IPRO – 310

 

Mission to Mars

 

 

 

 

On-Planet Team Final Report

 

 

 

by

 

 

 

Paulo C. Hernandez

 

Bitute Jurjonas

 

Julie Kafka

 

Raunaq Singh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I.            Science Objectives

 

            Once the crews arrive on Mars, the primary science objectives are twofold.  First, we must search for water in possible Martian reservoirs.  Any plans for a permanent colony on Mars must be decided upon the basis of whether or not there is any water available.  Therefore, exploration for water, organic compounds, and/or biologically important minerals (such as carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates), a fossil record, and the presence of extant life is of vital importance for our first mission.  Martian reservoirs may include:

 

I.                    Geothermally heated pools or artesian aquifers

II.                   Subsurface brines (liquid as low as -55° Celsius)

III.                 Subsurface ice and permafrost in the regolith (indicated to be poleward of

           approximately 40° latitude)

IV.               Polar ice deposits (the only known source of large amounts of water)

V.                The Martian Soil

            VI.       The Atmosphere (although this is the driest source)

 

            Second, other basic sciences must be conducted that require a manned presence on Mars.  Currently there are many fields in science which have an interest in Mars, however, we will concentrate our science more specifically in the field of Exobiology since we could not possibly list them all here.  Exobiology is concerned with the origin of life and this suits our purpose well.  Major exobiological goals for our first mission to Mars are to:

 

I.                    Search for evidence of early microbial life in the ancient sediments

II.                   Determine whether a biosphere presently exists on Mars, or has existed at some time in the past

III.                 Define the nature of early Martian environments, especially those regarded as favorable for the origin and subsequent development of life

IV.               Understand the geochemistry of the biogenic elements (C, N, O, S, P) and organic compounds

 

Other scientifically important objectives may be to:

 

I.                     Characterize the internal structure, dynamics, and physical state of Mars.

II.                   Characterize the chemical composition and mineralogy of surface and near surface materials.

III.                  Determine the extent of organic chemical and biological evolution of Mars and explain how the history of the planet constrains these evolutionary processes.

IV.               Determine the chemical composition, distribution, and transport of compounds that relate to the formation and chemical evolution of the atmosphere.

V.                 Characterize the planetary magnetic field and its interaction with the upper atmosphere and the solar wind.

VI.               Characterize the processes that have produced the landforms of the planet.

Water is fundamental for the origin and continuation of life on Earth and, presumably, other planets.  For life to have developed on Mars, water must have existed for a long enough period of time and in sufficient abundance to have allowed biological systems to originate and evolve. Consequently, sites suitable for exobiology exploration must show evidence of former aqueous environments.  For this we have chosen landing sites which meet the criteria for our exobiological exploration.

 

II.            Target Landing Sites

 

Geologic Setting

The site lies at a contact between ancient cratered terrain and ridged plains materials that are apparently flood lavas of intermediate age. The latitude of the site is high enough that ground ice may be present.  Lava flows are observed on the plains. These lavas lap up against the higher cratered terrain at the contact. Several well-developed ancient valley systems are present in the cratered terrain and debouch at the contact. The valleys apparently predate emplacement of the plains materials. The geometry of the valleys is not clearly confluent, so it is not clear that fluvial sediments underlie the plains materials. Fresh craters up to about 10 km in diameter excavate into the plains materials. One such crater very close to the site has a well-developed double-lobed fluidized ejecta blanket.

 

Objectives

Ancient cratered terrain, intermediate volcanics, ground ice.

 

 

 

Geologic Setting

The site lies at the confluence of a number of valley systems in ancient cratered terrain.  The primary feature of the site is a closed topographic depression with many inflow valleys and a single outflow.  The depression is not clearly filled with volcanic deposits, and hence may contain waterlain sediments that are near or at the surface.  The deposits filling the depression have an unusual hummocky texture of unknown origin.

 

Objectives

Ancient cratered terrain, waterlain sediments.

 

Exobiology Significance

Formation of the valley networks was apparently preceded by an early period of mostly larger impacts, evidenced by dissection of many of the larger crater rims by headward erosion of the valleys. The period of hydrologic activity that produced the valleys was followed by a later period of smaller impacts, some of which were superimposed on the valleys and older craters. This suggests that the period of hydrologic activity that created the valleys may have been of relatively long duration.

The proposed landing target is located along the eastern margin of the basin near its intersection with a 15 km diameter crater. The ejecta blanket of the impact crater at the site appears to be steeper along the basin margin, suggesting that it may have been eroded by wave-driven shoreline processes.

The proposed site lies near the distal reaches of several major valleys, and may include coarser-grained water-laid sediments that were deposited at the mouths of the streams where they entered the basin. The exobiology target was moved to 22 deg. S, 11 deg. W, because tyhe fluvial valleys are more distinct here than at the original site, hence the likelihood of encountering waterlain sediments may be greater. Sedimentary deposits near the site are probably of mixed parentage, including materials excavated from local subsurface sources by impact, as well as sediments derived from primarily older hinterland sources. If a lake existed, the proposed site may provide access to potentially fossiliferous lacustrine deltaic and/or shoreline deposits. Under appropriate geohydrological conditions, it has been noted that such facies are often a locus for carbonate mineralization associated with sublacustrine spring mounds, shoreline tufas and intergranular cements. Such lithologies are of special interest to Exobiology because of their relatively high potential for preserving fossils and organic matter. A proposed backup site is the northwesterly-flowing outflow channel originating near the center of the basin. This channel appears to postdate the major period of basin filling and may expose finer-grained, basin-central lithofacies (e.g. shales, evaporites) within its walls. Such lithologies are of potential importance to Exobiology in their tendency to be less permeable, and thus, more prone to retain organic compounds.

 

III.            Campaign Experiments

 

The Science Campaigns consist of those experiments which require a human presence on Mars. The Campaigns will be flexible enough so that new discoveries can influence the direction of investigation as the mission proceeds.  The progress of these experiments, and the people leading them, will dictate future on-planet experiments and constitute a basis and justification for them.  For example, a simple job, such as effectively positioning seismic stations in noise-free and well-coupled environments, involves choosing the optimum specific location in a general vicinity, drilling and carefully backfilling deepholes, and erecting towers so that telemetry will not be disturbed by the landscape.  The Science Campaigns take into consideration experiments from past Martian observations and are categorized into three phases, Science Campaigns A, B, and C.  We will divide the scientific campaigns among the two crews according to the following guide*:

 

*Only specific Science Experiments are mentioned here since we cannot possibly list them all.

 

Science Campaign A – In-Transit Science – Crew One and Crew Two

 

During our trip to Mars the space vehicle will provide a unique opportunity to perform some practical science experiments that we cannot do here on earth. Both crews will be responsible for these sets of experiments.  Fundamentally new data on the universe can be gathered while in transit.  Most noteworthy are the:

 

Science Experiment   

 

1.      Stellar Parallax experiments using an Ultra-Violet Telescope

 

Description

 

Here we would use a telescope similar in design to the Hubble Space Telescope, but much smaller, can more than triple the volume of stars.  This would

1. Actively measure the distance of stars
2. Provide high linear resolution views of asteroids
3. Perform deep sky imaging on a background that is darker than that near the earth
4. Examine the inflow of the interstellar medium into the solar system by studying backscattered emissions, and
5. Aid navigation

 

2.      Gamma Ray Burst Detector experiment

 

Description

 

This experiment would add a new dimension in understanding the source of high-energy photon emissions.  An increase in accuracy by a factor of 10 will lead to identification of specific optical objects far away in the universe.

 

3.      Solar Observations

 

Description

 

Solar observations must be obtained as part of the day-to-day operation of the crew to gather data on:

1.     Energetic particles generated by solar activity present specific risks to the crew.  The prediction and warning of threatening activity cannot be performed from Earth because it will face the opposite side of the Sun during much of the mission.

2.     Forecasts of solar interference with radio communications between the crew and Earth.

3.      Basic scientific studies which can benefit from observations covering more of the surface of the Sun than just the portion facing the Earth.

 

Science Campaign B – Mars Surface Science – Crew One

 

Crew One will conduct most of the basic surface science experiments

 

Science Experiment                                        Description

 

1.      Alpha-Proton X-ray                   Chemical Composition

2.      Aqueous Chemistry                                     Soil Composition

3.      Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy            Gamma Radiation

4.      Neutron Activation                   Elemental Analysis

5.      Mass Spectrometry                                                Isotopic Measurements

6.    Secondary Spectrometry                              Isotopic Measurements

 

Science Campaign C – Mars Surface Science – Crew Two

 

Crew Two will perform rock drilling, blasting, and coring capabilities using specialized drill rigs and ancillary equipment.  The landing craft of Crew Two will be used as a drilling platform with a maximum depth of penetration of roughly 100 meters.

 

Science Experiment                                        Description

 

1.      Surface Drilling and Coring            Search for underground frozen reservoirs

2.      Rock blasting                             Free materials that are frozen or otherwise

deeply embedded

 

IV.            Conclusion

Although we have included a long list of scientific experiments to perform while on Mars, this is by no means a complete list.  We have mainly focused on the exobiological aspects of the mission, however, there are many other fields of science not included in this report such as geological and geophysical aspects of the planet.  Here, we would have to choose another landing site more appropriate for these disciplines.

The Science Campaigns that we have proposed are flexible enough for change depending on the crew and can even be revised in a new direction if warranted by new discoveries or based on the judgment of the crew.