Activities on analogue sites
The Ibn Battuta Centre carries on activities linked to the operations and science of the European missions to Mars, Moon and other bodies of the Solar System. The centre is currently involved, cooperating with IRSPS, with surface and soil analysis related to ExoMars missions in 2016 and 2018, characterization of the landing sites, surface and soil analysis for drilling operations, rocket jets and surface interaction studies, analysis of simulants, etc. The Centre has been also involved in the logistic and operations for future testing of the precision landing gears for Mars and Moon. The Centre is analysing several sites in Marocco and elsewhere in order to test instruments and systems as well as scientific studies. The activities that can be performed in these sites span from technical to scientific and are summarized in the tables below.
| Type of test or activity | Object of test | Logistic |
|---|---|---|
| Descent system | Parachutes, retrorocket, telemetry, altimetry, etc. | Chopper or UAV |
| Landing systems | Airbags, retrorocket | Chopper |
| Precision landing | Visual systems, authonomus detection | UAV, large field test |
| Rover trafficability | Rover | Mars-like terrain |
| Authonomus guidance | Rover | Mars-like terrain |
| Science Operations | Rover, lander | Mars-like terrain, large field test |
| Scientific experiments | Instruments, payload | Mars-like terrain and lithologies |
| Scientific validation | Collected data | Mars-like terrain |
| Drilling | Driller | Mars-like terrain, subsurface |
| Subsurface geophysics | GPR, seismic, geoelectric | Mars-like terrain, subsurface |
| Surface operations | Rover | Mars-like terrain, large field area |
| Scientific activity | Object of analysis |
|---|---|
| Astrobiology | Chemosinthetic deposits, sedimentary Volcanoes (Devonian), stromatolites, evaporites, sebkha, travertine |
| Sedimentology (ancient deposits) | Fluvial to deep sea deposits, silcoclastic to calcareous |
| Sedimentology (modern system) | Aeolian: sand dunes to reg, sebkha, ephemeral streams, large inactive fluvial systems |
| Volcanism | Small quaternary volcanic edificies, small basaltic plateau |
| Tectonic, structural geology | Compressional and extensional systems, mountain belts |
| Coastal systems | High Energy shorelines, cliffs, erosional and depositonal beaches |
| Surface processes | Reg, regolith, weathered outcrops, volcanic plateau, sands sheets and sand dunes, fluvial - aeolian interactions, evaporites |
| Subsurface analysis | Quaternary stratigraphy of aeolian and fluvial deposits (Quaternary), bedrock detection, internal discontinuites detection |
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