2006-07-13 | TECHNOLOGIES
NASA to Test Automated Drilling Rig in Mars Analog Mission
On a future mission to Mars NASA scientists hope to drill into the surface of the planet to look for water and signs of possible life. To accomplish this task, scientists are developing an automated, unmanned drill rig that can operate totally on its own for hours at a time.
From July 14 to July 29, 2006, NASA researchers will test an automated prototype Mars drill rig at the Haughton Crater on Devon Island in Canada's Nunavut Territory north of Ontario and Quebec. During the Drilling Automation for Mars Exploration (DAME) Project, artificial intelligence will have complete control of a drill rig for the first time.
If successful, the drill could be used to collect samples of the Martian subsurface. Such samples could tell scientists a great deal about the geological history of Mars, the presence of water ice below the surface and the potential for past or present life on the Red Planet. Searching for signs of life in the solar system is a primary goal of astrobiology.
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from NASA - ARC, Jul 13, 2006
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