[X] My Assistant

[Guest_exobioquest_*]

Does anyone know if there is any work on making a probe for penetrating and core sampling the martian north pole?

Why can't a probe land on the north pole of mars, melt a core sampler through the ice for many meters down and take samples on the way down. There is got to be a huge amount of geological history stored in the Martian polar caps layer by layer, let alone any life frozen in there. I’m aware of the phoenix lander but that’s just through .5 meters of permafrost, I’m talking about going through a dozen if not more meters of ice. I’m also aware the thing would not last long, that the martian winter will put it under a glacier of dry ice, but if it lands in summer it should have enough time to analyze a dozen or so meter of ice? Is there any show stopper problems making such a probe improbable?

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Such a "Mars Cryobot" was proposed as the 2007 Mars Scout, and it's definitely on the list of possible future mission types. There is, indeed, a fair amount of Web material on it, although I don't have time to dig it up right now. Its value both for long-term climate studies and for possible biology is obvious.

[Guest_exobioquest_*]

Thanks BruceMoomaw and Airbag that was what I was looking for. I hope the priority on such a mission is very high.