Component Helps Perseverance Sample Mars Ewellix (Gothenburg, Sweden) has de - Sampling Mars veloped and manufactured a planetary roller screw that landed on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission. Ewellix worked in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA to develop a roller screw component that would be robust enough to withstand the extreme conditions of outer space and Mars, which can reach -80 ˚C. After a 203-day journey, Perseverance touched down on Mars to search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover's mission is to extract and seal Martian rock and soil samples for testing and onboard storage. NASA will then decide when and where the rover will leave the samples for pickup by a future mission in approximately 2031 to bring them back to Earth for detailed analysis. Perseverance carries 43 sample tubes, 38 of which have been tasked to carry different samples from a variety of geologic units and surface materials. The other five are " witness tubes " that (prior to launch) were loaded with materials geared to capture molecular and particulate contaminants. They'll be opened one at a time on Mars to witness the ambient environment primarily near sample collection sites, so the science team can catalog any impurities that may have traveled with the tube from Earth or contaminants from the spacecraft that may be present during sample collection. Made chiefly of titanium, each sample tube for Perse - verance weighs less than 2 ounces (57 grams) and is less than 6 " long. A white exterior coating guards against the possibility of heating by the Sun potentially changing the chemical composition of the samples after Per - severance deposits the tubes on the surface of Mars. The belly of the rover houses all the equipment and supplies needed to collect samples. It contains a rotating drill carousel - a wheel that contains different drill bits. Next to that are the 43 sample tubes waiting to be filled. While the rover's main arm reaches out and drills rock, the rover belly is home to a small robotic arm that works as a " lab assistant " to the larger arm. The small arm picks up and moves new sample tubes to the drill and transfers filled Ewellix planetary roller screw as per the one adapted for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. (Source: Ewellix) Motion Design, October 2021 Cov ToC 15http://info.hotims.com/79418-936