title: The 2005 MARTE Robotic Drilling Experiment in Río Tinto, Spain: objectives, approach, and results of a simulated mission to search for life in the Martian subsurface.
abstract: The Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) simulated a robotic drilling mission to search for subsurface life on Mars. The drill site was on Peña de Hierro near the headwaters of the Río Tinto river (southwest Spain), on a deposit that includes massive sulfides and their gossanized remains that resemble some iron and sulfur minerals found on Mars. The mission used a fluidless, 10-axis, autonomous coring drill mounted on a simulated lander. Cores were faced; then instruments collected color wide-angle context images, color microscopic images, visible-near infrared point spectra, and (lower resolution) visible-near infrared hyperspectral images. Cores were then stored for further processing or ejected. A borehole inspection system collected panoramic imaging and Raman spectra of borehole walls. Life detection was performed on full cores with an adenosine triphosphate luciferin-luciferase bioluminescence assay and on crushed core sections with SOLID2, an antibody array-based instrument. Two remotely located science teams analyzed the remote sensing data and chose subsample locations. In 30 days of operation, the drill penetrated to 6 m and collected 21 cores. Biosignatures were detected in 12 of 15 samples analyzed by SOLID2. Science teams correctly interpreted the nature of the deposits drilled as compared to the ground truth. This experiment shows that drilling to search for subsurface life on Mars is technically feasible and scientifically rewarding.
authors.affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA. cstoker@mail.arc.nasa.gov
authors.forename: Carol R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Stoker
authors.forename: Howard N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Cannon
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Dunagan
authors.forename: Lawrence G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Lemke
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gomez-Elvira
authors.forename: Kiel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Jhony
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zavaleta
authors.forename: Alois
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Winterholler
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roman
authors.forename: Jose Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Manfredi
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonaccorsi
authors.forename: Mary Sue
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Battler
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fernández-Remolar
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gonzales-Pastor
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Heldmann
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez-Frías
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Parro
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Prieto-Ballesteros
authors.forename: Brad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sutter
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Schuerger
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schutt
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rull
mesh_terms: D018559:Exobiology / Q000379:methods*; D005843:Geography; D006040:Goals; D018535:Mars; D012106:Research; D012371:Robotics; D018561:Space Simulation; D013030:Spain; D013672:Technology