Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor Robotic Arm

The primary purpose of the Mars Volatiles And Climate Surveyor (MVACS) Robo tic Arm is to support the other MVACS science instruments by digging trench es in the Martian soil; acquiring and dumping soil samples into the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer; positioning the Soil Temperature Probe in the soil; positioning the Robotic Arm Air Temperature Sensor at various heights above the surface, and positioning the Robotic Arm Camera for taking images of t he surface, trench, soil samples, magnetic targets, and other objects of sc ientific interest within its workspace. In addition to data collected from the Robotic Arm sensors during science support operations, the Robotic Arm will perform experiments along with the other science instruments to yield additional information on Martian soil mechanics in the vicinity of the lan der. The experiments include periodic imaging of dumped soil piles, surface scraping and soil chopping experiments, compaction tests, insertion of the various end-effector tools into the soil, and trench cave-in tests. Data f rom the soil mechanics experiments will yield information on Martian soil p roperties such as angle of repose, cohesion, bearing strength, and grain si ze distribution.