NASA's Mars Perseverance rover began exploring its new planetary home after landing on Feb. 18, 2021. It is operating with some of the world's most advanced technology, and is also equipped with Ty-Rap cable ties from ABB.
Found in buildings, subways, oceans, and now outer space, the cable ties are designed to withstand the demands of space flight and resist corrosion and radiation in the most extreme environments. NASA integrated the company's cable ties to fasten the rover's interior and exterior conduit and components and to secure research and lab equipment.
“Similar to how standard cable ties are a practical solution for use around the home to organize everything from indoor cords to outdoor lights, high-performance Ty-Rap cable ties connect and secure the rover’s wires and equipment,” said Matthias Heilmann, President of ABB Installation Products, in the press release. “For nearly 50 years, these Ty-Rap cable ties have performed in the most intense conditions on earth and protected components from high impact elements and radical temperature changes in previous space expeditions."
The business known today as ABB Installation Products has provided products to the space program since 1973, and its cable ties are in continued use on the still-active NASA Curiosity rover and were previously used on the twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Since 1958 when the cable ties were originally patented, nearly 30 billion Ty-Rap cable ties have been produced – laid end-to-end, enough to stretch to the moon and back more than a dozen times.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars.
ABB has a long-standing relationship with NASA that began more than 30 years ago with optical sensor contributions to support experiments on the space shuttle. In November 2020, the company announced a contract for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that will see key technology from ABB and its partner Nüvü Camēras fly onboard the space telescope in 2025, on course to capture the first spaceborne images of planets outside our solar system. ABB is also a key supplier to the JPSS U.S. weather satellite series under NASA procurement. These weather satellites are critical pieces of hardware for operational or flagship U.S. space missions.