Team:UNIK Copenhagen/Chamber


Mars Chamber [1]

Imagine being able to visit Mars on earth. With a press of a button you can change any variable, simulate any possible situation, and predict the future of Mars missions. This is not science fiction, but is achieved in the Mars Environmental Chamber at the Niels Bohr Institute.

The experiments are carried out in a so called Mars-chamber available at the University of Copenhagen under the research group ‘StarPlan’. The chamber consists of two units inside of each other: The outer unit is a big glovebox, which is accessed through an airlock which can be evacuated so that no unwanted atmospheric gasses (or moisture) can get in. Only the airlock is evacuated; the glovebox itself can handle a slightly reduced pressure, but usually a pressure (N2) is maintained inside, which is slightly higher than the outside pressure (in order to minimize the risk of leakage).

The chamber is designed to handle samples in an inactive gas (f.ex. N2 or Argon) before a sample from here is placed in a vacuum-chamber (the inner unit), which can be evacuated, supplied with a low-pressure Mars-like atmosphere (mainly CO2) and possible be heated, cooled, or irradiated by UV-light. The chamber cannot handle experiments of reduced or no gravity and also magnetic fields are difficult if the field has to be powerful or span a large volume.

Detaied image of the Mars Chamber. Credit: Rita Kajtar


Aim of Mars Chamber experiment:

Our aim is to test the survivability of moss by changing the following variables to simulate their presence on Mars:

  • Radiation + UV and cosmic
  • Pressure
  • Atmospheric composition

    Experiment protocols

    Pressure

    Samples are prepared under Optimal Growth Conditions™.
  • Earth-like pressure (negative control)
  • Martian-like pressure (best-case scenario)
  • Martian-like pressure (worst-case scenario)
  • Martian-like pressure made to mimic Earth-like conditions, with materials astronauts can bring with them
  • Growth Capsule

    • Samples are collected at t=(24)n hours, where n = 0 .. 7 Consider how the pressure and atmospheric conditions might stress moss growth. (It requires CO2 and O2 , but if the pressure drops too low it might not be able to harness such gasses for metabolism and photosynthesis.

    Atmospheric composition

    Samples are prepared under Optimal Growth Conditions™.
  • Earth-like composition
  • Martian-like composition
  • Martian-like composition made to mimic Earth-like conditions, with materials astronauts can bring with them
  • Growth Capsule
    • Should be noted how gasses behave at Martian temperature/pressure, to find the correct state of the gas in the phase-diagrams of the gas. Samples are collected at t=(24)n hours, where n = 0 .. 7

    UV radiation

    The goal is to test whether moss can survive the radiation it will receive on the surface of Mars.

    To set up radiation experiment, we set up Optimal Growth Conditions™ for the moss, but alter the radiation the moss will receive. This is done in the Mars Chamber, where we introduce a UV source, and vary the distance of the moss to the lamp, producing a UV gradient.

    Samples are collected at t=(24)n hours, where n = 0 .. 7

    Conclusion

    While we did not carry out these experiments due to time pressure and our main focus being the temperature variable which could not be tested in the Mars Chmaber, we will strongly suggest that next year's team carry out the experiments. The Mars Chamber is highly equipped to simulate the martian environment and the other variables that come into play when evaluating whether or not moss could survive on Mars.

    Looking into the Mars Chamber


    References:
    [1] Kajtar, Rita (2014).Mars Environmental Chamber for Simulation of Weathering Processes on Mars. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Copenhagen