The objective is to identify optimal methods for excavating subsurface ice on Mars for the purposes of obtaining drinking water, rocket fuel, and other useful resources. However, the challenge of accessing these ice reservoirs from the surface of Mars is significant.
Honeybee Robotics is developing a solution to this problem, which it refers to as the RedWater concept.

Dual Purpose

Kris Zacny, Vice President of Honeybee Robotics’ Exploration Technology Group in Altadena, California, asserts that the RedWater architecture is suitable for deep drilling on Mars. He notes that RedWater can serve two purposes: drilling for scientific research and water extraction. In an interview with Space.com, Zacny stated, «It’s a win-win. We are at a point where this technology can be used in upcoming Martian missions.»

The recent discovery of subsurface water ice on the Red Planet is consistent with the capabilities of the RedWater system.

Glaciers

Over the years, data collected by the Martian orbiters have indicated that one-third of the planet’s surface contains ice near the surface, as well as deeper ice layers. For example, earlier this year, observations by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe demonstrated that in some parts of the planet, layers of water ice extend several kilometres deep.

In general, it can be stated that water ice in the form of debris-covered glaciers or ice layers, perhaps hundreds of metres thick, has been discovered and mapped in the mid-latitudes of Mars. This is a favourable location for a future expeditionary habitable outpost.

In March, the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference) presented a report on a newly discovered volcano.

A new study suggests that beneath this highly eroded object is probably still glacial ice preserved near the surface in the relatively warm equatorial region of Mars.

Comprehensive Testing

In the meantime, Honeybee technologists recently completed comprehensive testing of the RedWater system in the cold room, according to Joey Palmowski, the company’s systems engineer, who informed Space.com of this. The work was conducted under a grant from NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships/NextSTEP-2 programme. The RedWater system employs two proven ground-based technologies that have already been used for polar operations in Greenland and Antarctica.

These include the use of coiled tubing, which is a flexible pipe that is lowered from the surface into the subsurface ice, and the Rodriguez Well/RodWell concept, which proposes the creation of wells by melting the subsurface ice and pumping liquid water to the surface.

The SWIM team

Nathaniel Putzig is associate director and senior research associate at the Planetary Science Institute office in Lakewood, Colorado. He is also co-leader of the Subsurface Water Ice Mapping/SWIM project team, which is mapping the location and depth of mid-latitude ice on Mars.

The third phase of the SWIM project is now being completed, with the objective of assisting in the prioritisation of the future concept of the International Mars Ice Mapper/I-MIM mission.

Ice reconnaissance

I-MIM is a NASA project in partnership with the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana/ASI), the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA, and the Canadian Space Agency/CSA. Its objective is to construct a radar-equipped orbiter to explore the ice sheet on Mars.

Putzig stated that he believes NASA and other international partners are eager to realise I-MIM. However, there is considerable uncertainty about the budget for the mission, not only from NASA but possibly other agencies as well. This makes it difficult for international partners to finalise agreements and begin actively designing and building hardware and instruments for the mission.

Cross-sectional and vertical data are required

Putzig observed that the current data sets contain uncertainties, emphasising the necessity for further research, particularly the development of new Mars orbital radar sensing capabilities. Once this information is available, it will be possible to definitively identify and characterise the hidden ice at the landing zone scale for broad areas in the mid-latitudes of Mars.

In principle, it is possible to send landers to higher latitudes or to locations where fresh impacts have exposed ice and be confident that ice in the subsurface will be detected with a drill without first obtaining additional data. However, even in such locations, the lateral and vertical extent and concentration of ice will still be poorly defined without new instrumentation.

Hard facts

Drilling through ice, even at a depth of one metre, can be challenging, as Isaac Smith, an associate professor at York University in Toronto, Ontario, and a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, explains. Such drilling on Earth requires a significant amount of thermal or electrical energy and a considerable number of personnel. Smith notes that it is particularly challenging when the ice is considerably colder than -40°C, as is the case with the ice on Mars.

This is precisely what occurred with NASA’s Phoenix rover in 2008. Equipped with landing legs, the stationary probe descended to the planet at a latitude equivalent to northern Alaska, the furthest north that any previous lander had reached. It then scooped up Martian soil and checked for water ice, and indeed, it found it.

Smith observed that it is challenging to excavate in icy terrain, citing the experience of living in Canada during the winter months, where digging in one’s backyard is also difficult when the ground is frozen.

Frozen in time

According to Smith, meticulous sampling of any ice on Mars will yield significant scientific benefits. He posited that polar ice could provide a comprehensive record of climate history, while mid-latitude ice could serve as a resource for future space exploration and represents the next frontier in the search for life on Mars. Smith further noted that, just as obtaining rock samples can provide insights into the early history of Mars, ice will offer clues to its recent past.

According to Smith, this is all good news, but reaching depths of tens of metres or more is a difficult task, requiring large amounts of energy and human intervention, even on Earth. For the foreseeable future on Mars, this will have to be done by robots, probably for a long time. It will require additional levels of strength, which will increase the cost, and some kind of energy source, which we don’t have yet. However, in the long term, this is a feasible proposition, and Honeybee Robotics is probably the company that can achieve it.

Author: Leonard David
https://www.space.com/mars water ice ice drill honey bee robotics