The 2016 UK Space Agency Mars Utah Rover Field Investigation (MURFI)

Balme, M. R.; Curtis-Rouse, Mike; Banham, S. G.; Barnes, David; Barnes, R. P.; Bauer, Arnold; Bedford, C. C.; Bridges, J. C.; Butcher, Frances E. G.; Caballo-Perucha, P.; Caldwell, Andrew E.; Coates, A. J.; Cousins, C. R.; Davis, J. M.; Dequaire, Julie; Edwards, P.; Fawdon, P.; Furuya, Koichi; Gadd, Matthew; Get, P.; Griffiths, Andrew D.; Grindrod, P. M.; Gunn, Matthew; Gupta, Sanjeev; Hansen, Robin F.; Harris, J. K.; Hicks, L. J.; Holt, J. W.; Huber, Ben; Huntly, C.; Hutchinson, Ian; Jackson, L. R.; Kay, S.; Kyberd, Stephen; Lerman, Hannah; McHugh, Melissa; McMahon, William J.; Müller, Jan-Peter; Ortner, Thomas; Osinski, G. R.; Paar, Gerhard; Preston, L. J.; Schwenzer, S. P.; Stabbins, R. B.; Tao, Yu; Traxler, Christoph; Turner, S. M. R.; Tyler, Laurence; Venn, S.; Walker, H. J.; Wilcox, Tom; Wright, J. B.; Yeomans, Brian

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2018.12.003

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…4, the MINAR field campaign has been crucial to developing and implementing key design features of the SPLIT device; this is summarized in Table 1 (impulse energy, impulse mechanism and tip geometry). By validation of the BBB, MINAR III directly informed the second-generation breadboard (2GBB) design, which was later verified during the UK Space Agency MURFI field trials in Utah (Balme et al , 2016). In 2017, MINAR V confirmed the results obtained during the earlier MINAR III programme, and allowed preparation for ESA's CAVES/PANGAEA testing of new Lunar/planetary sampling protocols by astronaut Matthias Maurer (using the flight-like 3GBB SPLIT).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsurface scientific exploration of extraterrestrial environments (MINAR 5): analogue science, technology and education in the Boulby Mine, UK

Cockell

Holt

Campbell

et al. 2018

International Journal of Astrobiology

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The deep subsurface of other planetary bodies is of special interest for robotic and human exploration. The subsurface provides access to planetary interior processes, thus yielding insights into planetary formation and evolution. On Mars, the subsurface might harbour the most habitable conditions. In the context of human exploration, the subsurface can provide refugia for habitation from extreme surface conditions. We describe the fifth Mine Analogue Research (MINAR 5) programme at 1 km depth in the Boulby Mine, UK in collaboration with Spaceward Bound NASA and the Kalam Centre, India, to test instruments and methods for the robotic and human exploration of deep environments on the Moon and Mars. The geological context in Permian evaporites provides an analogue to evaporitic materials on other planetary bodies such as Mars. A wide range of sample acquisition instruments (NASA drills, Small Planetary Impulse Tool (SPLIT) robotic hammer, universal sampling bags), analytical instruments (Raman spectroscopy, Close-Up Imager, Minion DNA sequencing technology, methane stable isotope analysis, biomolecule and metabolic life detection instruments) and environmental monitoring equipment (passive air particle sampler, particle detectors and environmental monitoring equipment) was deployed in an integrated campaign. Investigations included studying the geochemical signatures of chloride and sulphate evaporitic minerals, testing methods for life detection and planetary protection around human-tended operations, and investigations on the radiation environment of the deep subsurface. The MINAR analogue activity occurs in an active mine, showing how the development of space exploration technology can be used to contribute to addressing immediate Earth-based challenges. During the campaign, in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA), MINAR was used for astronaut familiarization with future exploration tools and techniques. The campaign was used to develop primary and secondary school and primary to secondary transition curriculum materials on-site during the campaign which was focused on a classroom extra vehicular activity simulation.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsurface scientific exploration of extraterrestrial environments (MINAR 5): analogue science, technology and education in the Boulby Mine, UK

Cockell

Holt

Campbell

et al. 2018

International Journal of Astrobiology

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“…In an ideal situation, PanCam will be able to collect and return to Earth full multispectral data on a regular basis. However, limits in power, data, and time are all likely to reduce the occasions on which the full geology filter set can be implemented on Mars (e.g., Balme et al, 2019). In these cases, our analysis suggests that minerals with distinctive absorption features in the VNIR, such as hematite, are well suited to restricted filter selection to target specific spectral features.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Optimizing ExoMars 2022 Rover Remote Sensing Multispectral Science: Cross-Rover Comparison using Laboratory and Orbital Data

Grindrod

Allender

Cousins

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The scientific objectives of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission are to (a) search for signs of past and present life on Mars, and (b) to characterize the geochemical environment as a function of depth in the shallow subsurface (Vago et al., 2015(Vago et al., , 2017. The primary remote sensing instrument on previous Mars landers and rovers has been multispectral imagers operating in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) wavelengths (e.g., Bell et al., 2019;Gunn & Cousins, 2016). In addition to allowing geomorphological interpretations of the surface, the acquisition of in situ spectral information can help determine the composition of the environment close to the lander or rover. Although diagnostic spectral features of planetary surfaces tend to occur at longer IR wavelengths (e.g., Clark, 2019;Mustard & Glotch, 2019;Rossman & Ehlmann, 2019), there are many examples of studies using VNIR multispectral imaging instruments to derive important compositional information about both crystalline and amorphous materials (e.g., Farrand et al., 2016), which not only allow deeper scientific investigations

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“…In an ideal situation, PanCam will be able to collect and return to Earth full multispectral data on a regular basis. However, limits in power, data, and time are all likely to reduce the occasions on which the full geology filter set can be implemented on Mars (e.g., Balme et al., 2019). In these cases, our analysis suggests that minerals with distinctive absorption features in the VNIR, such as hematite, are well suited to restricted filter selection to target specific spectral features.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing ExoMars Rover Remote Sensing Multispectral Science: Cross‐Rover Comparison Using Laboratory and Orbital Data

Grindrod

Stabbins

Motaghian

et al. 2022

Earth and Space Science

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Multispectral imaging instruments have been core payload components of Mars lander and rover missions for several decades. In order to place into context the future performance of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, we have carried out a detailed analysis of the spectral performance of three visible and near‐infrared (VNIR) multispectral instruments. We have determined the root mean square error (RMSE) between the expected multispectral sampling of the instruments and high‐resolution spectral reflectance data, using both laboratory spectral libraries and Mars orbital hyperspectral data. ExoMars Panoramic Camera (PanCam) and Mars2020 Perseverance Mastcam‐Z instruments have similar values of RMSE, and are consistently lower than for Mars Science Laboratory Mastcam, across both laboratory and orbital remote sensing data sets. The performance across mineral groups is similar across all instruments, with the lowest RMSE values for hematite, basalt, and basaltic soil. Minerals with broader, or absent, absorption features in these visible wavelengths, such as olivine, saponite, and vermiculite have overall larger RMSE values. Instrument RMSE as a function of filter wavelength and bandwidth suggests that spectral parameters that use shorter wavelengths are likely to perform better. Our simulations of the spectral performance of the PanCam instrument will allow the future use of targeted filter selection during ExoMars 2022 Rosalind Franklin operations on Mars.

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The 2016 UK Space Agency Mars Utah Rover Field Investigation (MURFI)

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Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

Subsurface scientific exploration of extraterrestrial environments (MINAR 5): analogue science, technology and education in the Boulby Mine, UK

Subsurface scientific exploration of extraterrestrial environments (MINAR 5): analogue science, technology and education in the Boulby Mine, UK

Optimizing ExoMars 2022 Rover Remote Sensing Multispectral Science: Cross-Rover Comparison using Laboratory and Orbital Data

Optimizing ExoMars Rover Remote Sensing Multispectral Science: Cross‐Rover Comparison Using Laboratory and Orbital Data

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