Romanian specialists will contribute to the building of one of the most sophisticated and advanced space robots – a robotic arm that will be used to gather rock and dust samples on Mars and send them to Earth, according to Agerpres.

„The Romanian team will develop three sets of electronic ground support equipment (EGSE). Two of them will be used in Italy at the Leonardo headquarters and one will be delivered directly to NASA JPL, in the USA, for the last checks before launch,” the Romanian Space Association (ASR) reported on Wednesday.

The mission to return Martian samples back to Earth will see a European 2.5 metre-long robotic arm pick up tubes filled with precious soil from Mars and transfer them to a rocket for an historic interplanetary delivery.

The sophisticated robot, known as the Sample Transfer Arm or STA, will play a crucial role in the success of the Mars Sample Return campaign. The joint endeavour between NASA and ESA aims to bring back Martian samples to the best labs in our planet by 2033. The robotic arm will land on Mars to retrieve the sample tubes NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently collecting from the surface. Able to „see”, „feel” and take autonomous decisions, the Sample Transfer Arm will identify, pick up and transfer the tubes into the first rocket fired off another planet – the Mars Launch System.

Agerpres