Communications of the ACM
University Payloads Vie For Spot on 2018 Mars Mission
Credit: Mars One
Mars One, the not-for-profit foundation working to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars, announced ten Mars One University Competition finalists eligible to fly to Mars. One of the ten payloads will receive the opportunity to fly on Mars One's first unmanned Lander mission to Mars in 2018. The public will play a role in deciding which payload receives the opportunity to fly to Mars.
The ten projects selected from an initial 35 submissions were submitted by diverse universities worldwide. To get this far, the payload proposals needed to meet all requirements as described by Mars One supplier Lockheed Martin. Mars One community members, social media followers, and the general public will have the opportunity to vote on and select the winning payload. Voting opportunities for the public will open in December 2014. Voting submission will be accepted until December 31, 2014. The winning university payload will be announced on January 5, 2015.
The winning payload needs to be feasible and meet the requirements and restrictions as outlined in the Proposal Information Package and on-going discussions with Lockheed Martin, who will build the 2018 lander. Additionally, if in any case the winning team can not perform or adjust to additional requirements the runner-up will be chosen instead.
"These ten final projects are unique and creative and we are very happy with the payload proposals these teams have presented," says Arno Wielders, co-founder and CTO of Mars One. "It would be highly interesting to see each and every one of these projects being launched to Mars. Now it is up to the public to decide which project they would like to have on Mars."
The ten finalists in the Mars One University competition, with a brief payload description, are:
Cyano Knights – Generating O2 out of CO2 (Germany)
This project aim is to change a small amount of the 95% carbon dioxide Mars atmosphere into oxygen with the power of cyanobacteria. The Cyano Knights team would like to transport cyanobacteria to Mars that will deliver oxygen made out of their photosynthesis of carbon dioxide. The activities of the cyanobacteria will be monitored in different environmental conditions on plates in quarantined boxes in order to determine the best working solution for converting carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars.
HELENA – Oxygen Production & Art Time Capsule (Australia)
The HELENA team plans to demonstrate oxygen production from water in the Martian soil through electrolysis. HELENA's primary science payload is an electrolysis module housed in a custom made chassis unit designed to demonstrate key life-support technology; producing oxygen from water extracted out of the Martian soil.
IHISS: In situ Habitat Improvement through Soil Strengthening (USA)
The IHISS team will test in situ materials as a shield for the habitats on Mars. Soil will be collected with the soil acquisition payload and injected with a polyester resin in order to develop a new composite material. The composite material will be moved over a series of sensors which will be activated to obtain the control data, average radiation amount, and average temperature cycle. With the data collected from the experiment, IHISS will determine how useful a shield of this composite material will be for the human habitats on Mars.
MARA-DS: Material Radiation Degradation Study (USA)
The MARA-DS team designed a project to record the energy and impact events of Galactic Cosmic Ray and Solar Energetic Particle flux at the surface of Mars. The payload will establish a baseline control for the radiation environment while also measuring the massed radiation flux through the potential habitat structural material of JSC Mars-1: a Martian regolith simulant. The information collected will help plan for protective Martian habitat structures.
Mars Micro-Greenhouse (United Kingdom)
The Mars Micro-Greenhouse team intends to bring a small pressurised greenhouse utilizing an aeroponic system to Mars. The team will try to demonstrate the ability to grow small plants with atmosphere obtained from the Martian environment, with a minimum of material imported from Earth. This will be demonstrated by growing lettuce in the growth chamber of the payload using an aeroponic system, obtaining a supply of carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere.
MIDDAS: Mars Ice Deposit Detection by Application of Seismology (USA)
The MIDDAS team intends to locate the presence of ice-water in a vertical column of regolith beneath the 2018 Mars lander. This will be done by using a seismic source on the Martian surface to allow sensors to record velocity changes in acoustic seismic waves that are transmitted through the shallow subsurface and are reflected back to the sensors. The payload will use this data to detect the presence of ice-water.
PECR: Photo-Electro-Chemical Reduction of CO2 (India)
The PECR team aims to convert CO2 to a useful state by activation/reduction. Photoelectrochemical and photoelectrocatalytic methods involving p-type semiconductor electrodes will be used for the sequestration of CO2. Additionally, solar energy will be used for the conversion. The project can be considered an artificial photosynthetic process.
Seed (Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands)
The Seed team intends to grow the first plant on Mars. More specifically, the team would like to grow Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings in a container that includes growth medium, water delivery system, carbon filtering systems, light stimulation, and a small photographic camera. The mechanism is fully automatic and the available energy should be enough to maintain a proper temperature for plant growth.
S.P.A.R.C.: Sensing Pressure and Atmospheric Research Console (USA)
The S.P.A.R.C. team proposes to observe Martian weather patterns. Dust devils, dust storms, and clouds will be videotaped, and data such as pressure and temperature will be recorded from the atmosphere. From the visual and atmospheric data, it will hopefully be possible to characterize Martian weather patterns.
Urine Greenbox: Urine to Water with Energy Recycle (USA)
The Urine Greenbox team aims to evaluate the reliability and operation of a system to convert urine into clean water and hydrogen. Project Urine Greenbox consists of using synthetic urine to produce hydrogen/energy and clean water. The process uses a urea and urine electrolysis and will include the capability to measure the amount of clean water produced, hydrogen produced, and basic sensors to test the quality of the water.
No entries found