Mechanical accommodation of Mars Science Laboratory surface thermal requirements

The Chassis structure of the Mars Science Laboratory Rover is designed to be exposed to wide-ranging temperatures throughout all phases of the mission. The most extreme of these conditions occur once the rover has arrived on the Martian surface. The external, uncontrolled, structure is expected to experience a range of temperatures from minus-130degC to 40degC. Payload and housekeeping equipment are mounted on an internal, thermally-controlled panel. The temperature of the internal panel is controlled to range between minus-20degC and 50degC. This paper describes the novel method used for supporting the thermally controlled panel on the uncontrolled structure. The method described allows for large magnitude thermally induced relative motion between the panels while it simultaneously provides a controlled thermal resistivity between the two panels. The resulting design is also capable of withstanding the accelerations of atmospheric entry and provides sufficient stiffness to ensure its motion is significantly de-coupled from that of the launch vehicle.