What the Atacama Can Tell Us about Subsurface Mars

Dave, A.; Wilhelm, Mary Beth; Stucky, T.; Furlong, Michael; Bywaters, Kathryn; Glass, B.; Bergman, D.; Rask, Jon

doi:10.1061/9780784481899.037

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…4 ) and integrated with the Maxar arm and rover avionics. The arm and scoop were tested and (with the addition of a wrist camera) met requirements after the 2017 field season (Dave et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Arads Development Progressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Atacama Rover Astrobiology Drilling Studies (ARADS) Project

Glass,

Bergman,

Parro

et al. 2023

Astrobiology

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With advances in commercial space launch capabilities and reduced costs to orbit, humans may arrive on Mars within a decade. Both to preserve any signs of past (and extant) martian life and to protect the health of human crews (and Earth's biosphere), it will be necessary to assess the risk of cross-contamination on the surface, in blown dust, and into the near-subsurface (where exploration and resource-harvesting can be reasonably anticipated). Thus, evaluating for the presence of life and biosignatures may become a critical-path Mars exploration precursor in the not-so-far future, circa 2030. This Special Collection of papers from the Atacama Rover Astrobiology Drilling Studies (ARADS) project describes many of the scientific, technological, and operational issues associated with searching for and identifying biosignatures in an extreme hyperarid region in Chile's Atacama Desert, a well-studied terrestrial Mars analog environment. This paper provides an overview of the ARADS project and discusses in context the five other papers in the ARADS Special Collection, as well as prior ARADS project results.

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Section: Arads Development Progressionmentioning

confidence: 99%