EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY (ESA)

The Laser Anemometer and Martian Dust Analyzer (LAMDA) is a rover that can be popularly called a "Mars car". equipped with measuring instruments to explore the geological environment of the planet. One of the instruments, LAMDA, has been developed by a Danish consortium consisting of Kirkholm, Innoware A / S and Aarhus University.

LAMDA measures wind speed, wind direction and dust deposition. The technology has been developed at Marslab at Aarhus University, which has Europe's only wind tunnel for simulating wind and dust in Mars' atmosphere.

- The atmospheric pressure on Mars is one hundredth of the Earth, and the temperatures can be as low as minus 120 degrees, says Per Nørnberg, Department of Geology, Aarhus University, and continues:

- Precisely these conditions we can recreate in the wind tunnel at Marslab.



Although the atmosphere is quite thin, a lot of microscopic particles float around - just like when we see dust in a sunbeam. LAMDA emits laser beams in different directions and hits these particles, which reflect some of the laser light back. By measuring on the reflected light, wind speed and direction can be determined. In addition, dust deposits are measured on the instrument, which is valuable information when designing solar cells for Mars.