KULR’s Thermal Architecture Included In Upcoming Mars Perseverance Rover

NASA-JPL's Perseverance Rover Recently Profiled on 60 Minutes will include KULR's Space-Used Thermal Management Technology

CAMPBELL, Calif., June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KULR Technology Group, Inc. (OTCQB: KULR) (the “Company” or “KULR”), a leading developer of space-qualified electronics cooling systems and proven solutions for preventing dangerous battery fires and explosions, today announced that its innovative carbon fiber thermal management solutions will be used on the upcoming NASA-JPL 2020 Mars mission as part of the Mars Rover.

For the Mars mission, KULR will provide crucial thermal management for vital components in the Rover as part of the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environment with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) equipment. The KULR solution includes custom-designed phase change heat sinks designed to absorb and mitigate rapid temperature changes, keeping sensitive components such as lasers and sensors within desired temperature ranges to avoid signal distortion or other complications.

During the 2020 Mars Mission, SHERLOC will be mounted on the rover’s robotic arm and use spectrometers, a laser, and a camera to search for organics and minerals that may be signs of past microbial life. The Perseverance Rover and its mission were recently introduced to a national audience on the CBS show “60 Minutes” on May 31, 2020. 

“Detecting life on Mars has profound implications that can change how humanity perceives its place in the universe,” said KULR Technology’s CTO, Dr. Timothy Knowles, who has worked on NASA projects for decades. “Leveraging discoveries from past Mars missions, the 2020 Perseverance incorporates the most advanced engineering design to improve entry, descent, landing, camera, and sensor capability. The same is true for thermal design. Perseverance represents the apex of aerospace engineering and KULR is happy to be part of its history.”

The KULR design in the “SHERLOC” project is a unique and highly effective phase-change system that incorporates KULR’s proprietary, highly conductive vertical carbon fiber architecture with a material similar to wax that can change from solid to liquid while absorbing high amounts of heat energy. A pair of KULR heat sinks were designed to accept 5400 Joules of heat for over one-hour operating time while keeping the temperature of the spectrometer detector within design limits. All the components, including KULR’s heat sinks, will be expected to last at least one Mars year – about 687 days on Earth.