How Mars rovers could explore vast uncharted caves

Ever since scientists looked at Mars from the Orbiter’s perspective, they’ve begun to see interesting dark spots on the planet’s surface.

It is believed to be the entrance to a deep cave where the sun does not shine.(opens in new tab), formed by ancient volcanic vents. Among them may be traces of existing Martian life, liquid water, or dead bacteria and fungi that thrived decades ago.

In NASA’s new Moon-to-Mars Artemis space campaign, researchers are keen to develop technologies that will enable exploration of the red planet. Once astronauts fly to Mars one day, these underground lairs could be ideal places to build makeshift homes protected from cosmic radiation and dust storms.

But the challenges are enormous. Even if engineers could build a robot that wouldn’t get stuck on rocks, they would still need to figure out a way to transmit images and data from a cave-diving rover. The answer, according to University of Arizona engineer Wolfgang Fink, is to send a robot into a cave with no hope of coming back.

“So that ultimately we can try to go to the high-risk areas where science really exists,” he told Mashable.

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But the Earthlings you tried to talk to on the phone while going through tunnels or getting into elevators know exactly what problem Fink and his team have to solve.

“It’s about going to high-risk areas where science really exists.”

new paper in Advances in space research Describe types of communication systems(opens in new tab) This allows small robots to step into these hazardous environments without heavy, tangle-free cables. If implemented, the invention could aid explorers not only on Mars, but on other planets, including this planet.Rescue him trying to find survivors trapped under the rubble after an earthquake. Think about the team of

A small robot connected to other rovers with a wireless data connection enters one of these Martian skylights, believed to be a lava tube.(opens in new tab) opening. On its back, it has something that resembles a Pez candy dispenser, each loaded with tiny beacons about the size of his dollar coin. As the robot moves, it drops a beacon or communication node whenever her surface mother-her rover senses that the signal between them is fading.

A “breadcrumb” communication network

Fink compares this system to the breadcrumbs that Hansel and Gretel dropped to get out of the forest. But in this situation, it’s the data, not the robot, that needs the breadcrumbs.

“Most of the time we are connected everywhere we go, but not on Mars, for example, because there are no cell towers or anything like that. There are no GPS systems,” Fink said. I will explain. “Basically, this is a communications infrastructure in motion.”

Cave robots are expendable and designed to explore until the battery runs out.

The cave is not straight. You can use corridors, curves, and thick slab walls. One of the novelties of the proposed communication system, he said, is that the robot will only drop beacons when needed, Fink said. In addition, the robot will be equipped with a light detection and ranging system, i.e. he LIDAR.(opens in new tab)allowing mission teams to map underground passageways in 3D.

You can use the same communication method to explore the sea world(opens in new tab), according to the team’s paper. The Lakelander could be a mothership on the water. The robot can pull a cable all the way to the submarine, but the beacon in this scenario acts as a repeater to boost the signal.

Where are the lava tubes?

Scientists believe that beneath Mars, Venus, and even the Moon, there are giant lava tubes miles long, formed by flowing magma and covered in crystals. On the red planet, the atmosphere is thin, the climate is dry, and the environment is not conducive to life.

However, as geologists and biologists have discovered on Earth, caves tend to have their own life. With different pressures and climates, the water is protected from evaporation and can support microorganisms through its interaction with volcanic heat and minerals.

David Crown, a geologist at the Institute for Planetary Science in Arizona, maps the area(opens in new tab) Around Albamons, which is likely to have the highest concentration of giant lava tubes on Mars.his team’s recent research(opens in new tab) Mapping over 300 segments, the system has been scaled up to about 250 miles. They estimate that the cave may be between 1.9 and 2.5 million years old.

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The fact that they appear to be connected suggests that they are of the same era, having been formed by a massive eruption that spewed copious amounts of lava. As such, it could be an attractive location for cave-diving robots.

“Some lava tubes feel like they could run a school bus. It can be small,” Crown said. Mashable. “I have to do my homework to choose the right tube.”

“I feel like I could drive a school bus through it.”

Meanwhile, scientists are studying Earth’s lava tubes so NASA can know what they’re looking at when they send robots into Martian caves.HIS BRAILLE PROJECT FOR THE SPACE AGENCY(opens in new tab)stands for Biologic and Resource Analog Investigations in Low Light Environments and is focused on developing tools to detect cave wall organisms from a distance.

Possibility of life on Mars

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Earth caves host complex ecosystems(opens in new tab), powered by bacteria that munch on rocks and convert matter into life energy. For this reason, many astrobiologists have published papers on the benefits of going underground to search for life on Mars, and one paper includes more than 50 of his scientists.(opens in new tab) was announced in natural astronomy.

“The most likely places to find traces of putative modern organisms are groundwater (likely in the form of brine containing pure water mixed with salt) that is likely still stable. It is the groundwater in the world’s ‘next frontier’ of planetary and human exploration.

Imagine that moment after you drop your robot into one of these Martian skylights. The robot hits one of the walls with UV light for the first time. what will it see?

“Suddenly, I see a greenish-yellow glow,” which is the fluorescence indicator of the organism, and Fink dreams. “It’s absolutely amazing.”