If at first you don't succeed, send another Mars lander – this time a deep driller Undeterred by the crash of the Schiaparelli Mars probe during the first ExoMars mission, the European Space Agency has signed off contracts that will hopefully deposit a new and more advanced lander directly on the Martian Surface. In one piece. In a ceremony in Rome, ESA inked a deal with private firm Thales Alenia Space to …
I think they're actually looking for past life as opposed to present life. They don't need to drill so deep for that as the idea is that life could have evolved there when mars still had an atmosphere and liquid water, meaning it could have existed closer to, or even on, the surface.
I am also of the view that they should send a longer drill though, due to the forms of life likely to have evolved attempts to survive mars losing its atmosphere. They would have been the tougher more extremophile types and would likely be found somewhat deeper, but with them being the "toughest of the tough" then those are the ones likely to have left the most traces of their passing. I guess though that a longer drill will mean more torque stress as it extends and whatever material they use for the drill body is likely lightweight it could be a tradeoff, using a 2 meter drill means it (hopefully) wont snap.
To give the equivalent of the radiation protection we get at sea level on Earth needs about 4m of Mars soil.
Is that with or without magnetosphere?
"We have lost 50% of our planetary forward deflector shields"
"I told them to keep the iron core heated!"
... hope this time they'll do it in a much more controlled way.
Especially since I work in the same site were the drill has been developed, don't want to see very sad faces around.
Just, do they trust a Roscosmos descent module more than theirs? Russia doesn't have a good record with Martian probes as well...
But maybe they should contract a U.S. landing system, considering the U.S. has successfully landed 4 out of 4 drones sent to Mars, and the ESA's landing record is basically 0 for 2 now?
It's bad enough that the comparatively cheap Schiaparelli cratered, but this next probe is going to be very expensive.
I doubt that all those exposed and poorly secured cables are a good idea, especially for an harsh environment which may damage or move them, also the vehicle looks stupidly top heavy, which could cause another failure via toppling, say by on uneven or sloping ground.
I think that the rover should have an environment protection shell, the rover should have wide support, possibly via deployable drilling stabiliser legs, and the drill may be better kept horizontal until it needs to be used, to reduce toppling risk.
I think the pair of black cables poking out the backend are a bit of a giveaway that this is just the demonstrator. Unless of course they've found some convenient power sockets located on Mars?
4 years out from Launch, demonstrators dont tend to look like flight hardware, they're just there to show that they can do the main task the funding is for...
The technical challenges of exploring the Martian lava tubes with drones or rovers captures my imagination more than drilling into the surface. Obviously lava tubes would once have been sterile, whereas sedimentary material is more likely to contain evidence of any past microbes - so they might not be scientifically interesting. However, lava tunnels might be suitable for human habitation, providing protection against radiation, micrometeorites and temperature fluctuations.
The challenges are locomotion (how does it crawl, climb or fly around?) and control and communication (how do you get a radio signal from the underground probe to the surface?). Lots of fun for engineers to be had here! :)
Com on El reg, I know you need the ads to bring , the cash to pay your staff, but now it's getting fucking ridiculous.
If you're not going to host the ads yourself, then at least tell your provider to make them relevant to your publication.
Clickbait ads deserve nothing less than to have the ad slinger introduced to a cattleprod, shovel, roll of carpet, and bag of quicklime.
Curiosity was only 899kg. And remember that each kg on Mars requires hundreds of kilos on the launch pad.
I'm curious that Curiosity did not dig. I does not seem to be all that much more capable than Spirit and Opportunity.
The ESA does not look like it has an arm. Which I would have thought would be very useful for something that digs. Could also be used to steady itself etc.
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