**5. What's next? The future of Martian exploration**

The decade of the 2020s opens a *golden age* of the *in situ* Martian exploration. During the summer of 2020, two missions of great impact will be launched to Mars. On the one hand, the improved (1 Ton heavy) version of MSL, the Perseverance rover, will be deployed by NASA on the Jezero crater in Mars. On the other hand, China will launch the ambitious Tianwen-1, which will try to place, in only one mission, an orbiter, a lander and a mid-size rover (240 kg). In the following launch window in 2022, Europe (ESA) and Russia (Roscosmos) will join the exploration of Mars with the second phase of the ExoMars mission, which will deploy the Rosalind Franklin rover (named in honor of the British scientific) on Oxia Planum by the beginning of 2023.

#### **5.1 Flying high: the perseverance breakthroughs**

The upcoming NASA mission to Mars with the Perseverance rover breaks frontiers in many scientific and technological aspects, also giving clear steps as defined by the Mars Exploration Program. Perseverance is in many aspects similar to Curiosity, but it implements several improvements and novel analytical techniques. On the one hand, Raman spectroscopy, a powerful analytical technique for molecular identification of samples, unprecedented in planetary exploration missions, appears in the payload of the rover not one, but twice. The SuperCam multianalytical instrument suite includes a remote Raman spectrometer that will analyze rocks and soils at distances of up to 12 m. Also, the SHERLOC instrument placed in the arm of the rover will use an UV laser source to perform Raman spectroscopy optimized for the detection of organics.

Paving the way for future human missions, Perseverance is equipped with the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), a technological demonstrator bound to evaluate the feasibility of extracting pure oxygen out of the CO2 present in the Martian atmosphere. If working, this technology could be escalated to obtain propellent for vehicles leaving Mars for return to Earth in sample return missions (or to be used during manned stays in the planet in the long term).

Another technological demonstrator is related to the 3-D exploration of Mars, as the Perseverance rover will deploy a helicopter capable of flying in the thin Martian atmosphere. This will demonstrate the feasibility of future drone-based exploration missions on Mars.

Last but not least, a very critical payload in the Martian exploration roadmap is the Sample Caching System. This is one of the most complex robotic systems ever built on a rover and will be used to cache samples deemed interesting by the analytical instruments of the rover, sealing them in tubes that will be left on the Martian surface to be picked up by a rover on a future mission to be returned to Earth. With all these novelties, Perseverance will be setting new milestones in the Mars Exploration Program pathway.

#### **5.2 Drilling down: the collaborative robotic biologist**

The ExoMars 2022 mission is the result of a collaborative effort from several points of view. On the one hand, the European Rosalind Franklin rover will be landed by the Russian Kazachok lander, constituting a joint effort and tight collaboration between ESA (and the different European participant countries) and Roscosmos. On the other hand, the rover itself is equipped with a sample preparation and distribution system that has been designed in order to allow a very tight collaboration of all the payload instruments, with a clear objective in mind: to look for traces of life.

The most important novel technology used by the ExoMars rover is a drill that will be used to obtain samples from down to 2 m depth. This element is critical for the mission: this robotic biologist will be able to analyze samples obtained from a depth at which the organic molecules will be much better preserved from the radiation on the surface.

Other interesting features of this rover are the automatic navigation system that will allow an unattended daily navigation of ~100 m, including a novel *walking wheel* design that will be used to avoid getting stuck in sandy terrains.

The rover payload includes a Panoramic Camera (PanCam) and the Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars (ISEM) placed on the rover mast. These instruments will help mapping the terrain and the sample selection for other instruments. This selection will also be narrowed with the help of the Water Ice and Subsurface Deposit Observation on Mars (WISDOM), a subsurface radar to study the soil stratigraphy under the rover; also the Autonomous Detector of Radiation of Neutrons Onboard Rover at Mars (ADRON-RM) will look for water or hydrated minerals under the Martian surface. Considering the information obtained from all these instruments, a decision will be taken on the drilling site to optimize the chances of detecting biosignatures. There will be several opportunities for analysis as the rover is designed to support several drilling cycles.

The sample analysis will be performed by several instruments in a choreographed sequence starting during the drilling with the Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies (Ma\_Miss), an IR spectrometer placed on the drill tip. The results from this instrument will be key to understand the rock formation and sedimentation processes without considering the atmospheric influence or weathering, while also helping contextualize the sample texture and structure. The sample will then be extracted and color-imaged by the Close-Up Imager (CLUPI)

**105**

**Figure 2.**

**5.3 Bring it home: the Mars sample return**

*Martian rovers' payloads and analysis objectives on Mars.*

*Evolution of the Scientific Instrumentation for* In Situ *Mars Exploration*

for morphologic, structural, and textural analysis. Finally, the sample is introduced in the rover body for analysis by the Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD), inside an Ultra Clean Zone (UCZ), an area with the highest cleanliness and sterilization requirements to avoid controversies regarding the results obtained by the very

The Rosalind Franklin rover includes a sophisticated sample preparation and distribution system that will crush, dose, and flatten the sample on a carrousel that will move in sequence to allow the analysis of the sample by the three ALD instruments: MicrOmega is an IR spectrometer that will identify the potential regions of interest for analysis by the other instruments. The Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS), the first ever Raman spectrometer qualified for a space mission, will perform a molecular identification of the materials on the same spots indicated by MicrOmega as regions of interest, and others randomly on the sample surface. And finally, the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA), a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) instrument that can also work in Laser Desorption/Mass Spectrometer (LDMS) mode, will analyze the sample. With MOMA-LDMS, it will be possible to analyze the very same spots analyzed by RLS and MicrOmega. If the sample is considered interesting, then MOMA-GC/MS can be commanded on the sample (by dosing sample on one-use pyrolysis ovens) to characterize, with very

low limits of detection, the organic compounds present on the sample.

This is how the ExoMars rover will perform a sequential collaborative analysis in which all the elements need to work as expected to ensure a successful measurement. This risky but an ambitious approach is necessary to maximize the chances of obtaining a major breakthrough in the exploration of Mars: the possibility of detecting preserved complex organic molecules or biomarkers on the red planet. When considering all the rover missions to Mars, it can be observed how payloads and mission designs have evolved to give answers to the scientific questions that arise after every new discovery; of course, to the extent that technological advances have allowed. **Figure 2** includes a summary of the payloads included in the Martian rovers.

Converting the planetary exploration paradigm into a world effort instead of national initiatives will be necessary for the mid-term plans of Mars exploration and will require a tight collaboration between agencies in order to make substantial

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93377*

sensitive instrumentation of the ALD.

#### *Evolution of the Scientific Instrumentation for* In Situ *Mars Exploration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93377*

for morphologic, structural, and textural analysis. Finally, the sample is introduced in the rover body for analysis by the Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD), inside an Ultra Clean Zone (UCZ), an area with the highest cleanliness and sterilization requirements to avoid controversies regarding the results obtained by the very sensitive instrumentation of the ALD.

The Rosalind Franklin rover includes a sophisticated sample preparation and distribution system that will crush, dose, and flatten the sample on a carrousel that will move in sequence to allow the analysis of the sample by the three ALD instruments: MicrOmega is an IR spectrometer that will identify the potential regions of interest for analysis by the other instruments. The Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS), the first ever Raman spectrometer qualified for a space mission, will perform a molecular identification of the materials on the same spots indicated by MicrOmega as regions of interest, and others randomly on the sample surface. And finally, the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA), a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) instrument that can also work in Laser Desorption/Mass Spectrometer (LDMS) mode, will analyze the sample. With MOMA-LDMS, it will be possible to analyze the very same spots analyzed by RLS and MicrOmega. If the sample is considered interesting, then MOMA-GC/MS can be commanded on the sample (by dosing sample on one-use pyrolysis ovens) to characterize, with very low limits of detection, the organic compounds present on the sample.

This is how the ExoMars rover will perform a sequential collaborative analysis in which all the elements need to work as expected to ensure a successful measurement. This risky but an ambitious approach is necessary to maximize the chances of obtaining a major breakthrough in the exploration of Mars: the possibility of detecting preserved complex organic molecules or biomarkers on the red planet.

When considering all the rover missions to Mars, it can be observed how payloads and mission designs have evolved to give answers to the scientific questions that arise after every new discovery; of course, to the extent that technological advances have allowed. **Figure 2** includes a summary of the payloads included in the Martian rovers.

#### **Figure 2.**

*Mars Exploration - A Step Forward*

missions on Mars.

Exploration Program pathway.

radiation on the surface.

to support several drilling cycles.

Paving the way for future human missions, Perseverance is equipped with the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), a technological demonstrator bound to evaluate the feasibility of extracting pure oxygen out of the CO2 present in the Martian atmosphere. If working, this technology could be escalated to obtain propellent for vehicles leaving Mars for return to Earth in sample return missions

Another technological demonstrator is related to the 3-D exploration of Mars, as the Perseverance rover will deploy a helicopter capable of flying in the thin Martian atmosphere. This will demonstrate the feasibility of future drone-based exploration

Last but not least, a very critical payload in the Martian exploration roadmap is the Sample Caching System. This is one of the most complex robotic systems ever built on a rover and will be used to cache samples deemed interesting by the analytical instruments of the rover, sealing them in tubes that will be left on the Martian surface to be picked up by a rover on a future mission to be returned to Earth. With all these novelties, Perseverance will be setting new milestones in the Mars

The ExoMars 2022 mission is the result of a collaborative effort from several points of view. On the one hand, the European Rosalind Franklin rover will be landed by the Russian Kazachok lander, constituting a joint effort and tight collaboration between ESA (and the different European participant countries) and Roscosmos. On the other hand, the rover itself is equipped with a sample preparation and distribution system that has been designed in order to allow a very tight collaboration of all the payload

The most important novel technology used by the ExoMars rover is a drill that will be used to obtain samples from down to 2 m depth. This element is critical for the mission: this robotic biologist will be able to analyze samples obtained from a depth at which the organic molecules will be much better preserved from the

Other interesting features of this rover are the automatic navigation system that

will allow an unattended daily navigation of ~100 m, including a novel *walking* 

The rover payload includes a Panoramic Camera (PanCam) and the Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars (ISEM) placed on the rover mast. These instruments will help mapping the terrain and the sample selection for other instruments. This selection will also be narrowed with the help of the Water Ice and Subsurface Deposit Observation on Mars (WISDOM), a subsurface radar to study the soil stratigraphy under the rover; also the Autonomous Detector of Radiation of Neutrons Onboard Rover at Mars (ADRON-RM) will look for water or hydrated minerals under the Martian surface. Considering the information obtained from all these instruments, a decision will be taken on the drilling site to optimize the chances of detecting biosignatures. There will be several opportunities for analysis as the rover is designed

The sample analysis will be performed by several instruments in a choreographed sequence starting during the drilling with the Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies (Ma\_Miss), an IR spectrometer placed on the drill tip. The results from this instrument will be key to understand the rock formation and sedimentation processes without considering the atmospheric influence or weathering, while also helping contextualize the sample texture and structure. The sample will then be extracted and color-imaged by the Close-Up Imager (CLUPI)

*wheel* design that will be used to avoid getting stuck in sandy terrains.

(or to be used during manned stays in the planet in the long term).

**5.2 Drilling down: the collaborative robotic biologist**

instruments, with a clear objective in mind: to look for traces of life.

**104**

*Martian rovers' payloads and analysis objectives on Mars.*

#### **5.3 Bring it home: the Mars sample return**

Converting the planetary exploration paradigm into a world effort instead of national initiatives will be necessary for the mid-term plans of Mars exploration and will require a tight collaboration between agencies in order to make substantial advances in the coming decades. As soon as technology readiness allows it, returning samples to Earth for analysis with the best available instrumentation is the next reachable step in the exploration effort. In this framework, the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program is designed as a joint effort between NASA and ESA, defining a complex sequence of missions beginning with the Perseverance rover, selecting and caching the first samples. Later, an ESA rover will be sent sometime during the decade (2026?) to retrieve and store the samples to be placed in a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) that will place the samples in orbit, where they will wait until a return-trip ship captures them to bring them to Earth for analysis.

These complex mission designs, launches, and operations' sequence will constitute a major milestone in the Martian exploration, where the next step will be the design of *in situ* manned missions to Mars.

## **6. Conclusions**

The robotic exploration of Mars is a consequence of humanity's awe toward our red neighbor and has become a reality when technology has reached the needed maturity, also influenced by other socio-economical aspects. The space race of the 1960s and the 1970s was the starting point of the Martian exploration and is a good example of how technological development was pushed beyond unimaginable limits thanks to the social, political, and economic support. In the late 1970s, however, the race had already been won over by the United States, and economies were suffering the petrol crisis. This resulted in a loss of momentum in the exploration missions to Mars, and the missions to Mars stopped until the implementation of the Martian Exploration Program in the 1990s.

The MEP is an ambitious program for the exploration of Mars, which was conceived as an exploration effort based on an international collaboration, aimed at joining efforts among the different space agencies worldwide. This set a new era in the exploration of Mars, where not only collaboration between Agencies is needed for mission's preparation, but also cooperation is required among different instruments once on Mars to give proper answers to scientific challenges. This has resulted into complex rover designs and missions where a suite of experiments works altogether for a common goal.

The decade of the 2020s will set new milestones in the Martian exploration paradigm, not only for pushing the technological limits and conquering new dimensions of explorations (helicopters, subsurface drilling), but also achieving the final step in the Mars studies evolution observations (with telescopes from Earth, from orbit, *in situ* from surface, etc.), bringing home (Earth) Martian samples for its study, paving the way for the human exploration of the red planet.

In this new era, the collaboration between instruments, rovers, missions, and, finally, agencies and political actors will be key to obtain the best results to, ultimately, unravel the mysteries of our red neighbor and, who knows, maybe answer one of the most transcendental questions of humankind: Are we alone?

#### **Acknowledgements**

Authors acknowledge Spanish institutions: Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) and Universidad de Valladolid (UVa), as supporting institutions for authors professional activities, and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) for its funding support through grants ESP2014-56138-C3-1-R, ESP2014-56138-C3-2-R, ESP2107-87690-C3-1-R, ESP2107-87690-C3-3-R.

**107**

**Author details**

Andoni G. Moral Inza1

\*Address all correspondence to: moralia@inta.es

provided the original work is properly cited.

*Evolution of the Scientific Instrumentation for* In Situ *Mars Exploration*

research, authorship and/or publication of this book chapter.

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to

\* and Guillermo Lopez-Reyes2

1 Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain

2 Unidad Asociada UVa-CSIC-CAB, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93377*

**Conflict of interest**

*Evolution of the Scientific Instrumentation for* In Situ *Mars Exploration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93377*
