[meteorite-list] Mars Mimicking Chamber Explores Habitability of Other Planets

[Ron Baalke]

http://publishing.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/mars-mimicking-chamber-explores-habitability-other-planets

Mars Mimicking Chamber Explores Habitability of Other Planets

Researchers in Spain have designed a vacuum chamber capable of mimicking 
conditions on Mars to test gear for use in future missions

>From the Journal: Review of Scientific Instruments

For immediate release

By Jason Bardi

WASHINGTON D.C., March 25, 2014 -- A research team in Spain has the enviable 
job of testing out new electromechanical gear for potential use in future 
missions to the "Red Planet." They do it within their Mars environmental 
simulation chamber, which is specially designed to mimic conditions on 
the fourth planet from the sun -- right down to its infamous Martian dust.

Mars is a key target for future space exploration, thanks to indications 
that the planet may have either been capable of supporting life in the 
past or is possibly even supporting it right now within its subsurface.

To answer the many questions about the habitability of Mars, it's critical 
to first develop new sensors and instruments capable of detecting the 
planet's atmospheric and surface characteristics. In the journal Review 
of Scientific Instruments, which is produced by AIP Publishing, researchers 
from Centro de Astrobiología, INTA-CSIC, and Instituto de Ciencias de 
Materials de Madrid describe their work mimicking conditions on Mars.

"Mars is a good place to learn about planets similar to ours and, as such, 
is the target of many NASA and European Space Agency missions," explained 
Jose Angel Martín-Gago, a research professor at the Instituto de Ciencias 
de Materials de Madrid. "Our group is primarily involved in the Mars Science 
Laboratory mission to construct a meteorological station intended for 
future use on a rover to further explore Mars' surface."

By building here on Earth state-of-the-art vacuum chambers capable of 
reproducing the physical conditions of Mars -- including temperature, 
pressure, gas composition, and radiation -- the researchers can experimentally 
mimic these conditions to test instrumentation in "real" environmental 
operation conditions.

Vacuum chambers have already enabled the researchers to test some of the 
meteorological sensors currently used onboard the Curiosity rover, which 
is exploring the surface of Mars. But they are now turning their attention 
to other challenges, such as Martian dust.

"We're simulating the effect of the Martian dust -- one of the primary 
problems for planetary exploration -- to gain a better understanding of 
how instruments behave when covered in dust," said Jesus Sobrado, the 
scientist in charge of the machine's technical development.

As part of its research effort, the team has designed and built vacuum 
chambers devoted to simulating spatial environments, such as the surface 
of other planets like Mars' surface or even Jupiter's icy moon Europa, 
the interstellar medium, and interplanetary regions.

Vacuum chambers can "answer many questions about Mars or other related 
planetary bodies -- both from scientific and technology points of view," 
he added.

Martín-Gago and colleagues are currently collaborating with NASA on its 
mission to test the new meteorological station "Temperature and Wind for 
Insight," associated with the Insight mission, and are also expected to 
test the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer and Sign of Life Detector 
instruments proposed for the next mission to Mars in 2020.

###

Article title: 
Mimicking Mars: A vacuum simulation chamber for testing environmental 
instrumentation for Mars
Authors: 
J.M. Sobrado, J. Martín-Soler, and J.A. Martín-Gago
Author affiliations: 
Centro de Astrobiología, INTA-CSIC, and Instituto de Ciencias de Materials 
de Madrid
About the journal: 
Review of Scientific Instruments

Review of Scientific Instruments publishes original research and review 
articles on instruments in physics, chemistry, and the life sciences. 
The journal also includes sections on new instruments and new materials.

http://rsi.aip.org