On July 30, NASA successfully launched the rover "Perseverance" from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Toray Advanced Composites provided key components for the 2020 Mars mission Composite materials to help NASA find signs of life on the red planet again.
These composite materials ensure that the rover can be safely transported through the Martian atmosphere and subsequent vehicles. The composite material from Toray is used for the Mars entrance heat shield, the landing platform of the Mars "Perseverance" rover, and the structural support of the rotor blades and chassis structure of the first Mars Ingenuity helicopter ever. Toray composite materials were chosen because they have a history of successful applications in NASA's Mars spacecraft missions (such as "Curiosity" and "Fire Rover").
Composite materials used in space must meet strict requirements to ensure mission success. They must be able to withstand high temperatures, be extremely lightweight, have low moisture absorption, high stiffness, and low CTE and outgassing properties. For these reasons, Lockheed Martin chose Toray's high-modulus carbon fiber/cyanate ester prepreg as the structure to support the heat shield required to enter the Martian atmosphere. JPL used Toray-like materials in the structural part of Perseverance’s landing deck. AeroVironment used similar Toray materials for the entire Ingenuity helicopter structure and highly specialized rotor blades.