PRTs and Their Bonding for Long-Duration, Extreme- Temperature Environments

Research was conducted on the qualification of Honeywell platinum resistance thermometer (PRT) bonding for use in the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). This is the first time these sensors will be used for Mars-related projects. Different types of PRTs were employed for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project, and several reliability issues were experienced, even for a short-duration mission like MER compared to MSL. Therefore, the development of a qualification process for the Honeywell PRT bonding was needed for the MSL project. Reliability of the PRT sensors, and their bonding processes, is a key element to understand the health of the hardware during all stages of the project, and particularly during surface operations on Mars. Three extreme temperature summer season cycles and three winter season cycles (total: 1983 thermal cycles) were completed, and no Honeywell PRT failures associated with the bonding process were found.