News Center - Mars Rovers going strong thanks to
technology from materials developed by DuPont Electronic & Communication
Technologies
Mars Rover with DuPont Products
Circuits made of DuPont(TM) Pyralux®, like ones for the
Mars Exploration Rover's panoramic cameras, helped meet
tight space and weight requirements.
Insider News - January 27, 2005 - Jobwerx News - Over
one year ago Spirit and Opportunity Rovers landed on Mars, and they
are still roaming the planet. Their durable parts from DuPont science
help in sending back crystal-clear images of the Martian surface. DuPont(TM)
Riston® dry film photoresists and ImageMaster(TM) phototooling films
that provide reliable fine-line circuit images, ensuring consistent
quality signals and performance.
For more than forty years, DuPont has been making these products smaller
and more durable, faster and better, with environmental resistance.
DuPont electronic materials provide key benefits such as volume and
weight savings, in addition to the bend and twist flexibility. DuPont
Electronic & Communication Technologies is a leading supplier of electronic
materials, fluoropolymers, fluorochemicals and imaging technologies.
These same technologies are found in Consumers products such as cell
phones, plasma display panels, personal digital assistants (PDAs), video
camcorders, laptop computers and digital cameras, among others.
These Mars rovers have more space for added scientific payload because
of these high-tech products. Bulky wires and cables have been replaced
by flexible circuits made of thin DuPont(TM) Pyralux® laminates and
composites. These flexible circuits connect the "brain" of the rovers
to their parts - the robotic arm, cameras, high gain antenna, wheels
and sensors.
Vibration throughtout the craft is controlled by Pressure-sensitive
tape made of DuPont(TM) Kapton® polyimide film. Pyralux® flexible cables
secured with Kapton® tape offer durable, lightweight environmental resistance
for the temperatures on Mars, ranging from minus 120° Centigrade (minus
184° Farenheit) to 22° C (72° F).
Hundreds of Kapton® strip heaters are used throughout the rovers for
thermal control, ensuring critical warmth needed to maintain operations
in the extremely cold Martian atmosphere. They are wrapped around each
of the motors on the robotic arm to keep the motors and gearboxes running
at optimum temperature and efficiency. Traditional copper wires and
cables have large conductors that can easily allow heat to escape from
the rover electronics module, threatening a shortened mission life.
Kapton® strip heaters significantly reduce that risk and allow the rovers
to use smaller solar panels and batteries.
Kapton® film works with layers of DuPont(TM) Teflon® fluoropolymer resin
and Pyralux® flexible cables to provide power from the Rover Electronics
Module to the hardware components in the rovers.
Metallized Kapton® is used in thermal shielding for heat-sensitive components.
The airbags, so critical to the rovers' successful landings, are threaded
and reinforced with DuPont(TM) Kevlar® brand fiber.
Cell Phone with Pyralux® laminates and
composites
The market demands smaller, lighter cell phones. DuPont
flexible materials provide the solution with DuPont(TM)
Pyralux® AC all polyimide laminate.
Other DuPont inventions have contributed to space exploration. On Apollo
missions to the moon, 20 of the 21 layers in each space suit were made
with DuPont materials, including DuPont(TM) Mylar® polyester film, neoprene
and Kapton®. Today's suits include fewer layers but many of the same
products, in addition to Nomex® and Kevlar® branded fibers. Kevlar®
also was used on the Galileo probe to Jupiter, which included a parachute
made of Kevlar®, and at the International Space Station, where a blanket
made of Kevlar® was used to wrap its inner walls to protect from micrometeorites.
In addition, the Space Station's wings used Kapton® to absorb UV rays.
The DuPont Oval, DuPont(TM), The miracles of science, and Pyralux®,
Kapton®, Riston®, ImageMaster(TM), Teflon®, Kevlar®, Nomex® and Mylar®
are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.
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