RIMFAX Science Operation Center (RSOC)

CENSSS will through this work package explore new modes for operating geophysical instruments on planetary rovers and how to use them for mapping resources on the Moon and on Mars. 

 

Establishing whether life ever existed, or is still active on other planetary bodies today, is one of the outstanding scientific questions of our time. Life as we know it requires water, and search for life on Mars is centered on the question when and how much liquid water existed on the planet. Revealing the geological and environmental history in relation to water is a key issue in this regard. RIMFAX was the first GPR to land on Mars and be operated from the surface. RIMFAX allow the rover science team to quickly assess the extent and depths of possible buried layers and their stratigraphic relationship to nearby outcrops. RIMFAX provide a unique view of the stratigraphic section and cross-cutting relations, and thus a window into the geological and environmental history of Mars at depth.

 

CENSSS has  established a RIMFAX Science Operation Centre at ITS and operate the RIMFAX instrument on Mars. The participation in NASAs Mars2020 mission will give CENSSS hands on experience on how to operate spacecraft remotely. The RIMFAX team has developed web-based software tools to operate the instrument. The tools generate the sequences to operate RIMFAX on the rover on Mars and analyze the data coming back to Earth.