PanCam taking shape
By Oli Usher, on 8 December 2014
UCL’s contribution to the ExoMars Rover – the European Mars mission scheduled for touchdown in 2019 – is gradually taking shape. Quite literally.
This photo shows a prototype of the main structure of the panoramic camera (PanCam) instrument being machined out of a block of metal. PanCam will be the rover’s primary camera, producing high resolution 3D images of the Martian surface, and it is being being built by scientists and engineers at UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
The structure is known as the ‘optical bench’. All the precision-built optical components, including detectors, lenses, mirrors and filter wheels (below), will be attached to this rigid housing.