In 2033, the first samples from another planet will arrive on Earth, and Romania is participating in this historic mission to Mars, carried out by NASA and ESA.

Romanian specialists will participate in the development of one of the most advanced and advanced space robots – a robotic arm that will be used to take samples of rocks and dust and send them to Earth to answer the question: was there life on Mars?

The Mars Sample Return mission is extremely ambitious. Its architecture includes three space launches from Earth, the first launch from another planet, and a space capsule that will deliver samples from Mars to Earth. They will be able to be studied in the world’s most efficient laboratories with sophisticated advanced technologies.

A European robotic arm — the Sample Transfer Arm (STA) — will play a key role in the mission.

It will be launched to Mars in the second half of this decade and will dock near the location of the American rover Perseverance, which is currently collecting samples from the planet Mars.

Able to “see,” “feel,” and make autonomous decisions, the Sample Transfer Arm identifies, collects, and transfers tubes containing these samples to a container that will be launched into Mars orbit by the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). . The container will then be picked up by a module developed entirely in Europe and delivered to Earth.

The Sample Transfer Arm is a masterpiece of space robotics. It is designed to be autonomous, highly reliable and durable. Its design mimics a human arm, complete with shoulder, elbow and wrist, and has its own brain and built-in eyes. The robot can perform a wide range of movements with seven degrees of freedom.

Romania will make an important contribution to the realization of this advanced technology of the European space industry. Romanian specialists will contribute to the safety of the robotic arm and ensure that it “sees” and correctly interprets reality.

COMOTI — Safety of the robotic arm

COMOTI Turbo Engine National Research Institute is responsible for developing critical equipment for the Mars Sample Return mission called Hold Down & Release Mechanism (HDRM), the technology that will fly to Mars.

HDRMs will perform the role of locking and anchoring the European robotic arm (Sample Transfer Arm) to NASA’s static platform (Sample Retrieval Lander) during launch from Earth, during the journey to Mars and during the hardening phase. The mechanisms will protect the robot arm, preventing it from being damaged during the mission due to mechanical loads and impacts, respectively thermal expansion resulting from exposure to a wide range of temperatures. When the platform reaches Mars, the hardware will release the arm so it can begin its mission.

The complexity of the robotic arm—given its 7 degrees of freedom, length of up to 2.5 meters, and mass of more than 35 kg—makes these three mechanisms complex and critical. They will be completely manufactured in Romania, from design to production and testing of several experimental models, and then the final model ready for launch, and will be the first equipment manufactured by COMOTI to fly into space as part of a planetary exploration mission – proof of the increasing technological maturity of Romanian space.

The mechanisms will have a mechanical interface with a robotic arm developed by the Italian company Leonardo, as well as with a NASA platform developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), so the Romanian team will work with both European and American partners. The COMOTI team will also participate in the integration phases of the robotic arm mechanisms in Italy and on the platform in the USA, which is a unique opportunity to transfer knowledge from ESA and NASA to Romania.

h2. GMV Romania — testing the reliability of the robotic arm

GMV Romania has the task of verifying on the ground before the launch that all the operations, movements and data collected by the sensors of the robotic arm of the Italian company Leonardo are working correctly. Thus, the Romanian team will develop three sets of Electronic Ground Support Equipment (EGSE). Two of these will be used in Italy at Leonardo headquarters, and one will be delivered directly to NASA JPL in the US for final pre-launch testing.

GMV Romania also contributes to the Perception Unit, the development of which is coordinated by GMV Spain, an electronic unit that plays an important role in controlling the robot arm. Inside this device are cameras that feed information to the arm’s algorithms so it can recognize and safely take samples. GMV Romania is involved in the mechanical and structural design work of the Perception Unit, which is carried out by a group of subcontractors from several countries. The Romanian team also offers support to colleagues in Spain to develop algorithms that help the hand “see” its surroundings.

“The contribution of Romania’s industry and research environment to this pioneering NASA-ESA mission is a concrete result of ROSA’s efforts to promote the country’s development of suitable capabilities for planetary exploration missions.” said Dr. Phys. Marius-Ioan Piso, President of the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA).

The European industrial consortium involved in the construction of the sleeve unites companies from Spain, France, Romania, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland and the Czech Republic under the leadership of Leonardo. They will design, manufacture, integrate and test the robotic arm.

How will the Mars Sample Return mission work?

Having arrived at Mars last year, the Perseverance rover has been collecting various samples from the planet. The next launch from Earth, scheduled for 2027, will send the Mars of Ingenuity a Sample Retrieval Lander, a robotic arm to help process the samples, and—newly announced on July 27, 2022—two similar helicopters. a model that has already proven its effectiveness and worked for a year beyond the planned service life.

Two helicopters will be an additional solution for transporting samples to the Sample Retrieval Lander platform. But the main responsibility for this task will be the Perseverance rover.

Next comes a key element of the mission, an ESA-built robotic arm known as the Sample Transfer Arm (STA). It will process tubes containing samples of Martian soil and transfer them to a rocket that will be launched into orbit around the planet Mars. The Mars Ascent Vehicle will be the first spacecraft launched from another planet.

With the samples on board, it will rendezvous in orbit with another spacecraft that will be launched in 2028 as an orbiter to return to Earth. Samples from Mars will be launched into space in a basketball-like capsule, which will be captured and integrated into a space capsule provided by ESA. It will return to the vicinity of Earth, after which it will send samples to Earth.