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UPC technology lands on Mars
The Curiosity robotic vehicle, which incorporates wind sensor chips designed at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), has begun to send signals to Earth from the weather station.
18/09/2012
href="https://saladepremsa2.upc.edu/en"">Department of Electronic Engineering.
Wind speed can be calculated from the temperature change the chips undergo when they are cooled by the wind. The 30 silicon chips heat up with the help of three resistors deposited on their surface. Etched into the surface of the chips on a micrometric scale are the UPC's logo and the names of the researchers who developed them: Luis Castañer, Vicente Jiménez, Manuel Domínguez, Lukasz Kowalski and Jordi Ricart.
The Curiosity weather station has already begun to send signals from Mars and the wind sensors are now being calibrated. This means that the sensors are operational, although it appears that the connections on a small number of chip resistors were damaged during landing on 6 August. Nevertheless, the functionality for undertaking wind measurements will be virtually complete given that Curiosity is equipped with two wind sensors.
These sensors are located on each side of the robot's mast, forming a 90º angle to avoid a shadow effect and changes in wind speed and direction. Curiosity, which weighs 900 kilos and is the size of a small car, is the fourth spacecraft to land on the planet's surface.
Scientists expect to begin to receive daily data on wind speed on Mars in the coming weeks. The weather reports that will be issued for one year from Mars will help to determine whether environmental conditions are favourable for microbial life. The weather station, known as REMS, measures air and ground temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, ultraviolet radiation and wind speed and direction. It is the first Spanish-made scientific instrument to reach Mars and was manufactured by the Centre for Astrobiology (CAB) in Madrid. So far, the first data received reveal the weather conditions on Mars and can be viewed on the project’s website.
Data collection and transmission from Mars are one of the highlights of the UPC's participation in the space mission following eight years of work. The technology was created in the clean room of the Barcelona School of Telecommunications Engineering within the Barcelona Knowledge Campus (BKC), a strategic urban campus that has been recognised as an International Campus of Excellence by the Spanish Ministry of Education.
The scientific team led by Luis Castañer is already busy developing a new wind sensor for Mars for a potential joint mission between Spain, Russia, Finland and China. The future mission is scheduled to launch a network of 16 weather stations on Mars that will send information to a spacecraft in orbit and provide global data on the planet.
Wind speed can be calculated from the temperature change the chips undergo when they are cooled by the wind. The 30 silicon chips heat up with the help of three resistors deposited on their surface. Etched into the surface of the chips on a micrometric scale are the UPC's logo and the names of the researchers who developed them: Luis Castañer, Vicente Jiménez, Manuel Domínguez, Lukasz Kowalski and Jordi Ricart.
The Curiosity weather station has already begun to send signals from Mars and the wind sensors are now being calibrated. This means that the sensors are operational, although it appears that the connections on a small number of chip resistors were damaged during landing on 6 August. Nevertheless, the functionality for undertaking wind measurements will be virtually complete given that Curiosity is equipped with two wind sensors.
These sensors are located on each side of the robot's mast, forming a 90º angle to avoid a shadow effect and changes in wind speed and direction. Curiosity, which weighs 900 kilos and is the size of a small car, is the fourth spacecraft to land on the planet's surface.
Scientists expect to begin to receive daily data on wind speed on Mars in the coming weeks. The weather reports that will be issued for one year from Mars will help to determine whether environmental conditions are favourable for microbial life. The weather station, known as REMS, measures air and ground temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, ultraviolet radiation and wind speed and direction. It is the first Spanish-made scientific instrument to reach Mars and was manufactured by the Centre for Astrobiology (CAB) in Madrid. So far, the first data received reveal the weather conditions on Mars and can be viewed on the project’s website.
Data collection and transmission from Mars are one of the highlights of the UPC's participation in the space mission following eight years of work. The technology was created in the clean room of the Barcelona School of Telecommunications Engineering within the Barcelona Knowledge Campus (BKC), a strategic urban campus that has been recognised as an International Campus of Excellence by the Spanish Ministry of Education.
The scientific team led by Luis Castañer is already busy developing a new wind sensor for Mars for a potential joint mission between Spain, Russia, Finland and China. The future mission is scheduled to launch a network of 16 weather stations on Mars that will send information to a spacecraft in orbit and provide global data on the planet.
For more information on wind sensors, see:
A foot on Mars with Curiosity
A foot on Mars with Curiosity
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