Beagle 2's target for landing on Mars will be a region which
shows evidence of having been inundated by large volumes of
water. Samples will be collected using the mole from below the
harsh oxidising surface, the best location being a region additionally
protected by a boulder large enough not to have been disturbed
since being emplaced.
Another kind of protected sample will be acquired by the rock corer from the inside of any large rock which can be reached by the robotic arm.
Computer animation of mole
being recovered after crawling towards boulder
All the rocks on Mars are likely to have been eroded by the
environmental processes which can be understood by investigating
samples before and after grinding. With the Pathfinder mission,
some ingenious data processing was required to take account
of a dust layer which frustrated the alpha-proton-X-ray spectrometer
and cameras. Even after this treatment all the rocks at the
Sagan Memorial Station appeared to be very much the same. Using
Beagle 2's practical solution to weathering it is hoped a greater
variety of specimens will be found for analysis.
Read more about the mole, the grinder and the corer under Technology
