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PanCam is one of the ExoMars ‘context experiments’ - others include an infrared spectrometer, subsurface sounding radar, a close up imager, a neutron detector and an imager in the drill tip, all of which will help assess the conditions and provide valuable feedback on how the mission should proceed.
“This suite will set the context both above and below ground for the really new and unique thing about this mission - drilling up to 2m under the surface to search for signs of life on Mars,” said Professor Coates.
Samples taken from below the surface will be deposited in an ‘analytical drawer’ and then studied inside the rover body by a Raman spectrometer, an infrared spectrometer and a gas analyser. By measuring samples with this combination of instruments, the team can detect habitable environments and signs of life itself.
Professor Coates added, “3.8 billion years ago, Mars was a very different place, with water flowing on the surface, a protective magnetic field and a thick atmosphere, at the same time life was evolving on Earth. If life evolved then, we may find it.”
The ExoMars rover is due for launch in 2018, with arrival in 2019.
