ExoMars: Sample Preparation and Distribution System and Instruments under Development

Paper number

IAC-13,A3,3B,7,x18121

Author

Dr. Peter Hofmann, Kayser-Threde GmbH, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Lutz Richter, Kayser-Threde GmbH, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Wolfgang Schulte, Kayser-Threde GmbH, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Herbert Mosebach, Kayser-Threde GmbH, Germany

Year

2013

Abstract

‎Kayser-Threde is significantly involved in payload support systems developments for the ExoMars 2018 ‎mission developed in Europe. Kayser-Threde's main activity, under ESA / TAS-Italy contract, is to design ‎and breadboard the ExoMars Sample Preparation and Distribution System (SPDS) for ExoMars, ‎consisting of a crushing/milling station and various sample distribution mechanisms accommodated in ‎the Rover. The SPDS is a highly sophisticated system which prepares and distributes samples collected ‎from subsurface by means of a drill to a suite of experiments. Kayser-Threde supports also the ExoMars ‎industrial prime TAS-Italy with payload analytical integration (and infrastructure) for the instruments ‎embedded in the so-called Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD) for the SPDS elements. Moreover, some ‎scientific instruments, or part of them, are presently being studied and breadboarded by Kayser-Threde, ‎such as

• A Raman Instrument (Spanish lead) allowing identification of mineralogy and - even more important ‎for the ExoMars Mission – of biogenic signatures for particles down to single bio-organisms like ‎bacteria or spores. ‎

• A high resolution camera (HRC) mounted on the rover mast and developed jointly with the DLR ‎planetary research institute in Berlin (DLR-PF).‎

The paper will focus on current SPDS breadboards. The complete SPDS subsystem now has been ‎breadboarded and assembled, and first full functional test results will be presented.‎

Abstract document

IAC-13,A3,3B,7,x18121.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-13,A3,3B,7,x18121.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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