Mars, Italy is building the robotic “arm” that will collect rocks on the planet

Here comes the Fetch Rover (and his arm)

While Perseverance continues the operations of collecting the samples, work is being done on Earth to transport them to Earth. To take care of it is the ESA, which is developing the Fetch Rover, a robot who will have to recover the capsules that contain the precious test tubes. The arrival of the Fetch Rover on Mars is scheduled for 2028: the vehicle, according to forecasts, will have to travel in total about 15 kilometers, an average of 200 meters a day for six months. And this is where the robotic arm developed by Leonardo: he will, in fact, take care of it concretely the recovery of the tubes. The name “arm” is not accidental: the robot, in fact, has characteristics very similar to a human limb. It is equipped with a “shoulder”, an “elbow” and a “wrist”, can perform a large number of movements (it has 7 degrees of freedom) and even has a “brain” and “eyes”, that is a set of electronic systems that allow him to locate the capsules (even in poor visibility conditions) and to properly coordinate all the movements for their recovery (identification of the capsules, extraction or lifting from the ground, insertion into the container, closing the lid ).

We go back home

Once the container is closed and sealed, we will have to resume the way home. According to plans, in 2029 the samples will be secured in the Mars Ascent Vehicle (Mav), which will launch from Mars to place the cargo in orbit around the red planet. Here the container will be taken over by the Earth Return Orbiter, another vehicle that ESA plans to launch in 2026 and which represents the third part of the mission, equipped with solar-powered ion thrusters to move into a low orbit and “meet” the Mav. Then, finally, the actual return: the Earth Return Orbiter will move in the direction of our planet and hopefully land in Utah around 2031. Only then will we be able to touch the Martian material firsthand. We can not wait.