Next Martian Rover Goes Through its Paces - A Vehicle for Finding Signs of Life
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No scientist in his or her right mind would want to land an exploration vehicle on Mars without putting it through extensive testing first. Fortunately, the harsh environment on the fourth planet of our solar system has a counterpart on this one: the Atacama Desert in Chile, where some areas have received no rainfall for decades. NASA’s Astrobiology Science and Technology Program for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) awarded a $3 million grant to a three-year project aimed at discovering whether and what kinds of life can survive under these grueling conditions. According to the project’s second year report, “It has been suggested that the interior of the desert is the most lifeless place on earth – we are examining this hypothesis…”
The vehicle entrusted with the task of finding life in the desert is Zoe (the Greek word for “life”), an autonomous, solar-powered rover developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute.
Zoe is shown here exploring the coastal region of the Atacama desert, where it successfully found signs of life in the second year of the project. Zoe used a fluorescence imager (FI) to detect lichens and bacterial colonies by detecting chlorophyll, carbohydrates, and proteins. Normally, fluorescence is easily overwhelmed by sunlight, but the project’s researchers came up with a methodology and technology to overcome this problem, involving a sensitive camera, high speed flashes, and special filters.
In addition to the FI, Zoe was equipped with a visible-near infrared spectrometer and a high-resolution trinocular camera rig. The spectrometer can also detect chlorophyll, though not at the low levels found in the Atacama desert (and presumably on Mars, if there is any). It is used to provide geological/mineralogic context determination.
In the second year of the project, Zoe investigated two sites in the desert, one in the coastal region and one in the arid core. Within the first site, Zoe traveled about six kilometers and visited 14 locations. In the arid region, Zoe operated autonomously for 14 out of 23 kilometers, and examined 10 locations. Each of the two sites were investigated for seven days, under conditions simulating a Mars mission. The rover was guided remotely by the research team.
Zoe represents the second phase of the project. The first phase began in 2003, when another solar-powered robot, dubbed Hyperion, was tested in the Atacama desert. Carnegie Mellon developed this vehicle, not so much for detecting signs of life itself as for determining the optimum design, software and instrumentation for such a mission.
Next: Zoe’s Next Mission >>
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