Digging Deep for the Real Mars

technodude writes: "Wired has an article on a Canadian company working on an automated drilling system that they hope someday will be able to drill core samples on Mars. Ok, let's say they do this, get it all the way to Mars only to find out after drilling 30 feet beneath the surface there was a large cavernous area that had an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and a large population of underground dwellers!!" Um... apologize and hope they don't have any interplanetary weaponry?

Boring Canadians

[cheezehead]

From the article:

The Canadian Space Agency has unveiled new technology that could one day see boring Canadians on Mars.

That's uncalled for! I've been to Canada, and Canadians aren't boring at all (quite the opposite)!

apologize?!

[NWT]

Um... apologize and hope they don't have any interplanetary weaponry?

Sure, but in which language? Perhaps we could ask them for language courses first ;-)
- knowledge is power ...

Re:apologize?!

[cheezehead]

Sure, but in which language?

Well, either English or French. Guess we'll have to wait for the Canadians to figure that out first.

Re:apologize?!

[Mnementh1123]

Any language you like; they surely would have deciphered at least some of our radio signals by now, seeing as radio waves only take just over six minutes to reach Mars. You gotta pity any Martians living out there, I have to say.

Huh?

[cheezehead]

From the article:

Drilling is necessary not only because of the high winds that can reach 100 mph -- which move things around and disturb the planet's geology -- but also because of the intense radiation from the sun and deep space on the planet's surface, according to Alain Berinstain, the agency's Mars Project lead.

Ok, I'm willing to accept that I'm going nuts, but there's a few things I don't get here:

"100 mph high winds"? The atmospheric pressure on Mars is 1% of that on earth. So how come that is a problem?

"moving things around" Really? Like it will blow over a Mars lander craft?

"disturb the planet's geology" ? The winds are blowing rocks all over the place? Mountains are collapsing? Or is there just a little dust being blown around?

"intense radiation from the sun" Seems a little less ridiculous, given that there's no ozone layer to block UV, hardly an atmosphere to stop cosmic particles and all that, but Mars is a bit farther from the Sun than Earth is, and radiation intensity decreases with the square of the distance. It's friggin' cold out there (-85 F on average), so "intense radiation" seems a bit of an overstatement. Besides, we've put things on the surface of Mars taking pictures and sending them back. Seems at least as sophisticated as a robotic drill.

Finally, what does "deep space on the planet's surface" mean?

I really have a problem taking these comments seriously. So maybe I am going nuts after all.

Re:Huh?

[redcliffe]

The mob who made the stupid comments is not the CSA, but the group who made the drill. They don't really know much about space, they just know drilling into rock. So in this case the gaff is acceptable.

David

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Finally, what does "deep space on the planet's surface" mean?

Why don't you try reading in english:
because of the intense radiation (from the sun and deep space) on the planet's surface

Re:Huh?

[Arlet]

The winds, even though the atmospheric pressure is low, are still capable of moving sand. Over a couple of million years, this may well change a planet's geology. Go take a look a the grand canyon to witness the effect of time.

When they're talking about the intense radiation from the sun, they're not worried about the survival of the drill or lander. They're talking about the the radiation destroying evidence of life on the surface, and that's why they need to drill. Since the atmosphere is so thin, you can expect a heavy dose of radiation at the surface. There are worse things than UV, such as high energy cosmic rays [adelaide.edu.au], which are mostly blocked by earth's atmosphere, but can penetrate a lot further on Mars.

Re:Huh? - Hope this helps!

[Mnementh1123]

1. '"100 mph high winds"? The atmospheric pressure on Mars is 1% of that on earth. So how come that is a problem?': Although atmosperic pressure is far lower on Mars than it is on Earth, gravity is also far lower than it is on Earth. Thus, less force is required to move less weight. Also, there is the small problem of dust storms. While a dust storm is going on, caused by those high winds, atmospheric pressure most definitley would raise, as there is more material (at least near to the ground, which is where the drill would be)flowing around in the air. Therefore, the winds can be a danger to any operation on the Martian surface. 2.'"disturb the planet's geology" ? The winds are blowing rocks all over the place? Mountains are collapsing? Or is there just a little dust being blown around?': The collapsing of the lithosphere, in the region of Pavonis Mons, Ascraeus Mons, and Olympus Mons, is caused by the fact that those three volcanoes have all reached the isostatic limit; that is that all three can grow no more, they are simply too heavy for the lithosphere underneath them to support anymore. So the Tharsis Bulge is slowly collapsing. Rocks move also, of course. But that is part of the natural geology of the planet; drilling on the surface may well somehow interfere with that, and with future scientific studies. 3.'"intense radiation from the sun" Seems a little less ridiculous, given that there's no ozone layer to block UV, hardly an atmosphere to stop cosmic particles and all that, but Mars is a bit farther from the Sun than Earth is, and radiation intensity decreases with the square of the distance. It's friggin' cold out there (-85 F on average), so "intense radiation" seems a bit of an overstatement. Besides, we've put things on the surface of Mars taking pictures and sending them back. Seems at least as sophisticated as a robotic drill.' When they say "intense radiation", they are mostly referring to radiation in the UV range. However, when there is a solar flare, Mars, lacking a magnetosphere and an ozone layer, absorbs the entirety of the hard radiation that reaches it. Which is alot. So, any equipment would have to be EM hardened, which is very difficult to do as regards to space equipment; the only way to EM harden something is to increase the area (within which the surge caused by EM radiation) within a circuit thus increasing the general resistance, and "spreading the damage" so to speak. Radiation on Mars is a very real problem. As for the last, "deep space on Mars", I would assume they simply mean that Mars is in deep space. That is, its very far from Earth, far further than people have ever been. And therefore, deep space. Hope that was helpful!

Finally

[trollbot]

Seems like I've been [nasa.gov] reading [lanl.gov] about [nasa.gov] this [spacedaily.com] for [thirdage.com] years [nasa.gov]. Glad to see it finally becoming reality [space.gc.ca].

In my worst nightmares

[Tablizer]

a Canadian company working on an automated drilling system that they hope someday will be able to drill core samples on Mars....

Please God, don't let dentists get ahold of this technology.