TR Fastenings Norway has been asked to supply essential rivets and tools for a radar imager for the new NASA Mars Exploration Rover which launches in 2020.
The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), which is designing and developing the radar imager on behalf of NASA, required components that were robust enough to withstand the extreme conditions of Mars’ atmosphere, where temperatures can plummet to -125˚C. Drawing on its experience of working within the telecommunications and energy sector, TR Fastenings Norway was able to tap into the company’s global network of suppliers and deliver the components to FFI within the required timeframe.
The radar imager will be used in Mars’ subsurface experiment, known as RIMFAX. It will add a new dimension to the Rover's toolset by providing the capability to image the shallow subsurface beneath the Rover in unprecedented detail. It will explore the ancient habitability of its field area and select a set of promising samples that will eventually be returned to Earth.
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission is a robotic space project that began in 2003 with the sending of two solar-powered rovers – Spirit and Opportunity – to explore the Martian surface and geology. Primary among the mission’s new scientific goals is to search for a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The new Mars Exploration Rover will build on the work of the other rovers in its scientific goals of searching for evidence of ancient life on Mars.
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