Development of the meda instrument wind sensor deployment mechanisms for the m2020 mission

One of the seven Scientific Instruments on board M2020 rover is MEDA, Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer. MEDA will help prepare for human exploration by providing daily weather report and information on the IR-UV-Vis radiation and wind patterns on Mars. It makes weather measurements including wind speed and direction, pressure, temperature and relative humidity, and also characterize the amount and size of dust particles in the Martian atmosphere near the rover. The paper describes the development of the MEDA Wind Sensors and the solution developed to comply with the functions under the cruise, landing and Mars operation environmental conditions. It also describes the test campaigns done during qualification and acceptance tests. Especial focus is in problems encountered during the qualification test. In particular, the issues related to the Hold Down & Release Mechanism resettable actuator and the Latch Mechanism lubrication degradation are covered, including the investigation to determine the root causes as well as lessons learned.