Drilling Subsurface Ice at the Haughton Crater Analog Site
- Resource Type
- Report
- Authors
- Glass, B; Zacny, K; Bergman, D; Paulsen, G; Lee, P
- Source
- Subject
- Mechanical Engineering
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
- Language
- English
Over a decade of evolutionary development of integrated automated drilling and sample handling at the terrestrial polar Mars analog site at Haughton Crater has made it possible to propose missions that could sample 1-2m into rocks and ice on Mars. The eventual search for biomarkers and signs of past or extant life in Mars polar regions will require sample acquisition there below the desiccated and irradiated surface. Drilling and drill tests at the Haughton Crater site since 1998 have also shown a retreat downward of the active-layer boundary in annual measurements.