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, 06:14 PM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
At some point we will need to go in and explore harsh cave environments with robotic exploration.
Suppose we find hydrothermal vents on Europa, I'll bet we'd want to probe the inside the vent itself. Heck, I bet it'd be pretty neat to sneak a probe down deep inside a hydrothermal vent here on Earth, or deep exploration of crevasses (very cool). These evironments share the same problems: figuring the route, tight confined areas to maneuver in, communication with the surface, and really harsh physical environments. -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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