Radiation and Dust Sensor for Mars Environmental Dynamic Analyzer Onboard M2020 Rover
V. Apéstigue, Alejandro Gonzalo, J. J. Jiménez, Justin Boland, M. T. Lemmon, Jose de Mingo, Elisa García-Menéndez, J. Rivas, Joaquín Azcue, Laurent Bastide, Nuria Andrés-Santiuste, J. Martínez-Oter, Miguel González-Guerrero, Alberto Martín-Ortega, Daniel Toledo, Francisco Alvarez-Rios, Felipe Serrano, Boris Martín-Vodopivec, J. Manzano, R. L. Heredero, I. Carrasco, Sergio Aparicio, Ángel Carretero, D. MacDonald, Lori B. Moore, Maria de los Ángeles Alcacera, Jose Fernández-Viguri, Israel Martín, Margarita Yela, Maite Álvarez, Paula Manzano, José Martı́n, Juan del Hoyo, Manuel Reina, R. Urquí, J. A. Rodríguez‐Manfredi, Manuel de la Torre Juárez, Christina Hernandez, Elizabeth Córdoba-Lanús, Robin M. Leiter, A. D. Thompson, S.N. Madsen, M. D. Smith, Daniel Viúdez‐Moreiras, Alfonso Saiz‐Lopez, A. Sánchez‐Lavega, L. Gómez, Germán Martínez, Francisco Gómez-Elvira, Ignacio Arruego
Abstract
The Radiation and Dust Sensor is one of six sensors of the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer onboard the Perseverance rover from the Mars 2020 NASA mission. Its primary goal is to characterize the airbone dust in the Mars atmosphere, inferring its concentration, shape and optical properties. Thanks to its geometry, the sensor will be capable of studying dust-lifting processes with a high temporal resolution and high spatial coverage. Thanks to its multiwavelength design, it will characterize the solar spectrum from Mars' surface. The present work describes the sensor design from the scientific and technical requirements, the qualification processes to demonstrate its endurance on Mars' surface, the calibration activities to demonstrate its performance, and its validation campaign in a representative Mars analog. As a result of this process, we obtained a very compact sensor, fully digital, with a mass below 1 kg and exceptional power consumption and data budget features.