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Digging Deep for the Real Mars

Posted by michael on from the red-gold dept.

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?

3 of 15 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Huh? by redcliffe · · Score: 2, Informative

    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

  2. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    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
  3. Re:Huh? by Arlet · · Score: 5, Informative

    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, which are mostly blocked by earth's atmosphere, but can penetrate a lot further on Mars.