Summary Reader Response 3
ExoMars Drill Unit
According to an article by the
European Space Agency (2019, September 1), the “ExoMars Drill unit” is a robot
devised to drill into various types of soils to retrieve soil specimens of
maximum 2 metres of depth. After obtaining a core specimen, it will be
transported to the inlet port of the Rover Payload Module, where it will be
examined by the Analytical Laboratory Drawer. It is supposed to operate through
the required lifetime of 7 experiment cycles of the ExoMars mission. The Drill consists of 5 components. The drill tool is
roughly 700mm long, furnished with an acquisition device which contains a
shutter, movable piston, position, temperature sensors, and Ma_Miss tip
components. A set of three 500 mm extension rods were made to increase the
penetration length to two meters. The rotation-translation group helps with the
movement of the drill. The drill-box structure contains the clamping system and
automatic engage-disengage mechanism for the rods. Lastly, a back-up drill tool
for non-nominal situations.
Based on an article by
Ciarletti et al. (2017), the main goal of the ExoMars Rover mission is “the
search for evidence of life on Mars”. This leads me to believe that the ExoMars
Drill unit is a highly efficient robotic unit that can fulfil the mission of
the ExoMars Rover by determining the geochemical composition of Mars to find signs
of life.
According
to the European Space Agency (2021), the ExoMars drill managed to drill 1.7
metres deep into the ground on Earth which is an accomplishment since it is not
easy to drill under the simulated Martian gravity levels. In an article by
Leonardo (2018), it states that the drill has passed several tests under
simulated Martian environment, indicating that it is ready and able to look for
any signs of life on Mars. Having such a capable and efficient drill unit in
the ExoMars Rover will accomplish the main objective of the ExoMars mission
which is to dig deep enough into the Martian subsurface to obtain sufficient
soil samples for further processing.
One
key element of the ExoMars drill unit is the Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager
for Subsurface Studies) spectrometer instrument which is used to specify and
measure the mineralogy and stratigraphy of the excavated borehole at different
levels. According to a report done by Ferraris et al. (2019), the aim of the
Ma_Miss spectrometer is to discover the composition of the subsurface matter,
chart the distribution of the subsoil water and hydrated phases, distinguish
the crucial optical and physical properties of the materials, and lastly create
a visualisation that will give information on the subsurface geology. Thus, the
spectrometer is essential for understanding what the Mars' subsurface consists
of.
However,
in an article by Friedlander (2020), it states that acidic fluids may have
likely demolished biological evidence that were covered within Mars’ iron-rich
clay. The report by Gil-Lozano et al. (2020) which simulated the Martian
surface to analyse the stability of Glycine that was previously exposed to
acidic fluids found that Glycine showed photodegradation after prolonged exposure
to Mars-like ultraviolet radiation. They also found that Glycine could rapidly
degenerate under Mars' environmental condition. This means that finding for
biological compounds on Mars is arduous because of Mars environmental
conditions.
In
conclusion, the ExoMars drill unit is fully capable of drilling into the
Martian subsurface and acquiring a soil sample. Even if finding biological
compounds remains a challenge, the drill unit will still be able to dig through
the Martian soil, examine the geochemical composition, and determine if there
is life. We will ultimately still be able to find out more about Mars which we
know so little of.
References
(2017). The WISDOM Radar: Unveiling the Subsurface Beneath the ExoMars
Rover and Identifying the Best Locations for Drilling. Astrobiology, 17(6-7),
565-584. http://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1532
Cornell University. (2020, September
15). Study shows difficulty in finding evidence of life on Mars. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/09/study-shows-difficulty-finding-evidence-life-mars
European Space Agency. (2019, September
1). The ExoMars Drill Unit. https://exploration.esa.int/web/mars/-/43611-rover-drill
European Space Agency. (2021, September
15). First deep drilling success for ExoMars. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars/First_deep_drilling_success_for_ExoMars
Ferrari, M., Angelis, S.D, Sanctis, M.C.D,
Altieri, F., Frigeri, A., Ammannito, E., Mugnuolo, R., Pirrotta, S., Ma_Miss
team (2019) Laboratory Activities in support to the Ma_MISS experiment
onboard the ExoMars2020 Rover. EPSC ,13. https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC-DPS2019/EPSC-DPS2019-1711-1.pdf
Gil-Lozano, C., Fairén, A. G.,
Muñoz-Iglesias, V., Fernández-Sampedro, M., Prieto-Ballesteros, O.,
Gago-Duport, L., Losa-Adams, E., Carrizo, D., Bishop, J. L., Fornaro, T., &
Mateo-Martí, E. (2020). Constraining the preservation of organic
compounds in Mars analog nontronites after exposure to acid and alkaline fluids.
Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71657-9
Leonardo.
(2018, February 8). Positive results as space drill put to the test for
ExoMars 2020 mission. https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/trivella-test-exomars2020-marte
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