Robots; Soil; Surface topography; Thermal conductivity;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2005 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8870-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2005.1559322

Filename

1559322