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Keeping it Cool (…or Warm!)

December 09, 2008

This is a series of three rotating images. The first image shows the body of the Mars Science Laboratory rover with the tubes from the rover's 'radiator' system on the outside and inside of the body. The second image is a technical illustration of the outline of the tubes by themselves, with different parts of the system highlighted in red, green, blue and yellow. The final image is of the team of 14 engineers who worked on this part of the rover. Two women and twelve men are on the team.

If the car-size Mars Science Laboratory rover overheats or if it stalls because it's cold, you can't call a tow truck on Mars! To keep the rover running, engineers just installed a pump system similar to a car's radiator. The pump circulates temperature-regulating fluid through the rover's body with 200 feet of tubes.

Mars' temperature can change dramatically from day to night. Sensitive equipment (such as computers, radio transmitters, science instruments and batteries) can only operate at certain temperatures. The pump works together with other parts to cool the rover when it's too hot or to redirect excess heat from its power source if it's too cold.

On Mars, the pump must run constantly, and if it failed, the rover would die. Now, with the radiator system connected, the team can test how it works with the rover's parts, ensuring the rover keeps its cool (or heat) on Mars!

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Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech


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