On the pages of our website, we have repeatedly written about the development of the Mars 2020 rover, which should go to the Red Planet in a couple of years. Now the project is undergoing an active testing phase, but not so long ago during the tests, the mission was under threat and may be postponed for some time due to a malfunction of the rover's thermal shield.
According to Engadget, the thermal shield should protect the entire system from damage during landing and re-entry into the atmosphere. At this point, the heat shield will have to withstand temperatures up to 2000 degrees Celsius, as well as extremely large pressure drops.
During tests, engineers expose the shield to approximately 20% more heat and pressure than planned to avoid emergency situations. And after recent experiments, it turned out that the screen cracked in the area of the outer edge. Such a "hole" could destroy most of the equipment or even disable the rover. So there is a plus in this situation: it is better to lose one protective shield today and improve the technology than to lose the entire rover and fail the mission. Now engineers will be forced to order a new screen from Lockheed Martin (namely, they are engaged in the production of some components for the upcoming mission) and find ways out of this situation in order to avoid such a problem.
Recall that the rover will go to Mars on the Atlas-5 launch vehicle, and as part of the mission, the geological structure, composition of the atmosphere, soil and natural resources of the Red Planet will be investigated. But the most interesting stage will be the attempt to obtain oxygen in the harsh conditions of the Martian atmosphere.
Vladimir Kuznetsov