THE MOONWALK PROJECT: PREPARING FOR HUMAN SUPPORTED SCIENCE ON MARS AND THE MOON

 
 

Astrobiology Science Conference 2015, Chicago, Illinois, USA – 15-19 Jun 2015

 

 

THE MOONWALK PROJECT: PREPARING FOR HUMAN SUPPORTED SCIENCE

ON MARS AND THE MOON

V.Parro[1], F. Puente-Sánchez*[1], T. Vögele[2], B. Imhof[3], B. Davenport[3], P. Weiss[4], D. Urbina[5], F. Fossum[6], A. Nottle[7], M. Höckelmann[2], T. Hoppenbrouwers[5], V. Taillevot[4], W. Hoheneder[3], O. Prieto-Ballesteros[1]; [1] Centro dede Astrobiologia (CAB, INTA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain, puentesf@cab.inta-csic.es; [2] Robotics Innovation Center, DFKI, Bremen, Germany; [3] LIQUIFER Systems Group, Vienna, Austria; [4] COMEX S.A., Marseille, France; [5] Space Applications Services, Zaventem, Belgium; [6] CIRiS, NTNU Samfunnsforsking, Trondheim, Norway; [7] Airbus Group Innovations, Newport, Wales


ABSTRACT

The final goal of the Global Exploration Roadmap from the International Space Exploration Coordination Group is the development of sustainable human missions to explore other planets and moons. While current rover missions are greatly expanding our knowledge on Mars habitability, manned exploration will provide unprecedented opportunities for in-situ science and sample retrieval. MOONWALK is a project funded by the European Union FP7 programme (Grant Agreement 607346) with the aim of creating in Europe the capability of simulating EVA Activities, as well as studying scenarios for Astronaut – Astronaut and Astronaut – Robot cooperation for surface exploration. All this technology will be tested and validated by field campaign simulations for low gravity (under sea water in Marseille, France) and a full astrobiological campaign to the Rio Tinto (southwestern Spain) Mars analogue. We have designed several scenarios that could occur in an actual manned mission to Mars. The scientific operations will include geomineralogical mapping and in-situ surveys by robot-portable Raman spectroscope, and EVA tasks will be carried out by cooperation between an astronaut and a robot assistant. Samples will be taken back to a planetary habitat simulator to be analyzed by a life detection instrument platform (Signs Of Life Detector, SOLID). The integration of geomineralogical and astrobiological data, together with orbital signatures, will allow the scientific team to formulate hypotheses on the past and present habitability of the selected sites, and determine the best candidates for a hypothetical sample return to Earth for further analysis.