The European Space Agency rover can drill into Mars

On September 6, NASA’s diligent rover, currently exploring Mars, reached a historic milestone in space travel by collecting a model of the Rochette rock (‘Montenier’). In the midst of his interrogation in the Jessero Valley, The robot drills a section in this area and collects a rock thicker than a piece of graphite from a pencil.

“This is an important achievement, diligence and I can’t wait to see the incredible discoveries of our team,” NASA executive Bill Nelson said of the success of the collection.

Also, on September 8, Diligence re-drilled the rosette for the second model, which they called ‘Montagnok’.

Now, NASA is not the only international organization to explore Mars, and the European Space Agency (ESA) not only seems to be diligently competing, but also trying to win the competition to analyze the neighboring planet’s soil.

This is evident from the demonstrations that ESA made with its rover dual model Rosalind Franklin will be sent to the red planet on Exomars 2022 next year. The Ground Test Model (or Ground Test Model in Spanish) is a similar representation of Rosalind Franklin, and the agency tests Earth by simulating what the original rover would do on Mars.

One of the tests involved in the Ground Test Model (GTM) was rock drilling and collection, To find out how well his ‘brother’ will do when he goes to Mars; Not only did he comply, it seems he has already broken records.

According to the ESA, the idea is that Rosalind Franklin could drill to a total depth of two meters, which is the deepest drill in space exploration history. Keep in mind that the current record is seven centimeters.

Although not on Mars, GTM has so far exceeded 7 cm by total drilling 1.7 meters from the ground.

Rosalind Franklin doubles hole Well filled with various rocks and soil layers. The first sample was taken from a medium hardened cement clay block. Drilling was performed on a seven-degree inclined platform to simulate collecting a sample in a non-vertical position. The drill model was purchased in the form of a ball, approximately 1 cm in diameter and 2 cm in length, ”the ESA said in an official statement.

According to the agency, when the sample was captured, Rosalind Franklin held it with a shutter to avoid losing it throughout the drilling collection process. When the sample is safe, The drill will bring it to the surface of Mars and place it in a mobile lab that will be part of the rover’s body.

“Once the drill is fully retracted, the rock is placed in a drawer at the front of the rover and then the sample is removed and deposited at a crushing station. The resulting powder is distributed to furnaces and vessels designed for scientific analysis on Mars.“, Adds information from the ESA.

Finally, the European company ideally promised that “well-preserved organic matter would be accessible from four billion years ago.” The conditions on the surface of Mars were similar to those on baby Earth”.

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