Thin film surface treatments for lowering dust adhesion on Mars Rover calibration targets

    Authors

    F. Sabri; T. Werliner; J. Hoskins; A. C. Schuerger; A. M. Hobbs; J. A. Barreto; D. Britt;R. A. Duran

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Adv. Space Res.

    Keywords

    Mars Rover; dust adhesion; thin film technology; Mars Phoenix mission; SPECTRALON; Astronomy & Astrophysics; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary; Meteorology &; Atmospheric Sciences

    Abstract

    The current generation of calibration targets on Mars Rover serve as a color and radiometric reference for the panoramic camera. They consist of a transparent silicon-based polymer tinted with either color or grey-scale pigments and cast with a microscopically rough Lambertian surface for a diffuse reflectance pattern. This material has successfully withstood the harsh conditions existent on Mars. However, the inherent roughness of the Lambertian surface (relative to the particle size of the Martian airborne dust) and the tackiness of the polymer in the calibration targets has led to a serious dust accumulation problem. In this work, non-invasive thin film technology was successfully implemented in the design of future generation calibration targets leading to significant reduction of dust adhesion and capture. The new design consists of a mu m-thick interfacial layer capped with a nm-thick optically transparent layer of pure metal. The combination of these two additional layers is effective in burying the relatively rough Lambertian surface while maintaining diffuse properties of the samples which is central to the correct operation as calibration targets. A set of these targets are scheduled for flight on the Mars Phoenix mission. (C) 2007 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Advances in Space Research

    Volume

    41

    Issue/Number

    1

    Publication Date

    1-1-2008

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    118

    Last Page

    128

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000253590400015

    ISSN

    0273-1177

    Share

    COinS