If you spent any time studying the nursery of raw paintings from Nas’s persistence Mars Rover, you may have encountered an unusual topic: a tiny, intricate maze imprinted in a small plate, photographed over and over.
Why is it Persistence of rover So obsessed with this little labyrite? It turns out that the maze is a calibration goal – one of 10 for a constant scanning environment with Raman & Luminiscens for an organic and chemical instrument, otherwise known for the acronyms of entertainment, Sherloc.
This Sherlock Holmes -Inspired tool is designed to detect organic compounds and other minerals on Mars That might mean Signs of ancient microbial life. To do this exactly, the system must be carefully calibrated and there comes a maze.
Located on a seven-foot Rover robot hand (2.1 meters), Sherloc uses spectroscopic techniques-a half-ride and fluorescent spectroscopy-for the analysis of Martian rocks. In order to provide accurate measurements, it must routinely calibrate its tools using a set of reference materials with specific properties. They are mounted on the board attached to the front of the body of the rover: the goal of the Sherloc calibration.
“Calibration goals serve for multiple purposes, which primarily include the training of the Sherloc wavelength wavelength, the Sherloc Laser Scan Mirror Mirrors and the supervision of the focus and the state of the laser’s health,” Kyle Uckert, Chief Researcher of Deputy for Sherloc at NASA in NASA
The goal is arranged in two rows, each inhabited with small patchs with carefully selected materials.
The top row includes three critical calibration materials: aluminum galius nitrid (algan) on sapphire discs; UV-Raspring of the material of diffusion; and Marski meteorite Sau008, whose mineral makeup is already known and helps to reconcile the wavelength calibration with true March geology.
You will also find a maze here. Why a maze? “Sherloc refers to solving puzzles and the better the puzzle than the maze!” says Uckert. The purpose of the target of the labirin is the calibration of the positioning of the mirror of the laser scanner and to characterize the focus of the laser, which requires the goal with a sharp contrasting spectral answers. The maze serves this purpose well. “
The maze is made of chrome lines of thickness only 200 microns (approximately twice the width of human hair) printed on silicon glass. “There are no repetitive samples, and the spectrum of chrome lining is different from the basic glass of the silicon,” Uckert says. This allows the focus to measure and the accuracy of the laser with extreme precision.
If you look at the maze carefully, you will also notice a portrait of Sherlock Holmes in the center. While this is a cheeky nod, it serves the practical function. “Sherloc spectral maps can solve the chrome lines of 200 microns thick and the silhouette of Sherlock Holmes 50 microns in the middle of the maze,” Uckert notes.
Like a portrait, the lower half of the goal of the Sherloc calibration also serves a double purpose: spectral calibration of instruments and testing of space materials. Contains five material samples used in modern universeIncluding some materials you could meet, such as Teflon, up-Tex and Kevlara. And do not miss the “fun” target in this order-a geocache marker that supports the polycarbonate goal, and really has a connection with Sherlock Holmes.
These materials are actively tested in Mars conditions to determine how they are held in situ over time, which is crucial to planning a red planet’s human research exploration. “Keep in mind that we use all these materials for a fine adjustment of Sherloc,” Uckert adds. “As a bonus, space materials support a unique science that will help you to make future astronauts safe.”
If all this Sherlock Holmes Easter eggs associated with the goal of the Sherloc calibration are not enough for you, there is one last relationship. Sherloc has a color camera as part of its instrumentation package that sometimes paints a target, and is called a wide -angle topographic sensor for surgery and engineering.
Yes, Sherloc’s side strike is called Watson.
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