ESA’s ExoMars Rover Will Explore Untouched Corner Of Red Planet - Forbes

Astrobiology often conjures images of alien-laden exoplanets circling some far-flung star. But much of the European Astrobiology Institute’s recent biennial meeting in the Canary Islands was devoted to detecting evidence for either existing or past life within our own solar system.

To that end, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars rover was a hot topic. Tentatively scheduled for launch in 2028, it’s due to begin exploring a wholly untouched area of the red planet early next decade.

In 2018, the ExoMars Landing Site Selection Working Group recommended that the ESA rover explores Oxia Planum, not far from the equator in the Martian Northern hemisphere.

This area of Mars has not really been studied by landers on the surface, John Carter, a planetary scientist at France’s Paris-Saclay University, told me at the conference.

Geographically, the closest lander to the ExoMars chosen site would be NASA’s Mars Pathfinder mission; a very small rover technology tester which launched some 25 years ago and lasted 85 days at the surface.

Pathfinder landed in an area which is geologically very different from Oxia Planum, says Carter.

Volcanic activity may have covered Oxia Planum’s early clays and other aqueous deposits, offering preservation for biosignatures against the planet’s harsh radiation and oxidation environment, says ESA.

Oxia Planum has thin layers of material likely deposited with water to create phyllosilicate clay, says Carter. This is what we would call mud here, he says.

“Mars scientists love mud because if you have past life or organic matter that's mixed with the clay in some fashion, it tends to get stuck with it and can stay stuck for billions of years,” said Carter.

This allows for sedimentation in a way that can promote fossilization.

So, we want to go to these clay rich sites which have sediments which had water flowing some 4 billion years ago, says Carter.

The ESA rover will use solar panels for run its operation so is subject to dust storms and Martian winter.

We certainly hope that within a couple of weeks or a couple of months, we'll be able to accomplish ExoMars’ primary science goals, says Carter.

The expectation is that the ESA rover will be able to land and drive the rover to a scientifically compelling site only a few meters away. ExoMars will be the first such lander to drill and collect material from both exposed geological outcrops as well as some six feet below the Martian surface.

As for whether Oxia Planum borders an ancient Mars ocean?

From orbital observations, there is evidence for past ponding of water at Oxia Planum. But Carter says to hit such water levels would require huge amounts of water —- enough to fill part of Mars’ Northern plains. We know that Mars had seas that were closer in size to the Mediterranean, says Carter.

“Maybe Oxia Planum is on the margin of an ancient ocean,” said Carter.

But Carter and colleagues are keeping their science goals in perspective.

It's easy to oversell Mars science and the idea that water and life were everywhere, says Carter. We honestly don’t know, he says.

Carter notes that the idea of Mars having had an ocean in its past is problematic, but that EuroMars should provide researchers with a decent test of this hypothesis. And even if the rover doesn’t find evidence for an ocean, there will likely be evidence for processes involving episodic flooding and surface weathering that Carter says may prove even more astrobiologically interesting than even an ancient ocean.

Unlike NASA’s more recent rovers, ESA is using solar panels for ExoMars, which Carter says can remain in working order for a decade or more.

The hope is that within just a few weeks of landing, ExoMars will achieve what Carter calls the mission’s overarching goal —- finding biological signatures of past life.

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2023-05-16 13:35:14Z
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