Delta | Make Sense Out of Mars
Team Updates
Sustainability
Our team values sustainability and understands that an enormous amount of work goes into every launch. That’s why we also put significant effort in prolonging the mission as much as possible, with a result of two more phases of our mission.
The first phase is the main goal of our mission: probing for water. We will map the places such as Gusev crater where we can potentially mine (as described).
After that, the probes will likely rely on the solar panels. With that they enter the second phase: weather monitoring for making more accurate Mars climate models. The probes will be equipped with anemometers, thermometers and barometers and will measure the local climate of the Gusev crater. With this info, and also info from already stationed weather satellites, we can also protect our solar panel in case of a sandstorm. The data they will provide is important since it is a likely place where people will go.
The third and final stage is the most diverse one: long term follow up. The drills will create a stable structure which not-so-distant future colonizers can use. The researchers can build a laboratory around some of them and they can examine samples from the already dug holes. These samples can show vital information about the history of the planet, on top of that, the scientists can test to see if there’s any life in the soil! They can be used as scaffolding to mount antenna for long range on-planet communication. Or they can continue their work as weather stations, providing valuable data throughout the year. Ultimately, they can be recycled for much needed raw materials.
Jovana KrstikjStructure of the probes:
Each probe has a pyramid structure which contains the drill, a microcomputer, antennas, primarily, and a solar panel and anemometers, barometers, and thermometers (for future use). Each drill has a cone structure and will consist of a few part which will unfold as it goes deeper underground.
How our mechanism works:
The drill will consist of 19 cut and hollow cones, turned upside down (with the pointy end facing downwards) all stacked above one another. Each cone will have a height of 1 meter. The 20th regular cone would be located in the middle of the drill and have a radius of 3cm. When the 19th cone reaches the end of its length, it folds and serves as a continuation for the 20th. This is continued with the 18th, it folds and serves as a continuation for the 19th and so on, until this happens with all of the cones. Each following cone will have a radius of 1cm more than the previous one.
When the 20th cone has to open to start digging, all the other cones will open and move aside to make room for it. This last cone will have a spiral which will be used for digging. The sensor will be located in the 19th cone, and an area would be tested for water each time a cone folds.
MATERIALS USED FOR EVERY ELEMENT OF THE PROBE:
The spiral will be made out of diamond (as it is a very strong material and would not break easily as it digs).
The drill itself will be made out of aluminium 6060 (it is a very strong, and light material, therefore easy to transport)
The pyramids will be made out of aluminium 3003
How each probe works:
The sensor previously mentioned will consist of an electrolyte connected to a microcomputer (the microcomputer will be located in the pyramid structure on the surface) which would dissolve when the drill hits the ice.
We will have a large enough battery so that our drill can use more energy to conduct heat.
Aluminium 6060 can conduct heat, so the thermal conductivity along with the friction the drill will cause when it hits the ice, the ice will melt.
As we previously mentioned, the ice on mars either consists of water or carbon dioxide. The water or carbon dioxide will reach the electrolyte. The electrolyte will transmit an electrical current if it comes in contact with water, signalling to the microcomputer above that it found water. The microcomputer transmits this information to the antennas located on the surface, which then send this information back to earth.
Iva Cvetkovska
Marko Markovikj
Marko MarkovikjPower supply
Our landers will be powered by a thermoelectric generator [1] with some sort of nuclear material as the heat source (radioisotope thermoelectric generator - RTG) [2][4]. This type of energy is convenient as it is compact and it produces power directly from heat difference. It has been used on many NASA missions, including but not limited to the Curiosity rover[3] and especially the Voyager probes. It is still transmitting after 41 years of operation, and it will still be operational well into the 2020s [4]. This proves the RTGs reliability and will probably be the main fuel source of the landers.
We hope that we can use thorium as a heat source material, because it is safer and more stable than the current RTG materials used. However, Plutionium 238 and Americium 241 are the current most popular materials and can still be viable options, as radiation containment has largely improved over the last 50 years.
The RTGs will be the main power source for the first phase of the mission. To ensure longevity, we will equip the landers with solar panels which will power the 2nd and 3rd phase, as well as ease the strain during the 1st phase.
Nikola JovanovskiHow do we do this? We use probes which would be sent to Mars by a rocket to be deployed in areas most likely to contain underground ice in the form of water (or carbon dioxide, our job is to discern between the two). There probes will have impact drills built in them to dig 20 meters into the ground.
Iva CvetkovskaMars Here We Come!
With our project called Icy Water we aim find water on Mars, which could be later mined and used for drinking or as fuel. We also create a sustainable system for further use. Finding water would be of extreme importance for stationing a base. And even if there is not enough usable water we still provide valuable information.
Nikola Jovanovski
SpaceApps is a NASA incubator innovation program.