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. 2022 Apr 10;22(8):2907.
doi: 10.3390/s22082907.

Radiation and Dust Sensor for Mars Environmental Dynamic Analyzer Onboard M2020 Rover

Victor Apestigue  1 , Alejandro Gonzalo  1 , Juan J Jiménez  1 , Justin Boland  2 , Mark Lemmon  3 , Jose R de Mingo  1 , Elisa García-Menendez  1 , Joaquín Rivas  1 , Joaquín Azcue  1 , Laurent Bastide  4 , Nuria Andrés-Santiuste  1 , Javier Martínez-Oter  1 , Miguel González-Guerrero  4 , Alberto Martin-Ortega  1 , Daniel Toledo  1 , Francisco Javier Alvarez-Rios  1 , Felipe Serrano  1 , Boris Martín-Vodopivec  1 , Javier Manzano  1 , Raquel López Heredero  1 , Isaías Carrasco  1 , Sergio Aparicio  1 , Ángel Carretero  1 , Daniel R MacDonald  2 , Lori B Moore  2 , María Ángeles Alcacera  1 , Jose A Fernández-Viguri  1 , Israel Martín  1 , Margarita Yela  1 , Maite Álvarez  1 , Paula Manzano  4 , Jose A Martín  1 , Juan C Del Hoyo  1 , Manuel Reina  1 , Roser Urqui  4 , Jose A Rodriguez-Manfredi  1   5 , Manuel de la Torre Juárez  2 , Christina Hernandez  2 , Elizabeth Cordoba  2 , Robin Leiter  2 , Art Thompson  2 , Soren Madsen  2 , Michael D Smith  6 , Daniel Viúdez-Moreiras  1   5 , Alfonso Saiz-Lopez  7 , Agustín Sánchez-Lavega  8 , Laura Gomez-Martín  1 , Germán M Martínez  9 , Francisco J Gómez-Elvira  1 , Ignacio Arruego  1
Affiliations

Radiation and Dust Sensor for Mars Environmental Dynamic Analyzer Onboard M2020 Rover

Victor Apestigue et al. Sensors (Basel). .

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.

Keywords: MEDA; Mars; Mars 2020; RDS; atmosphere; clouds; dust; instrumentation; ozone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Laurent Bastide, Miguel González-Guerrero, Paula Manzano, Roser Urqui—External Consultor at INTA. Francisco Javier Alvarez-Rios, Javier Manzano, Sergio Aparicio—Formerly at INTA.

Figures

Figure 3
Figure 3
RDS exploded view: (1) shock supressors, (2) HEPA filter, (3) lower-level structure, (4) camera base plate, (5) discrete photodetector PCB, (6) camera subassemblie, (7) intermediate-level structure, (8) upper level structure, (9) lateral optical channel subassemblie, (10) top channel subassemblie, (11) octogonal top cover, and (12) sapphire window. The rectangle includes a detail (reversed view) of the tight integration between RDS-DP and SkyCam sub-assemblies: (5a) semi-rigid RDS-DP optical head PCB, (5b) semi-rigid RDS-DP processing electronics PCB, (6a) Skycam optical head, (6b) Skycam electronic box, and (6c) Skycam I/F internal cable.
Figure 1
Figure 1
RDS assembly with field of view detail for each detecting technology: (a) RDS-discrete photodetectors; (b) RDS-SkyCam.
Figure 2
Figure 2
RDS final position on the M2020 rover with its lateral channels FoV represented.
Figure 4
Figure 4
RDS optomechanical sets: (a) detail of the exploded view of a TOP channel subassembly: (1) radiation shield, (2) photodiode, (3) interferential filter, (4) FoV mask, (5) sapphire window, and (6) samarium–cobalt magnet; (b) normalized signal of a photodetector as a function of the light incidence angle for several FoV masks with the same mechanical dimensions but different surface treatments.
Figure 5
Figure 5
UV interferential filters final performance.
Figure 6
Figure 6
First step of the RDS integration process. It can be seen the RDS-DP optical head (1) PCB, the processing electronics PCB (2) and the flex cable (3) that links both.
Figure 7
Figure 7
RDS, electrical, and electronics scheme.
Figure 8
Figure 8
(a) PQV cycles description (3 × 1.5 MY); (b) RDS PQV assemblies under test.
Figure 8
Figure 8
(a) PQV cycles description (3 × 1.5 MY); (b) RDS PQV assemblies under test.
Figure 9
Figure 9
RDS-SkyCam flight model (FM) pre-integrated in the RDS structure.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Outdoor testing of MER EM HazCam shows need for optical redesign for RDS-SkyCam.
Figure 11
Figure 11
MER HazCam has a reflective ND1.1 filter on element 1, causing significant unwanted internal reflections.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Raytrace of improved RDS-SkyCam optic through the RDS top cover sapphire window and new absorbing ND1.1 first element.
Figure 13
Figure 13
One million simulated rays using FRED aided in redesigning baffles and internal paint.
Figure 14
Figure 14
RDS-SkyCam image of Earth sky with new optic. Significant improvement over inherited design.
Figure 15
Figure 15
RDS-SkyCam image of Earth sky with new optic. Sun is visible through the ND5 filter while measurements of the sky brightness are simultaneously possible.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Final visual inspection of the RDS integrated on the Perseverance Rover.
Figure 17
Figure 17
Random vibration profiles comparison. The orange line represents the initial requirement before isolation and the final profile performed over the shock absorbers with the dummy. The blue line represents the new profile for RDS-alone z-axis testing. Greyline represents the new profile for in-plane testing.
Figure 18
Figure 18
(a) On top, the RDS offset and TRF calibration set-up. On the bottom, the RDS angular calibration. (b) RDS responsivity calibration.
Figure 19
Figure 19
(a) Phase functions of equal cylindrical particles computed at 0.75 μm for a set of reff values and a constant veff = 0.3. (b) Variation of the equal-cylindrical-particle extension cross-section with reff at 0.75 μm for a set of veff values.
Figure 20
Figure 20
(a) Variation of the single scattering albedo with reff at different wavelengths and for constant values of veff and n. (b) Variation of the single scattering albedo with k = img(n) at different wavelengths, and for fixed values of reff, veff and m = real(n).
Figure 21
Figure 21
Variation of sky brightness with zenith and azimuth angles simulated for different values of dust opacity. Black dots indicate the angular positions of lateral RDS sensors. In addition to these observations, top channels will provide similar measurements but for a zenith angle ~0°.
Figure 22
Figure 22
Same as Figure 21 but for different values of the effective radius reff.
Figure 23
Figure 23
Simulated daytime RDS lateral and TOP-6 sensors output intensities for different dust opacities (or number densities). The rest of the dust parameters were set to reff = 1.25 μm, veff = 0.22, and n = 1.5 + 0.0004i.
Figure 24
Figure 24
RDS LAT and TOP-6 sensors’ measurements in INTA/ARN on 6 (red solid line) and 7 (blue solid line) July 2020. The bands delimited by black dashed lines indicate the time intervals for which the Sun is near the sensors FoV.
Figure 25
Figure 25
(a) RDS TOP-4 (450 nm), TOP-5 (650 nm), TOP-6 (750 nm), and TOP-8 (950 nm) measurements at twilight. (b) Same as left panel but using the second gain factor.
Figure 26
Figure 26
Aerosol optical depth derived from RDS observations and AERONET at 750 nm for the 3-day campaign period.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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