Posted February 6, 2001
The links between the 'Red Planet' and the Red Centre are stronger than you might imagine, with a team of young Australians actively helping international research efforts aimed at sending human beings to Mars. Jennifer Laing talks to Guy Murphy, National Coordinator of the Australian Chapter of the Mars Society, about the work they are doing to develop prototype vehicles for testing in the outback.
As a keen student of early Australian history, Guy Murphy, National Coordinator of the Australian Chapter of the Mars Society doesn't think it's unusual that Australia should play a role in paving the way for human exploration of Mars.
"I think Australians have a special fascination with Mars. We all have in the back of our minds a vision of an inaccessible, red, rock-strewn landscape which is the outback, and there is a certain resonance when we view images from the Viking and Pathfinder probes. >From a historic perspective, the exploration of harsh unknown frontiers is recent in our memory. Consider the exploration of the centre of our continent in the 19th century and then Antarctica in the early part of the 20th century."
He points to other cogent reasons for Australia to get behind international efforts to send humans to Mars. "Most technologically advanced economies have some form of national space program. Australia is very much the odd one out in this respect. There are also issues of expertise. We have a lot to offer the world, building on our strengths in areas such as remote sensing and astronomy. The outback can provide some of the best testing environments for procedures and technologies destined for Mars as well as for studying fossils which could be used to identify evidence of past or present life on Mars. And this kind of involvement would provide a focus for achievement. We're inclined to elevate sporting heroes and are not accustomed to seeing [scientific and technological achievement] as being so important. It is a different kind of 'Olympics'. Australian researchers tend to be very good at getting the most from sometimes limited resources."
According to Murphy, steps are already being taken for Australia to become involved in Mars research efforts. The Mars Society International awarded a Mars vehicle-development grant of $US10,000 to the Mars Society Australia in November 2000; one of only three awarded world-wide. This grant will allow the Australian team to start constructing a prototype Mars rover called HOP - which stands for Human Operations Prototype. Researchers will be able to take the HOP vehicle out into Mars analogue environments in Australia for week-long sorties, providing human factors data which will be useful for planning future Mars missions. Testing will cover such issues as dust management (dust storms are a potential hazard on the Mars surface), the use of airlocks in a pressurised vehicle, and carrying out field operations while wearing a bulky spacesuit. HOP will also contribute to the international engineering database for future Mars vehicles.
The team, based at the University of Queensland and headed by Technical Coordinator Jason Hoogland, has engaged the services of noted astrobiologist Professor Malcolm Walter from Macquarie University as a consultant. Professor Walter, author of The Search for Life on Mars says, "For many years, Australia has been recognised as having sites useful as analogues to places on Mars." He explains that one of these sites occurs in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, "...where a 300 million-year old hot spring system is being studied. Such sites are being targeted, because it is considered that ancient hot springs on Mars are one of the best exploration targets in the search for life."
The name 'HOP' is apt, as drawings show it as looking like a cross between a dune buggy and a small rodent on wheels! Murphy explains that the vehicle will be based on a four-wheel drive van, with modifications made such as removal of the cabin, addition of support bars and a fibreglass shell to increase the volume of the vehicle's useable space, and installation of human requirements such as bunks, workstations, air conditioning, power, a toilet, galley and analogue airlock. It will end up being 5.29 m in length, 2.20 m wide, and 3.08 m high; sufficient in size to house a maximum of two crew members for a mission of up to a week. Field trials of HOP without full internal fittings have been scheduled for the latter half of 2001, to be followed by completion of installation and further testing.
HOP will be the first stage in a series of prototype Mars vehicles to be developed by the Australian Mars Society team. The design project has been wittily dubbed 'Marsupial' in tribute to the name bestowed on Australian pouched mammals. In keeping with the theme, HOP will be followed by 'Numbat', and then 'Wombat'; names of well-known Australian marsupial animals. 'Numbat'. a 1,500 kg vehicle to be constructed using the design principles set down for 'Wombat', is scheduled to be built in 2002, incorporating lessons learnt from building and testing HOP. The final prototype, 'Wombat', is planned to accommodate a crew of 4 for up to 2 months.
The 'Wombat' vehicle will be designed to navigate rocky terrain on Mars thanks to its large 2 m diameter wheels and 'intelligent suspension', which can be raised higher and lower if required. The suspension will also have the advantage of being able to be folded for storage during a spaceflight and deployed on arrival. The vehicle will be divided by a pressure bulkhead into two distinct areas, the front area being a 'shirtsleeves' environment and clean room where equipment will be housed and the back part an airlock and sample preparation laboratory.
The use of the Australian outback as a Mars analogue will also hopefully support other Mars Society research activities at sites such as the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic. This is a small analogue Mars base facility which has been established for conducting human factors and operational research, and for the field testing of new experimental technologies. "Robert Zubrin has spoken about establishing one in the American southwest, one in Iceland and possibly one in Australia. Mars analogue sites in South Australia for example would be easier and cheaper for researchers to access than Devon Island and allow year-long research programs," says Murphy.
Assistance from Australian universities, students and businesses will be sought to help carry out the research. Murphy says that the aim is to leverage on their knowledge, while providing students with "useful experience" to assist them in their future endeavours. To supplement the start-up grant received from the Mars Society International, the team is particularly interested in securing sponsorship. Charging membership fees to join the local chapter of the Mars Society is another way of boosting funds for projects, and the organisation is always looking to increase its numbers. To this end, and as a way of interesting the general public in manned Mars exploration, they invited Dr. Robert Zubrin, author of The Case for Mars, and President of the Mars Society International, to visit Australia in March 2000.
Dr. Zubrin, an enthusiastic proponent of sending human beings to Mars, delivered well-attended presentations in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. Says Murphy: "He is an outstanding communicator, and was particularly good at interacting with young people, having been a school teacher earlier in his career." The Mars Society Australia also plans to hold its first Conference within the next year to communicate the result of its research programs and keep the momentum going.
"I see what we do as having a strong educational focus," Murphy explains. "We are trying to channel the interest generated by events such as the Pathfinder landing in a useful way by doing hands-on research projects such as Project Marsupial. These projects will embody an element of original and useful research. Students and the interested public are welcome to become involved." Marsupial may prove to be an impetus for more long-term Australian involvement in Mars research. The journey "from the Red Centre to the Red Planet", as the Mars Society Australia dubs it, is now in progress.
Jennifer Laing is a freelance writer based in Melbourne, Australia.