Planetary Exploration Analogue Mission for Astrobiology

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 7
• Convenor: Dr Andrew Rushby
• Assessment: a 2000-word report (80%) and a press release (20%)

In this module, you will organise a virtual rover mission to a planetary surface analogue. This involves working together as a team of 'mission scientists' to decide on the aims of the mission, the nature of the instrumentation required and to deal with the constraints of time, fuel and data upload. You will then undertake the mission over six weeks, directing the rover to visit localities on the surface of a planetary analogue, and write up your own account of the mission and its accomplishments for the 'funding agency' as well as writing a press release for the public.

Indicative syllabus

• Introduction to robotic lander missions
• Mission design, parameters and weight budget
• Instrumentation on robotic rovers
• Planetary analogues, planetary protection
• Mission reports

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• demonstrate the comprehensive and detailed background knowledge required for the planning and implementation of a rover mission
• describe, understand and evaluate the relative merits and drawbacks of various mission concepts in the context of stringent size, weight, planetary protection and energy constraints associated with planetary rover missions
• collect, synthesise, evaluate and interpret data from a planetary surface to produce high-quality scientific ‘deliverables’ (reports, press releases, figures and data visualisations, infographics, software, hardware etc.)
• effectively disseminate research outcomes and deliverables via scientific reporting to funding agencies and through public science communication
• understand how to collaborate with other scientists to design and plan a complex scientific experiment
• report the outcome of the experiment/mission.