Martian Cave Probe?, Designs for the DEEP Search for Life |
Martian Cave Probe?, Designs for the DEEP Search for Life |
Nov 14 2007, 12:18 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 |
Does anyone consider it worthwhile to speculate on how we might explore Martian caves or lava tubes for the traces of life - past or present? I have not yet run across any 'official' proposals for "spelunker probes", so perhaps we could have some fun and get in on the ground floor with some feasible early designs. With the engineering and scientific expertise we have at UMSF we should be able to whittle down the possible features for such a rover to a practical core. If the planned surface scrapers and drillers don't turn up conclusive evidence to answer The Big Question, can we justify a search of the Martian Underground?
I can envisage a RTG-powered rover that enters a cave, or rappels down a skylight opening, leaving a base communication stage outside connected to it with a fiber-optic umbilical cable. Some form of laser or other illumination - in the visible and/or infrared - would presumably be required. How many of the MSL instruments could be included? What novel instruments would be appropriate? What is the optimal size and mobility design? 'Do we yet have 'hot' prospects for accessible caves? How should we choose the best candidates? We can leave this to some JPL bright spark to develop, or we can dive right in. Any takers? -------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
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Nov 16 2007, 04:05 PM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
Hmmm...I'd worry about possible backtracking. Unlike a TOW missle (which doesn't backtrack - unless it's a really bad day), I'll be our future cave explorer will have to find paths around fallen debris. Some of these paths might be false starts and dead ends, in which case you'll have to backtrack. Getting tangled up underground would be no fun.
I'd assume that lava tubes on Mars are very similar to lava tubes on Earth. Once you drop in, you'll want to go horizontal for as far as the cave will allow. Inside the cave, you could have smooth surfaces but you could also have incredibly rough surfaces as well, especially where debris fell or where lava drips occured. (And don't discount the fact that it is likely that there are multiple levels of tubes, so you may want to rappell down again once inside the first tube). [There is a cave in Lava Beds National Monument where I counted 12 distinct levels - I completely shredded a pair of jeans that day - lotsa twists and turns getting around debris and dropping down tight holes to get to the next level]. Having the ability to drop small radio repeaters as needed might work out best. -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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