Contact Info | Brochure

The current application for this telerobotic science facility, a research and containment workcell, is the Mars Curation Facility (MCF).  The MCF technology demonstrator was designed under contract to Lockheed Martin for NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  This prototype facility handles and analyzes soil and rock samples such as those that will someday be returned to Earth from the surface of Mars.  The glovebox is 304L stainless steel, sealed with EPDM gaskets, and is continually purged with dry gaseous nitrogen inside a cleanroom to satisfy bi-directional contamination issues.  An integrated robotic manipulator allows operators to examine samples while working remotely, while four gloveports (gloves not shown) allow direct human interaction if required.  All of the actuators for this cable-driven arm reside in the blue cylinder mounted to the underside of the glovebox, which significantly reduces any electromagnetic or thermal influences that might be introduced to the interior of the box by the motors.  The end effector gripper is actuated using gaseous nitrogen for positive pressure and vacuum.