| 1. |
- Cockell, Charles S., et al.
(författare)
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Subsurface scientific exploration of extraterrestrial environments (MINAR 5) : analogue science, technology and education in the Boulby Mine, UK
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Astrobiology. - : Cambridges Institutes Press. - 1473-5504 .- 1475-3006. ; 18:2, s. 157-182
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 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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| 2. |
- Israel Nazarious, Miracle, et al.
(författare)
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Calibration and preliminary tests of the Brine Observation Transition To Liquid Experiment on HABIT/ExoMars 2020 for demonstration of liquid water stability on Mars
- 2019
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Ingår i: Acta Astronautica. - : Elsevier. - 0094-5765 .- 1879-2030. ; 162, s. 497-510
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The search for unequivocal proofs of liquid water on present day Mars is a prominent domain of research with implications on habitability and future Mars exploration. The HABIT (Habitability: Brines, Irradiation, and Temperature) instrument that will be on-board the ExoMars 2020 Surface Platform (ESA-IKI Roscosmos) will investigate the habitability of present day Mars, monitoring temperature, winds, dust conductivity, ultraviolet radiation and liquid water formation. One of the components of HABIT is the experiment BOTTLE (Brine Observation Transition To Liquid Experiment). The purposes of BOTTLE are to: (1) quantify the formation of transient liquid brines; (2) observe their stability over time under non-equilibrium conditions; and (3) serve as an In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technology demonstrator for water moisture capture. In this manuscript, we describe the calibration procedure of BOTTLE with standard concentrations of brines, the calibration function and the coefficients needed to interpret the observations on Mars.BOTTLE consists of six containers: four of them are filled with different deliquescent salts that have been found on Mars (calcium-perchlorate, magnesium-perchlorate, calcium-chloride, and sodium-perchlorate); and two containers that are open to the air, to collect atmospheric dust. The salts are exposed to the Martian environment through a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter (to comply with planetary protection protocols). The deliquescence process will be monitored by observing the changes in electrical conductivity (EC) in each container: dehydrated salts show low EC, hydrated salts show medium EC and, liquid brines show high EC values. We report and interpret the preliminary test results using the BOTTLE engineering model in representative conditions; and we discuss how this concept can be adapted to other exploration missions.Our laboratory observations show that 1.2 g of anhydrous calcium-chloride captures about 3.7 g of liquid water as brine passing through various possible hydrate forms. This ISRU technology could potentially be the first attempt to understand the formation of transient liquid water on Mars and to develop self-sustaining in-situ water harvesting on Mars for future human and robotic missions.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Israel Nazarious, Miracle, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring Electrical Conductivity to Study the Formation of Brines Under Martian Conditions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Visualized Experiments. - : JoVE. - 1940-087X. ; 173
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes a protocol to design experiments to study the formation of brines under Martian conditions and monitor the process with electrical conductivity measurements. We used the Engineering Qualification Model (EQM) of Habitability: Brines, Irradiation, and Temperature (HABIT)/ExoMars 2022 instrument for the experiment setup but we provide a brief account of constructing a simple and inexpensive electrical conductivity measurement setup. The protocol serves to calibrate the electrical conductivity measurements of the salt deliquescence into brine in a simulated Martian environment. The Martian conditions of temperature (-70 °C to 20 °C), relative humidity (0% to 100%) and pressure (7 - 8 mbar) with carbon-dioxide atmosphere were simulated in the SpaceQ Mars simulation chamber, a facility at the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. The hydrate form of the known amount of salt accommodated between a pair of electrodes and thus the electrical conductivity measured depends predominantly on its water content and the temperature and relative humidity of the system. Electrical conductivity measurements were carried out at 1 Hz while exposing salts to a continuously increasing relative humidity (to force transitioning through various hydrates) at different Martian temperatures. For demonstration, a day-night cycle at Oxia Planum, Mars (the landing site of ExoMars 2022 mission) was recreated.
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| 5. |
- Martin-Torres, Javier, et al.
(författare)
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Brine-Induced Tribocorrosion Accelerates Wear on Stainless Steel: Implications for Mars Exploration
- 2021
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Ingår i: Advances in Astronomy. - : Hindawi Publishing Corporation. - 1687-7969 .- 1687-7977. ; 2021
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tribocorrosion is a degradation phenomenon of material surfaces subjected to the combined action of mechanical loading and corrosion attack caused by the environment. Although corrosive chemical species such as materials like chloride atoms, chlorides, and perchlorates have been detected on the Martian surface, there is a lack of studies of its impact on materials for landed spacecraft and structures that will support surface operations on Mars. Here, we present a series of experiments on the stainless-steel material of the ExoMars 2020 Rosalind Franklin rover wheels. We show how tribocorrosion induced by brines accelerates wear on the materials of the wheels. Our results do not compromise the nominal ExoMars mission but have implications for future long-term surface operations in support of future human exploration or extended robotic missions on Mars.
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| 6. |
- Martin-Torres, Javier, et al.
(författare)
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The HABIT (HabitAbility: Brine Irradiation and Temperature) environmental instrument for the ExoMars 2022 Surface Platform
- 2020
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Ingår i: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The HABIT (HabitAbility: Brine Irradiation and Temperature) instrument is a European payload of the ExoMars 2022 Surface Platform Kazachok that will characterize the present-day habitability at its landing place in Oxia Planum, Mars. HABIT consists of two modules: (i) EnvPack (Environmental Package) that monitors the thermal environment (air and ground), the incident ultraviolet radiation, the near surface winds and the atmospheric dust cycle; and (ii) BOTTLE (Brine Observation Transition To Liquid Experiment), an In-situ Resource Utilization instrument to produce liquid water for future Mars exploration. BOTTLE will be used also to investigate the electrical conductivity properties of the martian atmosphere, the present-day atmospheric-ground water cycle and to evaluate if liquid water can exist on Mars in the form of brines, and for how long. These variables measured by HABIT are critical to determine the present and future habitability of the martian surface. In this paper, we describe in detail the HABIT instrument and sensors, together with the calibration of its Flight Model (FM) and the Engineering Qualification Model (EQM) versions. The EnvPack module has heritage from previous missions operating on the surface of Mars, and the environmental observations of its sensors will be directly comparable to those delivered by those missions. HABIT can provide information of the local temperature with ±0.2 °C accuracy, local winds with ±0.3 m/s, surface brightness temperature with ±0.8 °C, incident UV irradiance with 10% error of its absolute value in the UV-A, UV-B, UV-C ranges, as well as in the total UV-ABC range, and two additional wavebands, dedicated to ozone absorption. The UV observations can be used to derive the total opacity column and thus monitor the dust and ozone cycles. BOTTLE can demonstrate the hydration state of a set of four deliquescent salts, which have been found on Mars (calcium chloride, ferric sulphate, magnesium perchlorate and sodium perchlorate) by monitoring their electric conductivity (EC). The EC of the air and the dry salts under Earth ambient, clean room conditions is of the order of 0.1 μScm−1. We have simulated HABIT operations, within an environmental chamber, under martian conditions similar to those expected at Oxia Planum. For dry, CO2 atmospheric conditions at martian pressures, the air EC can be as low as 10−8 μScm−1, however it increases with the relative humidity (RH) percentage. The laboratory experiments show that after an increase from 0 to 60% RH within a few hours, the EC of the air increased up to 10−1 μScm−1, magnesium perchlorate hydrated and reached values of 10 μScm-1, whereas calcium chloride deliquesced forming a liquid state with EC of 102 μScm−1. HABIT will operate with a regular cadence, through day and night. The Electronic Unit (EU) is protected with a heater that is activated when its temperature is below −33 °C and disabled if the temperature of the surface platform rises above −30 °C. Additionally, the heaters of the BOTTLE unit can be activated to dehydrate the salts and reset the experiment. HABIT weighs only 918 g. Its power consumption depends on the operation mode and internal temperature, and it varies between 0.7 W, for nominal operation, and 13.1 W (when heaters are turned on at full intensity). HABIT has a baseline data rate of 1.5 MB/sol. In addition to providing critical environmental observations, this light and robust instrument, will be the first demonstrator of a water capturing system on the surface of Mars, and the first European In-Situ Resource Utilization in the surface of another planet.
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| 7. |
- Mathanlal, Thasshwin, et al.
(författare)
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Implementing Bioburden reduction and control on the deliquescent hydrogel of the ExoMars, HABIT Instrument
- 2019
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Ingår i: IAC-19. - : International Astronautical Federation.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The HABIT (HabitAbility, Brines, Irradiation and Temperature) instrument, will be the first Swedish Instrument that will land on the surface of Mars as a part of the ExoMars 2020 mission (ESA/IKI). It is also the first European ISRU (In-situ Resource Utilization) instrument capable of producing liquid water on Mars extracting atmospheric water vapor using salt deliquescence to form a stable liquid brine. HABIT also will study current habitability conditions on Mars investigating the air and surface thermal ranges and UV (Ultra-Violet) irradiance. The BOTTLE (Brine Observation Transition To Liquid Experiment) is the container element of HABIT with four independent cells housing deliquescent salts, which have been found on Mars, exposing them to the Martian atmosphere. In order to prevent capillarity of deliquescent or hydrated salts a mixture of deliquescent salts with Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) based on polyacrylamide is utilized. This mixture has deliquescent and hydrogel properties that can be reused by applying a thermal cycle, complying thus with the purpose of the instrument. A Poly-Tetra Fluro Ethylene (PTFE) coated nylon HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter stands as a physical barrier allowing interaction between the gaseous molecules of the Martian atmosphere and the salt mixtures, and at the same time prevents the passage of any biological contamination from the cells to the outside or vice-versa. In addition to the physical barrier, a strict bioburden reduction and analysis is made on the contained salt mixtures adhering to the European Cooperation for Space Standardization protocol of Microbial examination of flight hardware (ECSS-Q-ST-70-55C). The deliquescent salts and the SAP products need to be properly treated independently to adhere to the planetary protection protocols. In this paper, we have described the bioburden reduction process utilized to sterilize the salt mixtures in BOTTLE and the assays adopted to validate the sterilization. The sterilization process adopted involves ultra-fine filtration and Dry Heat Microbial Reduction (DHMR) of the deliquescent salts and the SAP respectively. The performance of SAP after DHMR is validated to ensure its working efficiency after sterilization. A standard swab assay and a pour-plate assay are adopted in the validation process and a comparison is made between them to determine the best assay to be applied for future space hardware utilizing such salt mixtures for planetary investigation and ISRU. The demonstrating of the compatibility of these products with the processes commonly required for space applications has implications for the future explorationof Mars.
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| 8. |
- Mathanlal, Thasshwin, et al.
(författare)
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Implementing bioburden reduction and control on the deliquescent hydrogel of the HABIT/ExoMars 2020 instrument
- 2020
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Ingår i: Acta Astronautica. - : Elsevier. - 0094-5765 .- 1879-2030. ; 173, s. 232-239
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The HabitAbility: Brines, Irradiation and Temperature (HABIT) instrument will be part of the ExoMars 2020 mission (ESA/Roscosmos) and will be the first European In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) instrument capable of producing liquid water on Mars. HABIT is composed by two modules: Environmental Package (EnvPack) and Brine Observation Transition To Liquid Experiment (BOTTLE). EnvPack will help to study the current habitability conditions on Mars investigating the air and surface thermal ranges and Ultraviolet (UV) irradiance; and BOTTLE is a container with four independent vessels housing deliquescent salts, which are known to be present on Mars, where the liquid water will be produced after deliquescence. In order to prevent capillarity of deliquescent or hydrated salts, a mixture of deliquescent salts with Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) based on polyacrylamide is utilized. This mixture has deliquescent and hydrogel properties and can be reused by applying a thermal cycle, complying thus with the purpose of the instrument. A High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) grade filter made of polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) porous membrane sandwiched between spunbounded non-woven fabric stands as a physical barrier allowing interaction between the gaseous molecules of the Martian atmosphere and the salt mixtures, and at the same time preventing the passage of any potential biological contamination from the cells to the outside or vice-versa. In addition to the physical barrier, a strict bioburden reduction and analysis procedure is applied to the hardware and the contained salt mixtures adhering to the European Cooperation for Space Standardization protocol of microbial examination of flight hardware (ECSS-Q-ST-70-55C). The deliquescent salts and the SAP products need to be properly treated independently to adhere to the planetary protection protocols. In this manuscript, we describe the bioburden reduction process utilized to sterilize the salt mixtures in BOTTLE and the assays adopted to validate the sterilization. We also describe the construction of a low-cost, portable ISO 7 cleanroom tent, exclusively designed for planetary protection tests. The sterilization process involves Dry Heat Microbial Reduction (DHMR) of the deliquescent salts and the SAP mixtures. The performance of SAP after DHMR is validated to ensure its working efficiency after sterilization. A slightly modified version of the standard swab assay is used in the validation process and a comparison is made between samples exposed to a thermal shock treatment and those without thermal shock, to determine the best assay to be applied for future space hardware utilizing such salt mixtures for planetary investigation and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). The demonstration of the compatibility of these products with the processes commonly required for space applications has implications for the future exploration of Mars.
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| 9. |
- Mathanlal, Thasshwin, et al.
(författare)
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PACKMAN – A portable instrument to investigate space weather
- 2021
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Ingår i: HardwareX. - : Elsevier. - 2468-0672. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PACKMAN (PArticle Counter k-index Magnetic ANomaly) is an autonomous, light and robust space weather instrument for operation within the subsurface, surface and atmosphere (as payload in stratospheric balloons) of the Earth. It has been designed using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components to reduce the cost of each unit and to allow to have multiple units monitoring simultaneously at different sites and also incorporate an open-access citizen science approach. The hardware-core of each PACKMAN units, weights around 600 g and consumes about 500 mA of current at 12 V. PACKMAN has been deployed at multiple latitudes and altitudes ranging from stratospheric heights (corroborating its TRL8 maturity) to subsurface depths of around 1 km. The data from PACKMAN have been compared with the state-of-the-art ground-based observatories, and satellites and scientific observations have been documented. A 3-D network of PACKMAN units operating continuously around the globe, from the subsurface to the stratosphere, would help to improve the understanding of the space weather phenomena, and its implications on the climate and infrastructures. PACKMAN is also an excellent tool for education and outreach. This article outlines the building instructions of two types of PACKMAN units: PACKMAN-S for ground-based measurements and PACKMAN-B for stratospheric measurements aboard high-altitude balloons.
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| 10. |
- Mathanlal, Thasshwin, et al.
(författare)
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PACKMAN - Portable Instrument to Study Space Weather
- 2018
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Ingår i: IAC-18. - : International Astronautical Federation.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Earth’s atmosphere is continuously bombarded by energetic charged particles from space. To date, there is a missing gap of information regarding the amount, energy, time variability, and type of space radiation that reaches the lower layers of the atmosphere, as well as on its geographic and altitude distribution and the implications on infrastructures and climate. To generate a long-time, multiple-site, open-access record of space radiation on Earth we designed an open source, autonomous instrument, called PACKMAN (PArticle Counter k-index Magnetic ANomaly), with Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components.PACKMAN is a robust and light scalable instrument that monitors gamma, beta, alpha radiation and muons and includes environmental sensors to monitor pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and magnetic perturbations. PACKMAN has demonstrated its operability at different latitudes and atmospheric heights (in balloons). As of today, several PACKMAN units have been installed and have operated already at multiple latitudes: 1) Space campus LTU, Kiruna, Sweden (67.84N, 20.41E, 390 m); 2) LTU Main campus, Luleå, Sweden (65.62N, 22.14E, 15 m); 3) University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (55.94N, 3.19W, 98 m); 4) Boulby Mine, United Kingdom (54.56N, 0.82W, 93 m and -1.1 km). Finally, two PACKMAN units have been flown in balloons to the stratosphere: 5) Cordoba airport, Cordoba, Spain (37.84N, 4.84W, 90 m to 27 km); 6) Esrange Space Center, Sweden (67.88N, 21.12E, 328 m to 27 km). In this work, we present the design and operation of these instruments, and summarize the main scientific discoveries. The data are compared to various ground based and orbiter instruments such as the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES).The observations acquired by PACKMAN will be used to provide open access, real time information, for: 1) education and public awareness of space weather phenomena; 2) to compare with Earth climate observations; 3) to provide real-time information of space weather variability for potential damage to infrastructures (telecommunications, power generation facilities, aviation, transport, etc.); 4) to monitor natural radiation sources at multiple environments; 5) to monitor the variability of the Pfotzer maximum height during different stages of solar activity and seasons and 6) finally, this project may serve as a reference for future scalable networks where multiple instruments are deployed at different sites or conditions and with different initiation times, and where the informational value increases by adhering to a common PDS4 format and analysing the data in a concurrent way.
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