Martian environmental chamber: Dust system injection

Abstract

The aim of this work is to describe the development and implementation of an experimental setup able to reproduce some characteristics of the Martian atmosphere. The development of such setup fits into the context of MicroMED project, that foresees the development of an optical particle counter to be accommodated on the ExoMars 2020 Surface Platform, as part of the suite of sensors named Dust Complex. MicroMED will perform the first direct measurement of the size distribution of the powder close to Martian surface. The experimental setup is able to reproduce the characteristics of the Martian atmosphere: pressure, atmospheric composition, the actual temperature in which MicroMED will operate (from 20 C to 40 C) and the most important thing: the presence of suspended dust. The main result obtained in this work was the right configuration of an experimental setup in which to test sensors or instruments that work in Martian conditions. In particular, a dust injection system has been developed in order to obtain a dust distribution that was localized and without the formation of particles aggregates, for a correct calibration of the instrument.