Field trip to Iceland simulates Mars exploration methods
Peter Grindrod and fellow scientists explain why Iceland is the perfect environment for testing robotic Martian expeditions.
Peter Grindrod, a Research Fellow and Lecturer in Planetary Science at Birkbeck, joined three other scientists (Dr Claire Cousins, Birkbeck PhD Jennifer Harris, and Matt Gunn), from the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberystwyth, on a summer field trip to Iceland to test equipment and methods that will be used by the European Space Agency’s robotic Martian expeditions. Iceland’s environment is particularly suited to these ‘dry runs’ since it was formed through volcanic activity and shows evidence of gypsum, a deposit indicating past water flows, traits it shares to a certain extent with the planet Mars.
During the field trip the team carried out a series of experiments using the same equipment that will be used on the expedition to confirm how well the robotic rovers would perform. They collected both aerial data and surface deposits to compare the ‘chemical signature’ of the landscape. This dual approach to data collection mirrors that planned for the robotic expedition and is a good indicator of how effective these methods could be.
You can find out more about the field trip from this YouTube video [8 mins]